Book Review: Knitting with Disney

I love going to my local library and checking out knitting books I might have missed when they came out. This week I found Knitting with Disney: 28 Official Patterns Inspired by Mickey Mouse, The Little Mermaid, and More.

By Tanis Gray, this book’s format will be familiar to you if you’ve seen her Harry Potter and Star Wars books. The designs come from Gray and other knitwear designers, and they include characters, costumes, apparel and decor inspired by Disney films.

Projects are rated on a scale of one to three mouse ears, with seven rating one, 11 getting two ears and eight ranking three sets of ears on the scale.

There’s a nice range of movies represented, from Beauty and the Beast to The Emperor’s New Groove. There are projects inspired by Mulan, Cinderella, Moana, Ariel and many more.

Some of my favorite patterns include:

Jaq and Gus, designed by Sara Kellner, these brave mice from Cinderella are true to their animated versions
Kuzco’s Poncho from The Emperor’s New Groove (designed by Cassandra Cruikshank) mostly because this was one of my daughter’s favorites
Three Fairies Socks and Mitts by Spillyjane, with allover colorwork inspired by the fairies in Sleeping Beauty
Ariel Socks, covered with the texture of mermaid scales and designed by Agata Mackiewicz (you can see these on the cover)
Meghan Regan’s Beauty and the Beast Pullover, covered with icons from the movie like teacups and post, roses and clocks (a portion of it is also on the cover)
Mistress of Evil Socks, designed by Heini Perälä, worked in bands of colorwork that look like flames, inspired by Maleficent
Heidi Gustad’s Magic Carpet Throw Blanket, which is of course inspired by Aladdin

There’s a great variety of designs and inspirations here, sure to delight any Disney fan. Whether someone in your household has a favorite Disney movie you want to celebrate or you know (or are) a superfan who will love all these projects, you’re sure to find something you want to knit for yourself or as a gift.

About the book: 208 pages, hardcover, 28 patterns. See all patterns on Ravelry. Published 2021 by Insight Editions. Suggested retail $29.99.

Next Pattern:

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply