Free Pattern: American 4th of July Evaporative Beverage Cooler

It might seem like it’s a little late to be knitting for the Fourth of July, but you still have time this weekend to stitch up a patriotic craft that will get you through the holiday, the Olympics, backyard barbecues, Labor Day and beyond.

Case in point, this Americana Evaporative Beverage Cooler (I have no idea why it’s called that) from Lion Brand Yarn, pictured at left in the photo. Worked flat in Garter Stitch in Lion cotton yarn, the bottom is red and white stripes and the top is blue, on which you can embroider your own stars if you like when the knitting is done.

It holds a two-liter bottle and will be useful long after this holiday non-weekend is done.

Are you doing any crafting for the holiday? Spill it!

These 4th of July patterns are perfect for your patriotic decorations or for clothing to wear to your 4th of July USA cookout.

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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