Fashion Trends You Can Use in Your Knitting

This time of year knits, if not exactly knitting, are in the news a lot. Everyone wants to don a knit sweater, hat or accessory to stay warm and look fashionable through the season.

I’ve written before about knitting related fashion trends (giant scarves and cowls, and in general anything bulky) but today I’ve got a few more for you.

The Guardian has declared 2015 the year of the pom-pom beanie, which it describes as “one part library geek, one part glamour,” and saying “this hat channels that adorbs Instamodel thing where they go out for casual pizza nights and take squad photos looking gorgeous pulling silly faces. And you don’t even have to wash your hair.”

The examples shown in the story are mostly furry not yarn pom-poms, but of course we can make our own and add them to our own handknit hats.

Another stylish accessory of the moment we can make ourselves is the knit headband. PopSugar recently put together a slideshow of options, most of which we could easily knit ourselves. Look above to see the crazy simple knit headband from Barney’s that costs, I kid you not, $125. One case in which you can easily knit it yourself for less, even if you use cashmere. Get started with my collection of headband knitting patterns.

One knitting-related trend you might not want to DIY is sweater nails. Using gel polish and a dotting tool, you (or a trained professional, let’s be honest) can make textures on your nails that look like cabled sweaters. They’re really cute but I’m guessing I don’t have patience for such a thing. How about you? Would you do it?

Looking for more Knitted Beanie patterns? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Looking to buy your Yarn online? Check out these online yarn specials.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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