Explore Houndstooth Knitting with this Fun Hat Pattern

I don’t know why this hat pattern reminds me of Wednesday Addams. I guess it’s because of the black and white motif, which is commonly seen in a lot of her wardrobe, including her iconic checkerboard vest.

Of course you can knit houndstooth in any colors you like, but the high contrast of black and white makes it easy to see the pattern, both while you’re knitting and when you are wearing the hat. And if you’re a fan of SEC football, black and white houndstooth will always evoke Bear Bryant.

In any case, this pattern uses charts to show you how to do the colorwork, but they are easy to read and follow even if you’ve never read a chart before. You’ll quickly get the pattern repeat and be able to complete this cozy hat.

The pattern from Yarnspirations is rated for intermediate knitters because of the colorwork and needing to read the chart, but it’s really easy once you get the hang of it. The only potential issue is if you haven’t worked a lot of stranded colorwork before, you need to make sure that your floats are loose enough that the hat will still be stretchy enough to fit a head when you are done.

Because some of the floats and lengthy, too, you might want to catch the floats on the back as you go so the strands don’t get too long on the inside of the hat.

If you need help with the basics of stranded colorwork, this post from Tin Can Knits covers all the basics, including how to read a chart, how to deal with two colors on the same round, dealing with floats and trapping the color you’re not working with across the back, among other things. It’s a great overview of everything you need to know to knit this hat or any other simple stranded colorwork knitting pattern!

[Photo: Yarnspirations.]

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I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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