Favorite Patterns from Berroco Designers

It’s not all that often I link to a full newsletter from a yarn company, but in this case I think it’s worth it for you to check out the roundup of favorite patterns of the year from designers at Berroco.

They’ve kindly divided their choices among patterns you can get from them for free and those that are available in booklets, so if you’re on a budget of zero or already have some of their pattern books from this year, you’re all set. And if you have any yarn store gift certificates from the holidays to spend, you may also be all set…

One of my favorites of their favorites is Ipswich, a pretty sleeveless top with a funnel neck worked in stockinette stitch in a sparkly yarn. This would be a great top for holiday parties worked in the yarn shown, or make it in cotton yarn or linen for a cool summer shell that’s a little more casual.

[Photo via Berroco.]

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Santa and Saint Nicholas generally get all the good press, but Central European kids know you don’t want to just be good so you get presents from St. Nicholas; you also want to avoid the ire of Krampus. (He’s depicted as a human-like figure with horns and usually hairy or furry who gives birch rods instead of gifts to kids who are bad.)

If you’re the type to embrace the naughty side (or you just want to scare the children into good behavior over the holidays), maybe you’ll want to knit a Krampus sweater.

This one, from Sofie Amalie Laulund, is a top down circular yoke sweater with Krampus faces at the top and cavorting Krampuses further down the body, with some traditional Scandinavian snowflakes thrown in for fun.

Because of the large motifs there’s not a lot of room for adjusting the fit, but it is available in five sizes (the Ravelry page doesn’t say what the sizing is, and it says its worked with no ease but the photo looks like the sweater has a bit of positive ease, so if you decide to make this one just check the measurements and your own comfort level for ease when picking a size).

It also uses five colors, but there’s very little red and brown so you can probably use scrap yarn for those parts. It calls for DK weight yarn. You’ll want a background color that helps the creatures stand out. You could also work the snowflake bands in different colors if you want to mix it up.

The pattern is available in both English and Danish, and you can find it on Ravelry. This is the designer’s first pattern, which kudos to them because it’s such an ambitious (and fun!) project I’m happy to add to my collection of whimsy-filled knits.

[Photo: Sofie Amalie Laulund]

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