Check out These Booklets Full of Knit Holiday Cheer

It might be a little late to order these books from Leisure Arts to make something for this Christmas, but they’d be a great gift for the knitter in your life (or you) who loves to knit things for the holidays.

The Stockings Were Knit by Mickey Landau includes eight cute stocking patterns: one with a dog theme and a cat theme, one with a cool textured colorwork cuff, one decorated with bells, one with herringbone and a bit of lace (pictured on the cover), on covered with snowflakes, one with a snowy scene and one with a gingerbread man (see some of them on Ravelry). They’re all really cute and best for intermediate knitters.

Beaded Ornaments is a collection of 12 knit balls, with beads worked in different designs, made to slip over a ball ornament (the page on Ravelry is for an older version, but the patterns are the same). There are a variety of designs here including hearts, crosses, zigzags, stripes and diamonds. Because they are worked in the round and include beads, all the patterns are rated intermediate, but they aren’t really that difficult.

Either of these books would be fun to start knitting for next year or to whip up a quick ornament or two for gifts this year.

Are you done with your gift knitting yet? I’d love to hear what you’re working on.

Looking for more Christmas themed Knitting patterns? Check out some of our favorite Knitting patterns on Etsy and

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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