Duck, Duck Knitting Patterns

I feel like I’m seeing ducks (and geese, which we’ll get to soon) everywhere lately, so let’s take a look at some cute duck knitting patterns.

If you want a mallard duck, we have to start with the adorable (and adorably named) Beneduck Cumberquack, which is from Knit for Victory. You can buy just the pattern or the kit, which includes DK yarn, needles, stuffing, beads and thread for the eyes, and a button badge.

The baby duck from Polushkabunny has mallard coloration, and a super cute flower on its head. This one is worked flat using sport weight yarn, and is available for free (email signup required). The pattern includes video tutorials to help with finishing.

How about a duck that’s more like a rubber duckie? J.G. Miller has the Duck Ahoy Duckie, which uses DK weight yarn and was designed as a rubber duckie to hide on a cruise. It’s available as a free download on Ravelry.

Frankie Brown’s ducks are sort of an elevated rubber duckie, because there’s a little more shaping and it has wings. It kind of looks like a pigeon to me, but maybe that’s because I now have Bert and Ernie on the brain. This one can be made in different sizes depending on the yarn weight you use, and it’s a free Ravelry download.

Or there are more realistic looking little ducklings, like this pattern from the always adorable Dot pebbles Knits. This fluffy little duck is worked flat and has minimal seaming as the pieces are joined as you knit. They actually have another version, too, both of which are super cute.

And because I find it hard to resist patterns of ducks wearing clothes, I also have to share the Duckweed Duckling pattern from Huggable Bears. These ducks are worked flat using DK weight yarn and include lots of accessory options such as hats, overalls, a little dress and umbrellas.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to instructional books about knitting. Either focus in one particular technique or kind of knitting (stranded knitting, say, or brioche) or try to cover a little bit of everything in a reference book that knitters will use throughout their careers.

The Knitting Book by Frederica Patmore and Dr. Vikki Haffenden aims to be the second kind. The subtitle is: a step-by-step guide to creating imaginative projects for the home and to wear. I’m not sure it does that, exactly, but it does include a quick look at a lot of different techniques and stitch patterns you might use in your projects.

A “guide to creating imaginative projects” sounds to me like it’s about design, but this book is not. There’s 1/3 of a page about altering patterns that only talks about how to add length to a sleeve and adjust where the increases go.

There’s nothing about measuring your body (the section on choosing a size in a pattern only suggests measuring a garment you already own), general garment construction, ease or stitch pattern multiples. The section on gauge (which is the last third of the page with choosing a garment size and altering patterns, discussed above) just says to knit a swatch, block and measure it to compare to a pattern, with no discussion on how you might use your swatch to design your own project or alter a pattern to meet your gauge.

If you ignore the subtitle, what you will find is a lot of information about different kinds of knitting and various techniques you might want to try on your projects. There are 20 cast ons and 15 bind off options, for instance, all discussed before you learn how to knit or purl. (Another quibble I have with this book is the order in which things are presented, but that’s relatively minor.)

You’ll find quick hits on increases and decreases, twists and cables, lace, colorwork, textured effects like fisherman’s rib and brioche, loops, mosaic knitting, double knitting, decorative stitches, shadow knitting, bias knitting, mitered squares, entrelac and more. There are tips for selvedge stitches, knitting with beads, adding buttonholes, picking up stitches and more.

A few patterns at the back give knitters a taste of some of the techniques included, but they’re not rated by skill level and the first one is a bias knit gradient scarf worked in six different colors of mohair, which isn’t a thing I’d wish on any beginner.

And I guess that’s maybe what my issue with the book is. I don’t know if it’s meant for beginners and it doesn’t seem to, either. I feel like this book would be overwhelming to new knitters and doesn’t really give you a place to start or all the information you might need to do projects well.

The variety of techniques included is fun, and there are also stitch patterns in the back you can use on your own projects, but again it doesn’t really provide any guidance for how to design your own projects so I don’t know how helpful all of that is.

I want to like books like this because having one reference that helps you with a lot of different things is great, I’m just not sure this is the one. If you can find it at your library or local book store and flip through it before buying, I think that would be a great idea to see if it’s a book that would be helpful for you.

And if you have this book and love it please let me know! I’m sure it’s good for someone I’m just not sure who.

About the book: 336 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by DK. Suggested retail price $40.

Have you read?