Knit Up a Blooming Good Hat

I haven’t done a great job lately bringing you whimsical knitting patterns because there’s just so much to talk about in the knitting world this time of year, but I wanted to share this amazing hat that could be your Halloween costume for next year or the hat you wear when you need to be reminded that warm, sunny days actually do exist.

The Bloom Where You Are Planted Hat by Ainur Berkimbayeva has two options for petals so you can make a sunflower or zinnia style hat. The part that covers your head is the center of the flower with the petals radiating out around your head. You can choose to do one or two layers of petals depending on how much yarn you have and how full you want your flower to be.

The pattern has four sizes, to fit a baby, child, small/medium adult and large adult, so you can cover the whole family with flowers if you want. It calls for worsted weight yarn, and you will need three colors for either version.

Ainur says the idea behind the hat is that we shouldn’t be postponing joy until some magical future time when everything is right, because that’s not a time that’s really going to come. We need to hold onto the little bits of happy we can find in our current lives, even if we have to make them for ourselves. And knitting this hat will definitely give you some happy.

This would, of course, be an adorable hat for a baby or little kid, but you should knit one for yourself, too, and shine like the radiant flower you are.

You can get the pattern on Ravelry, and because everyone should be able to enjoy a little knitting joy, there are discount codes available if you’re not able to pay full price.

[Photo: Ainur Berkimbayeva]

Hashtag Beanie Knitting Pattern

Football Beanie Hat Knit Pattern

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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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