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.]

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?