Knit a Little Book Review

There’s something extra satisfying about knitting children’s sweaters. They’re small enough to feel manageable, sweet enough to make you say “just one more,” and they don’t require the same emotional commitment as knitting an adult-sized cardigan that may or may not sit in the WIP basket for three winters.

Knit a Little: 24 Seamless Patterns for Children’s Sweaters and Hats by Marie Greene is a lovely collection for knitters who enjoy practical, wearable children’s knits with a modern handmade feel.

The book includes 24 patterns: 12 children’s sweaters in sizes 0 to 10, and 12 matching beanies sized from preemie to adult. The patterns are based on Marie Greene’s signature seamless knitting style, which means less sewing up at the end — always a blessing, especially if finishing is where your projects go to quietly disappear.

What I really like about this book is that the designs feel classic without being old-fashioned. You’ll find cardigans and pullovers with details like colorwork, cables, and simple texture, but they still look like pieces children could actually wear and move around in. The designs are also gender-neutral, which makes them lovely for gifting, passing down, or knitting ahead when you don’t know who the recipient will be yet.

This book would suit knitters who already know the basics and want to try children’s garments without too much fiddly finishing. It’s especially good if you like small sweater projects, matching hat-and-sweater sets, or handmade baby and toddler gifts that feel a little more special than a quick beanie.

If you’re knitting from this book, I’d keep a good set of circular needles, stitch markers, and a project bag close by. Amazon is an easy place to find the book itself and basic knitting tools, while Mary Maxim is a natural spot to look for yarn if you’re planning a few gift knits or matching sets.

Knit a Little is a warm, useful children’s knitting book with sweet, wearable designs and the added bonus of seamless construction. Perfect for knitters who love making baby gifts, grandchild knits, and small projects that still feel beautifully finished.

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts.

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts.

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects.

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version.

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want.

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do.

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like.

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.

Have you read?