Book Review: The Knitter’s Activity Book

Remember activity books from when you were a kid? These books often included puzzles, games, stories and more to keep kids entertained while traveling or in periods of waiting.

Sincerely Louise (aka Louise Walker, author of Faux Taxidermy Knits) has brought this idea to the grown-up knitting world with her book The Knitter’s Activity Book.

The book includes patterns, stories, quizzes, puzzles and more to entertain and inspire knitters, though it definitely has a British vibe and the patterns are all animal related (not that that’s a bad thing).

What do I mean by British vibe? American knitters might not get all the trivia questions or pop culture references unless they are steeped in Brit knit designers and shows.

When it comes to the patterns, there are 20 in all, from the lobster dinner featured on the front cover to miniature faux taxidermy farm animal heads and triceratops slippers. A picture book style story about Lola the polar bear looking for a new home features lots of cute animals, from meerkats (one of my faves) to roosters and starfish.

You’ll also find puzzles, knitters math problems, a selection of Sincerely Louise fan and staff projects and more.

It’s a fun book for teens and beyond who already have knitting skills and a love for animal projects.

About the book: 112 pages, hardcover, 20 patterns, retail price $16.95. Publisher’s website

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:

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