Book Review: Colorwork Knitting from Head to Toe

Carmen Jorissen’s Colorwork Knitting for Head to Toe encourages people who’ve never tried colorwork knitting to get started and has patterns that might still be fun for someone more skilled at colorwork.

The book includes 20 patterns — five each for hats, cowls, mittens and socks — and each kind of garment includes the same colorwork patterns as all the others so you can knit a matched set if you like.

Three of the motifs are suggested as easier than the other two, and the designer says the patterns are in skill level order. The options are Wessem, a kind of wave pattern; Halen, with is three-color plaid; Leiden, a diamond pattern; Herlen, which looks like stems with little flower buds; a Urmond, which has a leaf shape.

There are three sizes offered for the hat patterns (though she says they are all adult sizes), while the cowls have two length options, the mittens have two widths (and are only measured by rounds; it doesn’t say how long they should be), and the socks have six adult sizes.

None of the shaping on any of the projects is done in pattern, so these would be good beginner colorwork projects if you don’t want to have to deal with shaping in pattern (the socks have striped gussets and the colorwork continues on the bottom of the foot).

The book includes one page on choosing colors and has some knitting instructions in the back such as long tail, German twisted and Judy’s magic cast on; grafting and half mattress stitch; a twisted bind off; knitting, purling and basic increases and decreases; and tutorials for German short rows and working magic loop, which is her preferred method for all of the projects. There are QR codes in the book that lead to videos for some of the techniques.

There’s also a section at the very end about reading charts and handling yarn for colorwork. Since this book feels like a beginner colorwork book to me, I might have liked to see that at the beginning rather than the end, but that’s a minor issue.

I wouldn’t say anything really grabbed me in this book, though I do like the plaid pattern (the plaid socks in particular are really cute). I try not to be too hard on colorwork knitting books because I knit one, but it does feel to me like there could have been more motifs or project styles or something to make it feel like you’re not just getting five patterns.

Still, if you like the motifs (you can see most of the patterns in the scroll on the publisher’s website) and want to make a whole matchy-matchy set, they are pretty patterns that will give you a good grounding in the basics of colorwork knitting done with two colors at a time.

About the book: 176 pages, paperback. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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I guess the trend of little scarves and bandanas isn’t going away, and there’s a good reason for that. These little projects are fast, and they’re good for beginners because of the low commitment and they make something that doesn’t necessarily look like a beginner made it.

And when you can combine a simple pattern with some super luxurious yarn, it’s a little treat that even more experienced knitters can get behind.

The Little Dot Bandana from Purl Soho (designed by Gianna Mueller) is a project like that. It’s a simple eyelet triangle, worked from the long side down to the point, so there’s a lot of decreasing happening but it’s a really easy project.

It calls for a hank of silk yarn and one that’s silk mohair, which gives the project a fuzziness and a little bit of a silky glow.

Of course you can use different yarn to get a different look. A linen yarn would be fun for a summer kerchief, or combine wool and mohair for a warm and cozy kerchief for cold mornings.

The pattern comes in two sizes, so you can stitch up a kerchief or a simple triangle shawl. The stitch multiple is 8 plus 23 stitches, so you can use that to make a triangle of any size you like, or you can use a heavier weight of yarn to make a different size if you prefer. The two strands held together as called for in the pattern makes a sport weight gauge, so you could try DK or worsted for a bigger and warmer project if you want.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho, or check out the pattern notes on Ravelry to find how other people made this project.

And if you need more options for kerchiefs to knit, check out this collection of kerchief knitting patterns.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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