Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Behold the Wonders of Wool

by

we love woolNow that it’s almost October (if you can believe it) it’s high time to start thinking about fall and winter knitting and maybe even (gasp) holiday knitting.

It’s a great time of year to be a knitter, isn’t it?

One of the best things about fall and winter knitting is getting to knit with wool, which many of us love quite a lot.

Yarnspirations has a great list of reasons to love work with wool, including ease of blocking and other finishing tasks, warmth, of course, and the fact that hand washing really isn’t all that scary.

My main reason for loving wool is that I am always cold and wool makes me less so.

Why do you love wool? Are you knitting anything with wool right now? (I happen to be working on a giant, super bulky wool roving cabled scarf that I’m sure I’m going to want to live in as soon as its done.)

[Photo via Yarnspirations.]

Comments

  1. I love the squooshieness of wool, and the wonderful subtle ways it takes color. Oh, and it stays warm even when wet. Yeah, and warms up so quickly. Oh, Wool, I love you so!

Have you read?

Apple Knitting Patterns for Fall and Back to School

It feels like it’s too early to be thinking about back to school, but as I write this my daughter has just a couple of weeks of summer left! So let’s get in that school and fall knitting spirit by looking at some apple knitting projects. 

If you have a 22 needle circular knitting machine, knitting an apple is one of the easiest things you can do. I have an apple pattern over at Our Daily Craft that will take you just a few minutes to knit and they’re a great addition to your fall decor. 

Apple hats are a classic, and whether you want to knit a hat that looks like an apple or one with apples on it, we’ve got you covered. For hats that look like apples check out the rolled brim version from Emma Crochet Design 4 U, which uses worsted weight yarn and comes in sizes for kids of all ages; and the ribbed brim version from Hand Knit Hugs. This one also calls for worsted weight yarn and comes in four kids sizes. Both include a stem and leaf. 

If you’d rather have apples on your hat, try the Red Apple Hat from Little Red Window. This one is sized from newborn to 2T and calls for four colors of worsted weight yarn. 

How about apple socks? You’ll find Ariel Chang’s Apple Picnic Socks as a free download on Ravelry. These use three colors of sock yarn and come in three sizes. Stone Knits also a pair of stripey apple socks that show the inside of the apple. These also have three sizes but they use six colors total, with the main color being a self-striping yarn. 

If you want a little apple accessory for the house, the apple potholder from Nifty Knitter Designs is cute and a great way to practice double knitting. It uses two colors and you’ll find the colors in the reverse on the other side. The pattern only uses about 50 yards of each color of worsted weight yarn, so it’s a great use for odd balls, too. 

Once you’ve got your double knitting skills sorted you can also try the double knit apple scarf from Crow and Chai Shop. The Winter Apples scarf is shown in red and gold, but you can use whatever colors you like. There are apples, stars and random stitches in the design, which calls for DK weight yarn. There’s also a matching fingerless glove pattern.