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Giveaway: Animal Knits for Kids Books

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wina copy of two sweet animal knits for kids books

Congratulations to Patty!

Kids in garments that look like animals are always really cute, and this week I have a couple of fun animal knitting for kids books, perfect for a new parent, grandparent or someone who just loves to knit for little ones.

Gramma Nancy’s Animal Hats by Nancy Nielsen includes patterns for hats and booties inspired by animals. They range from bears and bunnies to monkeys, turtles, chickens, cats and dogs, and they all use pretty simple techniques and Vanna’s Choice yarn, so they’re a good value and machine washable.

And Animal Knits for Kids by Amanda Berry has 30 projects for babies and little kids inspired by the zoo. It starts with an adventurer outfit and goes through the jungle, reptile house, polar regions, tropical seas and forest. Garments and accessories are included, such as the tiger jumper on the cover, a coiled snake toy, penguin mittens, a shark hooded vest and a hat with reindeer antlers, to name a few.

For a chance to win both of these books, leave a comment on this post. Why not tell me what your favorite animal is, or whether you’ve ever knit an animal-inspired project. (When I was a kid leopards were my favorites, and my daughter has a fondness for penguins, in case you were wondering.)

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

Comments

  2. I love penguins, my granddaughter loves monkeys and I am hoping to be able to knit her some fun hats with a monkey or something else cute! thanks 🙂

  4. I’m currently working on a fox hat for my grandson. These books are full of fun things I co knit for Jaxon.

  6. I’ve crocheted a couple of the cute hooded cowls with fox ears. But I’m a new knitter and would love more cute patterns like this.

  12. My favourite animals are otters and snow leopards. My daughter adores owls and my son, penguins!

  15. I like cats, dogs, foxes, pretty much anything furry. I knit a fox hat for my younger daughter last winter. I also knit a cow-spotted sweater for the same daughter when she was a baby.

  16. I have needed crochet an animal themed item. I think I would enjoy doing a lion when I was a kid.. My granddaughter would want me to make anything that looks like a house cat.

  17. I knit foxy-scarves for our two older DGDs in 2014. They looked wonderful and were scarves they loved to wear. One of our DDs loved black and white animals (penguins, killer whales, zebras, pandas, etc.). She was torn between two careers–concert pianist or accountant. Both black and white occupations!

    from too darn cold VT,
    the Vermonster

  18. Have never anything with an animal theme. So many really cute patterns to choose from now. My daughter would love to have a fox hat.

  19. I knit a couple of animal sweaters for our son when he was little: one had a whale, wrapped around the sweater’s body with the tail on the back of the sweater and then a dinosaur sweater. Now it’s bunny hats for the granddaughters! Would love more ideas!

    Favorite animal? Probably a cat; one that’s past the kitten stage.

  21. A giraffe … they’re just cool! Can’t recall knitting a animal anything, but I could be forgetting!

  22. I like cats, bears, hedgehogs, pandas, really any animal! I’ve knitted a few cats but I haven’t do any other animals yet. But some parakeets are up next on my list.

  23. I love cats and knitted a little cat toy for my cousin’s baby. I should knit more of them for the new babies in my life.
    wahoomerryf on Ravelry

  24. My fav is definitely chickens (or exotic birds in my case as you aren’t allowed to have chickens). I’d make adult sizes of the cover hats.

  25. I love all animals ,but I have to say that horses are my favorite.
    I do and will alway knit animal inspired projects. I’d love to have these books to use.

  26. I have done a zebra. And many kinds of creatures – but not many animals!! So many to try… not enough time to do them all!!

  27. I think the animal hats I make are cute until I see someone else’s…this is definitely a “gotta have” to add to my cache of ideas. Turning a spider man one over in my mind now, and I will figure it out…soon I hope. :>)

  28. I like elephants and knit my grandson an elephant lovey. It turned out pretty cute. I think that kids respond well to animal knits.

  29. I regularly crochet small animals as soft toys to give away and would love to branch out into these sweet hats. The chickens are so cute!

  31. I am a beginner knitter so I haven’t the knowledge to make fancy animals. Ready to expand my horizons!!

  34. My 9 year old is currently obsessed with anything to do with racoons because of Rocket, and my toddler loves hats of all kinds. I totally want to make those chicken hats!

  35. My husband and daughter are obsessed with red pandas. I am planning on making both of them hats when I find a pattern that I can modify (my daughter is 22 🙂 )

  37. I’ve just finished little booties for my unborn niece. I’d love to make an animal hat to match and these are cute!

  38. As I have a new grandson (first grandchild) and I know my daughter-in-law would love an animal hat for him, these books would be inspiring and I’d have fun knitting him one – well, one every year until he refused to wear them!!! A koala hat would be fun.

  39. I would like to make a sheep hat and chicken one for my Grandson but he loves animals so would like them all

Have you read?

Book Review: Knit an Heirloom Blanket

It’s kind of coincidental that I recently posted about patchwork blanket knitting patterns right before reviewing a book that makes a patchwork blanket, but this one would also be a great choice if you’re looking to bust some stash and learn a lot about colorwork knitting at the same time. 

Knit an Heirloom Blanket by Annah O’Leary includes charted designs for 50 colorwork blocks worked flat that can be combined to make a blanket or used in other projects. The book calls for worsted weight yarn but also offers suggestions for using fingering, DK or even bulky yarn, which will give you blocks of different sizes.

It opens with a section on materials and tips for choosing colors and maintaining contrast among blocks across a large project. There’s also information on how to read charts and colorwork basics such as maintaining tension, measuring gauge, catching floats, holding yarn and yarn dominance, among other things.

There are 196 squares (14 by 14) in the blanket shown on the cover, which, including the edging, makes for a blanket that’s about 79 inches, or 200 cm square knit in worsted weight yarn. You can adjust the size as needed by working more or fewer blocks, especially if using a different weight of yarn. 

The sample was worked in Cascade 220 and the book includes the amounts of yarn used in each color so you can knit a blanket exactly as shown. Or use stash and leftovers from other projects to make a possibly less harmonious but more meaningful project. 

Colorwork patterns are arranged into 10 themes: flowers, tiles, diamonds, stripes, peaks, woven, sky, leaves, lovestruck and architecture. They’re also rated by skill level on a range of 1 to 3 balls of yarn. If you’re newer to knitting or colorwork in particular, you can start with the easier squares and move up as you build more skills. 

Each pattern is shown as a large black and white chart with three or four possible color variations, though or course you can also go your own way on the colors. There’s also a knit sample of each block pictured at the beginning of each pattern section.

There’s also a section to help you finish your blanket, including tips for weaving in ends, blocking, joining squares and adding a border. She also suggests different project sizes and color palettes for smaller scale projects.

In addition to the big blanket there are five other project ideas including a baby blanket made of 6 by 8 squares, a hot water bottle cover, a couple of pillows and a wall hanging. These are sure to give you ideas of different ways to use the blocks in other projects. 

Knit an Heirloom Blanket includes lots of fun colorwork blocks and ideas for using them that are sure to appeal to those new to colorwork as well as those with more experience. Even if you never knit a full blanket with them, you can add these motifs to your collection to work in other projects. 

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 50 charts and 6 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $25.99.