Colorwork Knits for Spooky Season

I guess technically these are all Halloween knitting patterns, but they are really designs that you can knit and use and enjoy all fall long. From keeping your hands and your coffee cozy to making your couch cute, these designs are easy and fun to have on hand throughout spooky season.

Speaking of Halloween coffee cozies, I know I’ve shared this one a few times through the years but I can’t help but shout out my own Halloween coffee cup cozy (which you can also find on Ravelry, where you can see all the cute faces different people have given theirs). I’m thinking of doing more of these for different holidays (finally) so if there’s something you’d like to see let me know!

The Autumn Doodle Cup Cozy pattern from Jamie Lomax on Ravelry is a little classier than mine, and a fun way to use up some leftovers from other projects. It uses DK weight yarn and has options for stitching pumpkins, bats or ghosts on the design.

Or keep it simple black and orange with the Spooky Love Mug Cozy from Elisha Costa (My Comforting Crafts on Etsy). This one uses worsted weight yarn and has a coordinating hat pattern, too, if you’ve ever dreamed of matching your coffee. I haven’t but you know that would be a perfect look for the corn maze.

Moving on to mitts for you, these super cute Spooky Season Mittens by Anna Henriksson on Ravelry are covered in mini motifs for pumpkins, witch hats, ghosts and cauldrons. They come in one size and use super fine yarn to help get all those details.

And if you’re a fan of Hocus Pocus, you’re going to want to knit this spooky seasonal pillow from While They Dream on Etsy. In addition to the bold lettering it’s adorned with a cat, bat and a couple of spiders. It’s worked in two pieces in worsted weight yarn so you can use intarsia for the colorwork.

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I feel like when it comes to things that people are afraid to knit, socks probably top the list. I’ve heard people say they would never knit socks because they look too hard, but really you just need to know a few basic things (and trust the pattern even though it sounds wrong the first time you do it) to master socks.

Denise DeSantis aims to take the worry out of knitting socks with No Fear Sock Knitting. Based on a class on her YouTube channel, it includes all the basic information you need to make sock knitting feel easier, along with eight patterns for both top down and toe up socks.

The book generally covers types of needles and yarn you might use to knit socks, as well as other supplies you will need. It looks at the parts of the sock, different knitting needle configurations used to knit socks, how to read a pattern (including abbreviations and terms you might find in sock patterns), discussion of ease, how to measure your foot and choosing the correct size to knit.

It includes two options each for casting on cuff down and toe up socks, as well as four options for cuff treatment. It explores the heel flap and turn method for top down and toe up socks, as well as short row heels using a shadow wrap (worked with a leg from the stitch below) and a square heel. There’s a discussion of avoiding holes and fixing other problems in heels.

Likewise with toes there are several options, including a wedge toe, round toe and anatomical toe (different on each foot) for both cuff down and toe up socks. There are also tutorials for grafting and Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off, depending on which direction you’re going. There’s also a tips section that covers things like avoiding ladders, changing colors. matching stripes and more.

After all that preparation, there are eight patterns to choose from: short socks worked from the top down that are a perfect first-sock sock, a basic ankle-length toe-up sock, a DK weight sock worked from the top down with different length options, a “vanilla” sock with a short row heel worked top down, an ankle sock with a garter stitch cuff, one with a leg worked in alternating colors with a contrasting heel and toe, a sock worked in a helical stripe pattern and a striped sock with a garter stitch heel.

Three of the patterns are rated at skill level two on a scale of three, while the rest are level one. They’re all pretty straightforward, they just use different techniques you might not have tried before. Since only one is made to be toe up, there are also tips for converting the other patterns to toe up if you’d rather work that way. Each pattern includes three size options.

This book is a nice introduction to sock knitting, with lots of techniques to reference and simple patterns to take the fear out of the process. I’m not sure these are patterns you’ll come back to time and again but they are a good place to start if you’ve never knit socks before.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 8 patterns. Published 2025 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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