Books and Other Resources for Sweater Knitting

If you’re inspired to start knitting a sweater this fall or winter, there are some great books and courses out there that can help you get started with confidence.

The 30 Day Sweater is a fun ebook course that takes you step by small step through the process of choosing and knitting a sweater in the span of a month. It specifically looks at knitting a top-down raglan, and it breaks down the task into little pieces that can be accomplished daily (and once you’ve gotten through the first few days of measuring, getting gauge and doing your raglan increasing, it’s pretty simple sailing after that).

My First Sweater is a Craftsy class by Amy Ross with Lion Brand Yarn. It takes viewers through a super simple bottom up, pieced raglan that can be worked either as a cardigan or a pullover. The class gets a little tedious at times but it’s a great one if a lack of confidence is keeping you from casting on.

And speaking of cardigans, My First Cardigan Workbook is a nice little resource for knitting that particular garment from the top down. I wish there were a bit more explanation of what’s going on in the patterns, but if you’re willing to trust the process these are nice basic patterns that will get you started (I also like that even though there are only eight patterns, you get babies and adults up to size 54 covered).

Do you have a learn to knit a sweater resource that you love? I’d like to hear about it and maybe add it to my list!

Looking for knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Looking for pullover and sweater patterns? Check these books out.

[Photo via Craftsy.]

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Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal.

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles.

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges.

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to.

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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