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).

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?