Book Review: Sweet Knits

Sometimes when you’re looking for new things to knit, a big book or website full of patterns can be a bit overwhelming. You just want to knit one thing, say, for a new baby or little one in your life. You don’t need 100 suggestions.

That’s why I like the booklet type books that Leisure Arts puts out (their focus is on digital these days, but they’re good in whatever format). They’re focused on a really specific type of project and don’t include a lot of patterns so you can stay focused, and even if you only ever knit one or two projects you’ve still gotten your money’s worth because they aren’t that expensive.

Sweet Knits: 9 Baby Projects Sure to Be Your Favorite is one such book. Produced in collaboration with Lion Brand Yarns, as advertised it includes nine patterns for babies, mostly blankets and sweaters. The patterns are:

Cuddle Bear Blankie, made with boucle yarn, it’s a lovey sized blankie with a little bear head on one corner and paws on two others.
Gowanus Baby Wrap Cardi, a sweater that wraps and ties at the side and is made with worsted weight yarn (sizes are 1 year, 2 years and 3 years)
Glenwood Child’s Cardigan, pictured on the cover, which comes in 5 sizes up to a 34 inch chest (this pattern only gives chest size and doesn’t specify what ages they correlate to)
Rock the Casbah Afghan, a colorful, ripple stitch blanket perfect for tummy time
Diagonal Baby Afghan, worked in boucle from corner to corner
Branford Baby Blanket, which has a simple ribbed pattern worked in super soft yarn
Simple Diagonal Baby Afghan, worked in garter stitch on the bias with a multicolored yarn
Bonaire Baby Blankie, a pastel patchwork made of blocks of garter stitch
Sugar and Spice Shorts Set, a striped tank top and coordinating shorts both worked in multicolored yarn (this one is sized for 1 year, 2 years and 3 years)

The patterns aren’t super creative but they are good basics that will be easy for knitters of any skill level to crank out quickly for kiddos. I don’t love the inconsistency in sizing (a 34-inch chest sweater would fit some adults, so why is it included in a “baby” book?) or the fact that there are two corner to corner blanket patterns in a book with only nine patterns.

But still, the patterns are all cute and easy (they’re all rated for beginners or easy) and things you can come back to again and again to knit for little people in your life or to donate to charity.

About the book: 48 pages, paperback, 9 patterns. Published 2019 by Leisure Arts. Suggested retail $5.99 (ebook is $4.99).

Next Pattern:

Linen stitch is one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns that, every time I use it in a project, I think about how I don’t use it often enough.

It’s an easy stitch to make, with slip stitches done with the yarn held to the front of the work on the right/front side and to the back on the wrong/back side, which makes the strand of yarn a visible part of the pattern.

It also makes a fabric that is thick and looks kind of like a woven fabric.

I recently used linen stitch to make a double-thick pot holder, which I worked in a kind of interesting way. I didn’t want to have to do any sewing on the project, so I started it from a crochet cast on and picked up stitches from the side of the cast on to make the hot pad all in one piece in the round with the edge sealed.

This requires working on two circular needles, which is another technique I don’t use that often and am always reminded how much I like it when I do.

The combination of double thickness and the stitch pattern makes for a hot pad that’s already pretty thick, but I also added a bit of old towel to the inside before I closed up the end to make it super thick and extra protective for your surfaces.

I found the engineering challenge of this construction method to be a lot of fun, but you could also just knit it as a tube (casting on twice as many stitches as I did) and sew up the ends by hand when the knitting is done. Either way you’ve got a useful and pretty addition to your kitchen, whether you work it in a solid color, stripes or as a stash busting project will all your cotton odd balls.

You can grab the pattern over at Our Daily Craft, or check it out on Ravelry.

40+ Hot Pads You Can Sew For The Kitchen [Sewing]

A Cozy Knit to Calm Your Mind

Double Knit an Infinity Scarf

Next Pattern:

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