Knit a Classic Colorwork Yoked Sweater

The Pleasantville Pullover from Lion Brand Yarn is a pretty classic looking circular yoke, colorwork design. It uses four colors and is worked in the round from the top down.

The colorwork designs are pretty simple, and mostly done with slipped stitches (meaning you’re still only working with one color at a time) so this is a good one to try if you’ve never done colorwork before. The pattern is written out and there are charts if you’re learning how to read charts or just prefer them.

There’s additional colorwork at the bottom of the sweater and on the sleeves for a fun look. You could even use leftovers from other projects for some of the colorwork. While the pattern uses the same colors on the bottom and sleeves as were used in the yoke, you could use different colors there, or different shades of the same colors if you want to. It’s your sweater so you can do what you want!

It calls for Lion Brand Local Grown, which as of this writing is a new product for them. It’s a 100 percent wool yarn that is made from America-raised and shown sheep and that’s also processed in the United States. It comes in 15 colors that all look great together, so it’s a good choice for colorwork projects. And because its worsted weight you’re sure to find lots of different ways you want to use it.

The sweater comes in three sizes and can be worn with a lot of ease or less as you like. The smallest size has a chest measurement of around 40 inches, while the largest is 58 inches. It’s rated easy but it would be helpful to have comfort with working in the round before casting on.

Get the free pattern or purchase a kit with all the yarn you need from Lion Brand.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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.

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