Knit Some Moo-velous Socks – Sock Knitting Pattern

I am not a huge fan of cows, but I will admit they are kind of cute as a motif for socks.

The Herding Cows Socks from Stone Knits feature a whole herd of cows all over the cuff and foot. The cows are worked with stranded knitting in the round, and sometimes you will have three colors to work in a single round, but you could also work the details with duplicate stitch instead.

They call for four colors of yarn, including three for the cows and one for the background of the sock, but you can also work the cows in different colors to make it even more fun.

The socks are worked from the top down with a ribbed cuff and a short row heel.

The designer says they were inspired by life in Switzerland, which is full of cheese, chocolate and cows. From the description:

The Herding Cows Socks are a celebration of cows, grazing on alpine pastures and the star of so many peaceful, Swiss mountain scenes. Whether you choose classic black and white cows or opt for a whole herd of different colours, you’ll enjoy watching them knit up and appear in their grassy green pasture. Perfect for cow lovers, farm enthusiasts, or anyone who enjoys a bit of barnyard whimsy in their sock drawer.

They even used my favorite word, whimsy! A designer after my own heart.

The Herding Cows Socks come in three sizes so you can get the perfect fit for your feet, and while the pattern was written to use the magic loop method for working in the round, you can also use double-pointed knitting needles or two circulars if you prefer.

Pattern instructions are available in English and German. You can find the pattern on Etsy and get ready to knit until the cows come home!

[Photo: Stone Knits]

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.

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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