Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Book Review: Magical Knits from the North

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If you like your knitting with a touch of the mystical, you’ll love Magical Knits from the North by Katinka Sarjanoja and Meri Mort. This collection of 19 knitting patterns includes socks, mitts, hats, a couple of sweaters, shawls and more with a mythological, magical inspiration.

Each pattern in the book is accompanied by a poem (or spell, if you want to keep the magic going) based on the Finnish-Karelian oral tradition preserved in Finnish folk music. They call on the maker to meditate on the recipient of their work and add good wishes for them as you knit.

The patterns are colorful and detailed and would probably be best for intermediate to advanced knitters. All of the patterns include colorwork and some involve several pages of charts. Most of the patterns (including one of the sweaters) come in only one size, while a few have two sizes.

Some of my favorites include Euphoria, above-the-knee socks that feature a snake slithering up the leg; Valkyrie, a shawl covered with feathers; Messenger, little fingerless mitts worked in three colors with moths on the backs of the hands; Will-o’-the-wisp, socks decorated with trees and delicate spirits of the night forest; Thought and Memory, a pair of mittens decorated with ravens; and Bee Sting, ankle socks with bees on the top of the feet and a honeycomb design on the bottom.

As of this writing the book hadn’t been released and was not yet on Ravelry, but if I find it there I’ll share a link so you can see the patterns.

The patterns were also designed with the environment in mind and mostly use local Finnish yarn (as well as other plastic free options), which means you’ll need to do some work to find substitute yarns unless you happen to live in Finland. All the information you need about each yarn is included so you can make thoughtful substitutions based on what’s local to you.

If you love the idea of adding a bit of magic to your makes, and particularly like projects with animal motifs and lots of colorwork, you’re sure to enjoy this collection.

About the book: 144 pages, hardcover, 18 patterns. Published 2024 by David & Charles, suggested retail price $24.99.

Have you read?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.