Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

If You Don’t Like Swatching, Read This

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gauge swatchesI don’t know if you know that I’m a pretty big proponent of swatching, but I am. I understand the need to get to know a yarn before you use it, enjoy the time playing with a stitch pattern or colorwork design before the finality of the full project, and I know as a designer that I just need to know what my gauge is rather than setting out with a guess of how many stitches I need.

(I will say, however, that I don’t just swatch for swatching’s sake. I’m willing to take a gamble on something like a scarf, just guessing at what needle size and number of stitches will give me the gauge and the width I want. I did this last night, in fact.)

Clara Parkes is a swatcher. I mean, it’s a big part of her job at Knitter’s Review to test yarns, and that means swatching and then trying to mess up the swatch through wear.

But she appreciates swatching for its own sake as well, as a form of meditation and a time to listen to the yarn, see what it can do and figure out what it wants to be.

She set out her feelings on swatching in what she calls the Swatcher’s Manifesto, and if you’re not a swatcher you should read it and see what the fuss is all about. If you are a swatcher you should read it, too. It’s OK to feel a little superior.

Are you a swatcher? Why or why not? I’d love to know!

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.