Knitting

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Get Inspired by Amazing Colorwork Creations

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colorwork creations

Dot is the winner.

This week I want to get you excited about color knitting. The giveaway this week is Colorwork Creations: Knit Woodland Inspired Hats, Mittens and Gloves.

True to the title, this book includes more than two-dozen patterns (check them out on Ravelry) for warm accessories featuring birds, butterflies, flowers, reindeer and more. The patterns are worked from basic patterns with the colorwork charts of your choice subbed in.

From the book cover:

The gorgeous and cozy projects in Colorwork Creations simply beg to be knit. Choose from more than 30 hats, mittens and gloves that pair traditional Sanquhar knitting motifs with birds and beast of the woodlands. Small enough for a quick-knitted gift, but precious enough to cherish forever, these pieces will delight and inspire for years to come.

If you’d like a chance at this fun book, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, July 2. I’m a little in denial that it’s almost July! Eek! Tell me your favorite thing you’ve knit this year. Mine is finally finishing a couple of sweaters that have been on the needles for a long time.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

 

Comments

  1. I haven’t actually finished anything this year yet. I have several baby blankets in the works, the primary one being a cross-stitch blanket I’m doing for my 2nd due at the end of July that I’ve been trying to push to finish. Then I have a backlog of knit baby blankets for close friends and family.

  2. My favorite knitting project this year are wool fair isle mittens. Would love this book for inspiration .

  3. I love that bird on the book cover! My favorite project this year is a simple colorwork hat which I used to learn invisible stranding. I am a convert; invisible stranding is fiddly, but totally worth it.

  5. Looks like a great book! My sister was here this past weekend and specifically requested something in color work. Thanks for the opportunity!

  6. Yeah. I seem to be having some difficulty getting protects off the needles myself. Luckily the one I did finish was a layette for a bestie’s new baby before she outgrew it.

  8. A lovely chunky cabled hotwater bottle cover ready for the winter in my cold stone cottage!

  9. Every item is my favorite until I move
    on to the next project. I’m currently
    knitting a lace shawl. My favorite 🙂

  10. I’ve made a few shawls that I’m really proud of this year. This book looks amazing. Thanks for this great giveaway!

  11. I love this picturess type knitting! I finished a pair of fingerless gloves & had a enough yarn left over to make a headband ear warmer.

  14. I am so excited to try fair isle knitting. I don’t know which project was my favorite, maybe my grandaughter’s poncho. Always on to the next project.

  16. I’m usually a sweater or blanket knitter, working on one big project at a time. This year has been mostly about quick knits to use up a bit of yarn in a hurry, and I can’t say I have a real favorite of the items I’ve made. I guess the stashbusting itself is the project I like best, and it’s working so I’ll keep going with it for a while.

  17. My daughter an I Love the woodland theme I would have a hard time choosing which one to knit.

Have you read?

Book Review: Knitted Safari Friends – 20 Adorable Animals to Make

If you have a weakness for knitted animals wearing tiny clothes, Knitted Safari Friends by Sarah Keen is going to be very difficult to resist.

This colourful collection includes 20 safari and savannah animals to knit, including a lion, tiger, elephant, flamingo, hippo, crocodile, rhinoceros, zebra and giraffe.

And yes, many of them have their own little outfits.

The lion in purple overalls is probably enough to sell me on the whole book.

Cute Animals With Plenty of Personality

What I like about this collection is that the animals are clearly designed as characters rather than realistic wildlife models.

They are bright, friendly and a little quirky, which makes them particularly appealing as handmade gifts for children or animal-loving adults.

Looking at the sample pages, the hippo and flamingo patterns have a cheerful illustrated layout, with the finished animals shown in little safari scenes alongside the practical pattern information.

There is also plenty of variety in the shapes, which means you aren’t simply knitting the same basic body 20 times and changing the ears.

If knitted animals with interchangeable clothes are already your thing, have a look at our Knitted Wild Animal Friends book review. That collection includes elephants, giraffes, lions, tigers, zebras and other animals with an entire wardrobe of tiny knitted clothing.

Is Knitted Safari Friends Beginner Friendly?

The publisher describes the patterns as easy to follow, and the book includes a techniques section, abbreviations and knitting conversions to help you through the projects.

I would still put this more in the confident beginner to intermediate category rather than recommending it as someone’s very first knitting project.

Toy knitting usually involves shaping, joining pieces, stuffing and finishing neatly, and that finishing stage can sometimes take almost as long as the knitting itself.

Ask anyone who has ever had a finished knitted animal sitting in pieces on the craft table for three weeks waiting for its legs to be sewn on.

For knitters who are still learning the basics of toy making, our Knitted Amigurumi Animal Friends review is another useful option, with smaller animals and simple clothing pieces.

A Great Gift Knitting Book

These would make lovely handmade gifts for children, particularly if you matched the animal to their favourite safari creature.

You could also knit several of them together as a nursery display or create your own little safari collection.

The clothes and accessories add another level of fun, too. Once you’ve knitted an elephant, there is something wonderfully satisfying about then deciding what that elephant ought to wear.

Apparently this is where my crafting priorities are now.

My Take

I think Knitted Safari Friends is one of those books that you buy intending to make one project and then immediately start planning an entire knitted zoo.

The bright colours, cute facial expressions and tiny outfits give the animals loads of personality, while the variety of creatures should keep the knitting interesting.

Sarah Keen has been designing knitted toys for years, and that experience shows in the way these animals have been turned into characters rather than simply miniature versions of real wildlife.

If you enjoy toy knitting, handmade gifts or anything involving animals in overalls, this one is definitely worth a look.

Knitted Safari Friends: 20 Adorable Animals to Make is written by Sarah Keen and published by GMC Publications. It was released on April 21, 2026, with a listed RRP of $26.99.