Book Review: 60 Quick Cotton Knits

March 31, 2016 by Sarah White

For those of us who are heading into summer, 60 Quick Cotton Knits is a super-tempting book. The book is another of those “60 Quick” books that all use Cascade yarns, in this case Ultra Pima, a cotton yarn that comes in two weights, a wide variety of colors, including some hand-painted options, and is easy to care for.

The book is heavy on summer projects like little airy shawls and scarves, tank tops and shrugs. There’s not a sweater in the collection, though there are some hats, larger shawls and cowls, as well as a couple of pairs of wrist warmers.

There are a lot of projects that use stripes and other colorwork to make the items more playful, and there are even a few that you could use some of your stash on — cotton or not — to add little pops of color.

Everyone is going to like something different in any given knitting book, but it’s likely, with 60 patterns to choose from, that you’ll find a few things you like. Check out all 60 projects on Ravelry.

A few of my favorites include Yoko Hatta’s Chevron Scarf, pictured on the cover; the funky, youthful Woven Back Tank by Nicole Feller Johnson; Wei Wilkins’ openwork Asymmetrical Shawl; the woven-look Slipped Stitch Bag from Suzanne Allen; the Color Swing Tank by Mari Lynn Patrick, a simple shape with just a hint of contrasting color on the edges; Hatta’s Slouchy Striped Hat, perfect in nautical shades; Anna Davis’ Running Chain Cowl, which uses one of my favorite simple slip stitch patterns; Patrick’s Diagonal Lace Hat, which uses a really easy stitch pattern and is worked flat; and the Drop Stitch Tank from Audrey Drysdale, where open stitches make the project light but not scandalous.

This is a great book if you live in a warm climate or a place with a serious summer, though there are some year-round projects and things that aren’t too large to knit for use only a couple months of the year. There are plenty of accessories here that would make great gifts, too.

About the book: 168 pages, paperback with interior flaps, 60 patterns (16 rated easy, 38 intermediate and 6 advanced). Published by Sterling Publishing, March 2016. Suggested retail $17.95.

Comments

Helen Naleid says
April 25, 2016 at 12:44 pm
Wonderful to have a collection of patterns for cotton knits. Cotton yarn is very comfortable to use and wear in all seasons particularly in warmer climates. Great ideas!

Have you read?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns.

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn.

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options.

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners.

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set.

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn.

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers.

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.