Knitting

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Book Review – Knitting The National Parks

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Knitting the National Parks: 63 Easy-to-Follow Designs for Beautiful Beanies Inspired by the US National Parks” is the perfect book for knitters who want to create unique beanies inspired by the breathtaking landscapes of the US National Parks. Written by Nancy Bates, a knitting designer and outdoor enthusiast, this book offers 63 original beanie patterns that capture the majesty of each national park.

From simple beanie constructions to more challenging stitch patterns, these designs are inspired by the natural beauty of the parks, including the brightly colored pebbles of Lake McDonald in Montana’s Glacier National Park to the regal granite cliffs of El Capitan and Half Dome in California’s Yosemite Valley. Each pattern is accompanied by beautiful photographs of the finished beanie and the park’s landscapes that inspired it.

The book includes easy-to-follow instructions, clear charts, and easy-to-read keys that help knitters of all skill levels to knit a beanie in no time. Beanies range from simple beanie constructions to more challenging stitch patterns such as the two-color crossovers inspired by South Dakota’s Badlands or the multiple cable designs inspired by New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns.

In summary, “Knitting the National Parks: 63 Easy-to-Follow Designs for Beautiful Beanies Inspired by the US National Parks” is an excellent book for knitters who want to create unique beanies inspired by the natural beauty of the US National Parks, with easy-to-follow instructions and beautiful photographs accompanying each pattern. Show your love and appreciation of our national parks with these beautiful and practical beanie projects you can wear any time or any place.

Get the book here: “Knitting the National Parks

Have you read?

Knit a Log Cabin Blanket with All Your Scraps

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn. 

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small. 

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches. 

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come. 

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you. 

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?). 

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry. 

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns. 

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]