Free Pattern: Mother’s Love Hoodie

Moms — and dads, of course! — spend a lot of their time as parents trying to protect their children as well as give them the resources they need to go out in the world without our protection. Though parenting is one job the goal of which is to work yourself out of, it can still be jarring when it’s time for our little ones to go off on their own.

So when knitter Karen King’s daughter decided to take her junior year in high school to study abroad, she wanted to do what any knitting parent would do: cover her child in the love that only a knit garment can provide.

What she came up with is the Mother’s Love Hoodie (available as a PDF on the linked page). The front features OXO cables and a tied ribbing, both of which are meant to express the connections between mother and child. The back of the top-down raglan hooded vest also has a tree of life pattern. It’s a cute, quick knit in bulky yarn that will keep anyone you love warm and protected.

[Photo by Karen King Knits.]

Looking for sweater patterns? Check these books out and these patterns over at Sirdar.

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There’s always room for more stitch dictionaries on your shelf, but Andrea Rangel’s Knitovation Stitch Dictionary is unlike those stitch pattern books you might already own. That’s because this one is full of colorwork stitch patterns rather than textured stitches, lace or cables, so the designs are ripe for adding to hats, sweaters and other projects with a stockinette stitch background.

The book starts with a quick introduction to knitting colorwork that’s also unlike what you’ve probably seen before, because it’s less about the colors themselves and more about the kinds of fibers you choose, how the yarn is prepared and the gauge you’re working at and how those things all change the look of a design.

Most of the book is filled with motif designs and swatches. The motifs were designed and named by Andrea’s husband Sean, who is an artist and brings a bit of whimsy to the designs.

You’ll find some classic looking leaves and flowers, mosaics and waves, but also rubber ducks, penguins, puzzle pieces, cherries and cows, snails and teapots, eyeballs and chess pieces, to name a few. Many of the designs also have funny names, like a fish named toilet bound, or cats in suits called corporate fat cat.

Of course you can use the designs in any way you want on any project you like, but there are also three patterns in the book — for a hat, a sweater and a pair of fingerless gloves — plus discussion of how the motifs were added, adjusting patterns for a different size or gauge, and adding your own motifs.

If you like adding a bit of colorwork to otherwise plain projects that other people have designed, or you’re ready to start making your own designs with fun motifs, this book is a great place to start. The fun and funny motifs are sure to inspire you to want to pick up your needles and add a little more color to your projects.

About the book: 160 pages, hardcover, 150+ motifs and three knitting patterns. Published 2023 by Interweave, suggested retail $28.

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