Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Hats Off (Or Should that Be On?) for Warmth

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I have been feeling the desire to knit a lot of hats lately, which is kind of funny because I don’t wear hats all that often. I usually only wear mine when my daughter makes me go out and play in the snow, or the cold, but I have to know I’m going to be outside for more than a couple of minutes to make it worth my while.

Maybe I need some prettier hats (though I do really love the funky flat hat I wear most of the time) to encourage me to keep my head warm. Maybe you do, too. Here are some projects to help all of us out.

The Dibdin hat by Amanda Keep Williams for Berroco uses a fuzzy and warm mohair/merino blend yarn and a relatively easy openwork pattern with a sort of cloche shape. Classic and pretty. Gyr from Berroco (this one is by Brenda York) is an earflap hat with a subtle textured stitch pattern.

Tahki Yarns has a great hat and scarf combo (PDF) by Teresa Chorzepa that uses a casual cable pattern and two strands of yarn held together for extra warmth. For the hat the cable is worked sideways in a band, from which stitches are picked up to form the top of the hat. Their Loretta Hat, worked in a fur-like yarn, is easy but also really dramatic.

Plymouth Yarns has a great little mistake rib hat (PDF) worked in super cozy Baby Alpaca Grande that is sure to keep even the coolest head warm. I actually have a bit of this yarn left over from a sweater I knit so I may be adding this one to my list soon.

The Ombre Pom Pom Beanie from Things We Do is super cute and easy, and a great way to use up bits of bulky yarn you might have lying around.

Mirasol’s Llama Una hat is a pretty two-color hat with a really simple colorwork pattern that makes the hat that much warmer. I love this color combination, too.

Have you knit any hats lately? I’d love to hear about it!

Looking for more knitted beanie patterns for Babies? Check these out on Etsy.

Have you read?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.