Book Review: Knits for Little Ones

If you have a little one in your life, Knits for Little Ones by Lotte Rahbek is full of sweet patterns for kids ages 0-2 inspired by nature and the sea.

Rahbek is a designer of Nordic inspired knits and these projects include lots of simple but nice details like stripes, cables, ruffles and eyelets.

There are no knitting instructions in the book and one page that includes descriptions of a few techniques like raglan shaping, picking up stitches and German short rows, so it’s good if you have some knitting knowledge under your belt before you pick up this book. There is a little chart that shows some of the skills required in different projects such as I-cord, picking up stitches or cable and lace patterns.

The skill levels are described as beginner, somewhat experienced and experienced. Of the 22 patterns, 6 are rated for beginners, 7 for somewhat experienced and 9 for experienced knitters. I’m not entirely sure I agree with her ratings, which put anything with cables or lace in the experienced section, including a baby blanket that’s worked flat and mostly garter stitch with easy cabled stripes.

The patterns for beginners include socks worked on double pointed needles, which I wouldn’t consider a beginner skill. Others are a bottom up raglan worked in garter stitch with stripes, a colorblocked raglan worked from the bottom up, a pair of shorts with stripes and a drawstring waistband, top down leggings with an elastic waistband and a little knit collar with a ruffle.

Other projects include that pointed bonnet featured on the cover, a twirly dress, bloomers, a romper, cardigans and a ruffled vest, to name a few.

She leans heavily on ruffles and little cables and embellishments, which feels a little repetitive but does make the collection feel cohesive. I’d have loved to see more colorwork, but that’s clearly not what she was going for.

The photographs of kids of various ages on the beach are darling and will make you wish you had a baby and a beach to re-create some of these scenes.

If you like simple designs with a few fun details and have a kiddo under 2 to knit for, this collection is lovely and will result in pieces you are sure to treasure.

About the book: 176 pages, 22 patterns. Published 2025 by Penguin UK. Suggested retail price $16.99.

If you want to feel personally attacked by a collection of knitting and crochet patterns as I was, check out the “90s Mod Inspired” pattern lookbook from Yarnspirations.

It’s actually a great collection of patterns for folks who want to stitch up that Y2K look again (or for the first time). There’s an oversized, striped grandpa cardigan! A (crocheted) plaid messenger bag! A boxy argyle vest, and a rolled hem sweater the likes of which I bought in a store in the ’90s and knit a replica of later.

There’s also a section of “Prep School” patterns (think “Clueless,” they’re even called things like “As if” and “Betty”) including a granny square tie and crocheted wrap skirt, and a knit cabled pullover, beret and cardigan with blocky stripes. Other sections include casual collegiate, punk and mod, and academia.

Some of the patterns repeat among the sections but there’s a nice selection for people who want a little throwback for their back to school and fall wardrobes.

Since I had this sweater, we’ll take a closer look at the Caron Cropped Stripy Sweater. The one I knit from a pattern of my own devising in the mid ’00s was tonal blues, but this one calls for two colorways of Colorama Haze, a fuzzy self-striping worsted weight yarn.

The pattern comes in six sizes, with chest measurements ranging from 39 to 60 inches (that’s 99 to 152.5 cm). Clearly that’s a lot of ease at the lower sizes, since the smallest size is meant to fit an actual chest measurement from 28-34 inches, or 71-86.5 cm.

The sweater is a modified drop shoulder worked flat in pieces and seamed. That means the stripes probably won’t match around the body but it’s still a classic look. This one does have ribbing at the neckline, where the original sweater I owned and my re-creation had rolled hems throughout, but you can do it either way depending on your preference.

Do any of these projects remind you of clothes you might have worn or knit in the past? I’d love to hear about it!

Have you read?