Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Check out Vogue Knitting’s Winter Book Sale

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vogue knitting book saleIf you’re in the market for some great knitting books, Vogue Knitting and Sixth and Spring are having their winter book sale, which means you can score books for 25 percent off.

They have so many great books, including the Stitchionary series — so inspiring! — tons of great books by Nicky Epstein, the Cascade 220 quick knit books, and lots of great compendiums of information and patterns from the pages of Vogue Knitting.

And because February is heart month, they also note that they published Knit Red, a lovely book full of projects by top designers worked in red. It raises money for the Heart Truth and raises awareness of heart health issues among women. (It happens that just yesterday I got a copy of Stitch Red, a book with a similar concept full of sewing projects. I can’t wait to dive in!)

If you score any good deals, let me know!

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Textured Hat Knitting Patterns

There are all sorts of knitting techniques you can use on hats, but some of my favorites are textured stitch patterns or cabled hats worked in a single color. Check out these great textured hat knitting patterns and find your next fall favorite. 

The K?pekapeka hat from The Practice of Fibre was the one that got me started thinking about textured hat knitting patterns. This one has a simple zig-zag pattern worked with purls. This hat uses centered double decreases for shaping to help keep the pattern going as you finish the top of the hat. It uses worked weight yarn. 

Little Totz Designs has this simple knit hat that uses worsted weight yarn and an allover knit-purl stitch pattern that’s easy to memorize. This one would be a great first hat in the round pattern if that’s something you haven’t tried before. 

The Fia Beanie from Honey and Grace Fiber Co is another simple stitch pattern that’s full of texture. It calls for bulky yarn so it should stitch up in no time in this great textured diamond design. 

Kalurah Hudson’s Cindersmoke hat is an interesting stitch design that uses double moss stitch and bands of slipped stitches throughout the pattern, which is where the decreases are worked, keeping the rest of the pattern as established. It uses bulky yarn and is sized for adults, and you can find it on Ravelry.

Benjamin Matthews has such pretty designs that often turn out to be simpler to knit than they look. The Snow Carved Beanie (find it on Ravelry) for example only uses knits, purls and slipped stitches, but it has a design that looks almost like cables. The pattern uses worsted weight yarn and has a foldover brim for extra warmth. 

While I wanted to keep the focus in this roundup on simple stitch patterns, basic cables are not that much more difficult than regular knitting, and the lattice pattern on this CrissCross Hat form the Purling Princess is so charming I couldn’t resist sharing. This hat comes in three sizes (baby, child and adult) and uses worsted weight yarn. It would be a great gift to knit if you’re thinking about that.