Book Review – Summer Knitting for Little Sweethearts

Summer Knitting for Little Sweethearts is a comprehensive guide for knitters looking to create adorable and functional summer garments for children. The book features 40 Nordic-style patterns that are perfect for the warm weather, including onesies, pants, sweaters, shorts, caps, and tights. The patterns are designed for children of all ages, from newborns to age 10 and are a mix of quick-to-knit and more challenging designs, making it suitable for knitters of all skill levels.

The book is organized in a way that makes it easy to find the perfect pattern for your project. Each pattern includes detailed instructions, a convenient difficulty-level rank, and beautiful photographs of the finished garment, making it easy to visualize the final product. The patterns are designed using fine merino wool yarn and cotton blends, which are perfect for warm weather, making the garments comfortable and breathable, without being too warm for the child to wear.

The patterns featured in the book are not only practical but also incredibly cute and stylish, making them perfect for both everyday wear and special occasions. The designs take inspiration from nature, wildlife, and the Nordic landscapes, and are sure to add a touch of Scandinavian magic to any child’s wardrobe. From the Olivia Onesie to the David Sweater-Jacket, the Billie Shorts to the Dinosaur Cap, and the Lace Tights, there is something for everyone in this book.

Summer Knitting for Little Sweethearts is a must-have resource for knitters looking to create adorable, comfortable, and functional summer garments for children. The patterns in this book are sure to become treasured heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation.

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts.

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts.

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects.

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version.

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want.

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do.

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like.

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.

Have you read?