Houndstooth Knitting Patterns

One of my favorite basic colorwork patterns is houndstooth, and I’m honestly a little shocked I’ve never done a houndstooth knitting pattern roundup before. Now’s the time, thanks to my coming across the Rakish Shawl from The Lamb & Kid Designs recently.

This pattern is free on Ravelry and it looks so cozy. It’s worked in worsted weight yarn and uses mosaic/slip stitch to make the design.

Speaking of cozy, the Hennessey Houndstooth Cardigan from Knit One Purl One Design looks like the kind of sweater I would want to wear all fall long. This one uses DK weight yarn and stranded knitting to make the design (which is the more common approach to houndstooth). It comes in nine sizes and you do need to be able to read and follow a chart to make this one work.

If you’re new to houndstooth, a good place to start might be this super bulky hat knitting pattern from Knotty Gang. It uses two colors and three sizes of needles so you don’t have to mess with increasing or decreasing in the colorwork.

A houndstooth hunting cap is a classic, and this option is from Orochi Knit. This is a free Japanese knitting pattern, meaning it’s in chart form (there are some written instructions but they are in Japanese and I didn’t try to translate it). But it’s very cool looking if you want to give it a try!

Add in a third color for the edges on the Houndstooth Bandana from Jocelyn Tunney and it makes the whole project pop that much more. This one uses DK weight yarn and you can buy it on Ravelry.

This multicolored houndstooth cowl from Yarnspirations was worked with their Pantone yarn, which included small balls of coordinating colors. That yarn has been discontinued but you could do the same thing with mini skeins, or just use one multicolored yarn.

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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