Knit a Sweater for Kids that’s Covered in Fish

Sometimes the trends in the knitting/crafting world surprise me. Like the emotional support chicken. That was one I don’t think anyone expected to take off the way that it did, but it really resonated with people for some reason.

More recently I feel like I’ve been seeing a lot of fish motifs. I guess it hasn’t entirely been recent, since the first catalyst for this I can think of is Caitlin Hunter’s Halibut sweater (see on Ravelry), which came out in late 2021 and has nearly 3,000 projects as of this writing. It’s been big in knitting groups online that I am part of recently (there’s also a cardigan, hat, mittens and cowl if you’d like to wear your fish in some other way).

Then earlier this year I shared a fish-shaped bag, more specifically the Rybka bag, and that pattern garnered a lot of attention from you all. With good reason; it’s adorable.

I also write about cross stitch here at Craft Gossip and have noticed a lot of fish related patterns cropping up, particularly sardines.

The most recent evidence of this trend to come across my screen was the Fischers Fritz sweater pattern from Isabell Kraemer. Apparently the name comes from a tongue twister she helpfully shared on the Ravelry page:

Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz
[Fisherman Fritz fishes fresh fish, fresh fish fishes fisherman Fritz.]

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, the sweater is a super cute top down, circular yoke design worked from the top down with fingering weight yarn. The pattern includes two different fish charts so you can have the fish swimming up or down, or a combination. There’s also an option for working the ribbing at the neckline, cuffs and hem doubled for extra warmth and durability.

The design is for kids and comes in 5 sizes, for kids 2-4 years up to 10-12 years. One can only hope there might be an adult version soon for all those fishy knit lovers!

Check out the pattern and grab a copy on Ravelry.

[Photo: Isabell Kraemer]

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

Have you read?