Knit Matching Socks and Sweater with Black Cats

I feel like I write about cats a lot, but looking back there don’t seem to me as many posts on the subject as I thought there were. (I did find a cat sweater and a pair of socks to get you started.) I am a sucker for cats in craft projects, particularly black cats, because we have a black cat and a tuxedo cat in the household.

So when I saw the Shadow Socks from The Petite Knitter, I knew I needed to add them to my to-knit list (and share them here!). The socks include two color corrugated ribbing, lots of little bits of colorwork, and a band of black cats standing in front of the moon(s) around the leg.

They’re inspired by a tuxedo cat named Shadow, who you can see in some of the photos.

They’re worked in the round from the cuff down and use a chart for the colorwork and afterthought heels. You can work them with opposite colors on the cuff, heel and toe or make them match if you’d rather.

The socks come in four sizes and the pattern coordinates with Nocturnal, a top down mock turtleneck with the same corrugated ribbing at the neckline and other edges, and the same kinds of colorwork patterns found on the socks.

The sweater calls for DK weight yarn and has a circular yoke. It comes in 10 sizes, with a chest measurement ranging from 36 to 80 inches (or 91 to 200 cm) and is meant to be worn with 4-7 inches/10-18 cm of positive ease.

Both designs use three colors of yarn. The sock pattern is available in English, Spanish and French, while the sweater pattern is in all of those languages as well as Korean.

You can purchase the sock pattern and/or the sweater pattern directly from The Petite Knitter’s website.

[Photo: The Petite Knitter]

Waves Socks– Free Knitting Pattern
These cozy Waves Socks are a lovely choice if you want a handknit sock pattern with a little texture but nothing too fussy. The gentle scallop stitch creates a soft wave effect, making them pretty enough for gifting but still practical for everyday wearing. They’re worked in light worsted weight yarn, so they knit up a little faster than fine sock yarn socks too.

Ladies Lace Top Socks – Free Knitting Pattern
These Ladies Lace Top Socks are a sweet step up from a basic handknit sock, with a delicate lace cuff that adds just the right amount of pretty. The rest of the sock is worked mainly in stocking stitch, so it’s a nice project for knitters who are ready to try sock shaping without making the whole thing overly complicated. A lovely handmade gift idea, especially if you use a soft 4-ply sock yarn.

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

Have you read?