Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Book Review: Knitted Wild Animal Friends

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Sweet stuffed animals turn a little less wild in this cute book full of patterns for animals along with clothing and accessories.

Knitted Wild Animal Friends by Louise Crowther features patterns for 12 different animals, as well as a closet full of clothes, shoes and more that you can mix and match to dress your dolls. The animals included are:

  • elephant
  • rhinoceros
  • giraffe
  • lion
  • chimpanzee
  • tiger
  • zebra
  • sloth
  • koala
  • bear
  • hippopotamus
  • panda

The animals generally use the same pattern pieces for their bodies, arms and legs, though some have contrasting paws, for example, or stripes or other embellishments. Each animal is shown in a unique, multi-piece outfit. The elephant is a ballerina with a leotard, tie-front sweater, three-layered skirt and ballet slippers, for example, while the sloth has tw0-piece, striped pajamas with a star on the shirt, a fuzzy bathrobe and slippers.

The book is listed on Ravelry but the photos from the book aren’t there. You can look in the projects to see images of the animals that other people have made.

All of the clothing is designed to be interchangeable. The bottom parts of the garments are worked flat and closed with buttons that make it possible to wear with different tail positions. In fact, most of the knitting on these projects is done flat, but there are lots of detailed instructions with photos at the back of the book to help you with the seaming and other techniques needed to complete these cute animals.

This book is a good introduction to knit amigurumi (or knitting animals and toys) if you’ve never done it before. You’ll get a good grounding in colorwork techniques, too, as there are stripes, fair isle (one very cute sweater), instarsia and duplicate stitch projects. All of these are explained in the back as well. Most of the patterns that include charts have written instructions as well if you need a little help with that.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 12 animals and more than 40 patterns total. Published 2022 by David and Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

 

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Textured Hat Knitting Patterns

There are all sorts of knitting techniques you can use on hats, but some of my favorites are textured stitch patterns or cabled hats worked in a single color. Check out these great textured hat knitting patterns and find your next fall favorite. 

The K?pekapeka hat from The Practice of Fibre was the one that got me started thinking about textured hat knitting patterns. This one has a simple zig-zag pattern worked with purls. This hat uses centered double decreases for shaping to help keep the pattern going as you finish the top of the hat. It uses worked weight yarn. 

Little Totz Designs has this simple knit hat that uses worsted weight yarn and an allover knit-purl stitch pattern that’s easy to memorize. This one would be a great first hat in the round pattern if that’s something you haven’t tried before. 

The Fia Beanie from Honey and Grace Fiber Co is another simple stitch pattern that’s full of texture. It calls for bulky yarn so it should stitch up in no time in this great textured diamond design. 

Kalurah Hudson’s Cindersmoke hat is an interesting stitch design that uses double moss stitch and bands of slipped stitches throughout the pattern, which is where the decreases are worked, keeping the rest of the pattern as established. It uses bulky yarn and is sized for adults, and you can find it on Ravelry.

Benjamin Matthews has such pretty designs that often turn out to be simpler to knit than they look. The Snow Carved Beanie (find it on Ravelry) for example only uses knits, purls and slipped stitches, but it has a design that looks almost like cables. The pattern uses worsted weight yarn and has a foldover brim for extra warmth. 

While I wanted to keep the focus in this roundup on simple stitch patterns, basic cables are not that much more difficult than regular knitting, and the lattice pattern on this CrissCross Hat form the Purling Princess is so charming I couldn’t resist sharing. This hat comes in three sizes (baby, child and adult) and uses worsted weight yarn. It would be a great gift to knit if you’re thinking about that.