Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Gifts to Knit for Father’s Day

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Father's Day knitting patternsFather’s Day is coming up soon, and if you want to knit something sweet for a dad in your life, now’s the time to start!

I have collected some great patterns for Father’s Day in previous years, but here are a few more ideas for you, too.

If the dad you’re knitting for likes coffee or tea, a knit cup cozy is a great idea. Here’s one from Knits’ End I shared a few months ago, but of course there are tons out there, such as:

just to name a few. Or stitch a bottle cozy such as the Root Beer Bottle Cozy from Random Heather or the ribbed bottle cozy from Laura’s Knits.

Red Heart has some great, easy patterns for Father’s Day knitting. Some of my favorites are the Men’s Mosaic Vest, Garter Stitch Neckties and the easy Slippers for Him.

Or try a laptop sweater from Just B Crafty. I actually gave my husband a Kindle Cozy the other day, and patterns for the old-school Kindles still work pretty well on newer versions. A couple of options:

And speaking of knitting for guys, we had a little mishap with our spam filter the other week when I was giving away copies of Boyfriend Sweaters, so go enter that giveaway if you didn’t get a chance. With the end of school and vacation, it will be a couple weeks before I catch up on giveaways anyway.

 

Have you read?

Knits for the Table for Thanksgiving and Beyond

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long. 

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders. 

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well. 

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn. 

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions. 

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table. 

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter. 

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.