Knit Some Projects in Red, White and Blue

I always feel a little weird sharing patriotic (American) knitting patterns on this site, run by Australians and with a worldwide audience. I know a lot of our readers are American (like me!), and I also know that red, white and blue projects can become patriotic for lots of other countries, or the colors can be changed to whatever your nation’s flag is.

So while these patterns are big on red, white, blue, stars, stripes and even an eagle, you might be able to alter them to celebrate a different country, or even a sports team if you wanted. For more America-specific patriotic knitting patterns, check out these Fourth of July knitting patterns, and these patriotic American patterns.

This stars and stripes tote bag from Knitting Knicely on Etsy is a great example of what I’m talking about. It’s super cute with stripes in red and white, and the blue section even has 50 stars, just like the American flag. But if your flag has two or three sections of color, just divide up the length and make solid bands of color instead. Either way you’ve got a great, sturdy bag made with worsted weight yarn and a little national pride.

These tiny patriotic doll sweaters from Elena Alexeeva (Ravelry) would also be cute with a solid heart or stripes of the national flag of your choice. They’re worked in fingering weight yarn and are made to suit dolls or animals about 11-12 inches/28-31 cm tall.

Stars and stripes socks would be fun to knit and wear any time of year, even if you aren’t American. This design from Nadia Perepelitsa is available on Ravelry.

The Betsy Ross Beanie from Etsy seller Not Enough for Soup in mostly a solid color with a flag motif on one side. It uses fingering weight yarn and the flag is worked in intarsia. Add the stars as you go or stitch them in later with duplicate stitch.

And OK, this patriotic eagle pot holder isn’t red, white and blue, but it totally could be. I just couldn’t resist sharing this double knit masterpiece, which I would absolutely use all year long. This one is worked in fingering weight yarn and it’s also from Knitting Knicely, but I can’t find it on her Etsy shop so you’ll have to grab this one on Ravelry.

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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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