Knit a Classic Striped Henley

I have said this before, but henleys are probably my favorite type of sweater, especially for the non-winter months since a lot of the patterns for them I have seen tend to use lighter weight yarn.

I collected some henley sweater patterns here if you want to dive deeper into this genre.

The Old River Road sweater from Kay Hopkins recently caught my eye because it’s a classic henley look with a few fun details that elevate the design.

First, can we talk about the contrasting color on the button band? So cute. And it’s a super easy thing to do that makes it look handmade. The bands are also worked in double knitting (a little project like this is a great place to learn if you don’t already know this technique) which makes them look great on both sides.

The henley opening is deep so you’ll be working flat for a while, but the bottom part of the sweater is worked in the round. It features an easy allover textured stitch pattern that makes vertical lines, plus narrow, contrasting color stripes on the body and sleeves. Make the stripes all the same color, use an ombre or pull out your mini skeins to make stripes of a variety of colors. It looks like you’ll need nine buttons as well.

The design comes in 11 sizes and is worked in sport weight yarn. Finished chest measurements range from 35 to 69 inches, or 89 to 175.5 cm, and it’s intended to be worn with around 4 inches/10 cm of positive ease. You can always include more ease if you like, and you can make it longer if you want a completely cozy, wear with anything kind of top. Which you know I might just want that.

You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Kay Hopkins]

Book Review – The Knitter’s Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters

The Knitter Behind the “Banshees of Inisherin” Sweaters

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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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Have you read?

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