Book Review: Knit the City Building Blocks

Jake Henzler first designed knit blocks that look like buildings to commemorate his travels to Copenhagen; over time he added other cities and developed still more city blocks for the book Knit the City Building Blocks.

The book includes designs inspired by Copenhagen, Amsterdam, New York, Paris, Sydney, London and Prague.

The book has the blocks for each city together, and they generally increase in difficulty as the book goes on. The beginning of each section includes design notes that include gauge, block measurements and the ratio of different amounts of yarn needed for each block.

Patterns are charted and there are additional elements you can mix and match to make your own blocks with the help of an included blank grid. Sketches of different block ideas are included to give you more options you can use or build on to make your own designs. Suggestions for sizing are given for making a pillow cover, baby blanket and larger blanket but there are no actual patterns.

The squares call for fingering weight yarn, though of course you can use heavier yarn and make bigger blocks if you like. The blocks are worked flat with stranded knitting, and the author advises not working more than three stitches before you trap a float (the book also talks about leaving long floats on the back and trapping them on the purl row if you need to go more than three stitches).

Having never been to any of these cities, I can’t say how well the buildings represent their respective places, but they are cute. I do like that the London blocks had gray sky worked in ribbing, which represents the gloominess for which London is famous.

Even if you’re not from or haven’t visited one of these places, the idea of making a city block blanket or other project is appealing, and there are lots of variations you can use to make the designs your own or make them look similar to buildings where you live.

I might have liked to see the blocks used in a greater diversity of projects, even if there weren’t patterns included. Building blocks on a sweater or vest would be super cute, for example.

Knit the City inspires knitters to look at their communities or places they travel to in a new way, and to make knitting projects from those observations.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

Have you read?