Book Review: Knitting the U.S.A.

Knit a colorwork hat inspired by every state in the United States with Knitting the U.S.A. by Nancy Bates. Like her previous book of hats inspired by US national parks, this book includes a colorful hat design for every state.

The book opens with a very brief section on the basics (which is about choosing colors, gauge, picking a cast on method, using duplicate stitch and blocking). A few more techniques are explored at the back of the book, but this is a book that assumes you know how to knit, read a chart and work colorwork knitting.

Patterns are arranged by geographical location with no clear organization within the sections (not alphabetical, geographical, by date admitted to the Union, etc.). That may only annoy me, but it did so now you know.

Each state has an image like a postcard showing what inspired the hat (snow-capped trees for North Dakota, a grassy field of horses for Kentucky, a racoon for New Jersey to name a few) and a few paragraphs about iconic things and experiences in that state (Massachusetts has a lot of bricks, South Carolina lots of food).

A list of the colors used in the pattern is given, as well as needles, notions and gauge. All the designs say they fit an average adult head and are meant to come out around 20.25 inches or 51.5 cm around.

There is a little bit of written instruction for each hat, and the colorwork is given as a chart. Hats are worked from the bottom up and feature ribbing along the bottom.

The patterns are cute and colorful, though as with any big book like this lots of designs could cover lots of states. Arkansas for instance (since I’m from there I always have to bring it up!) has a sort of textured, not quite chevron design worked in three colors to highlight our hills and forests. It’s pretty but you’d never know it was supposed to represent any state, particularly Arkansas.

Still, these hats are fun and if your state is more distinctive (or even if it isn’t) you might want to knit your state or the hat from your favorite place to travel or where you were born or where someone is moving and have fun knitting your way across America in hats.

About the book: 232 pages, hardcover, 50 patterns. Published 2025 by Weldon Owen. Suggested retail price $32.50.

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?