Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Knit Your First Shawl — It’s a Piece of Cake

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There have been many great innovations in the knitting and fiber arts world in the more than 20 (!) years that I’ve been writing about these subjects online. Different fibers and materials and styles of knitting needles and new tools have made knitting more fun and given us plenty to put on our holiday wish lists.

One of my favorite things to come out of the yarn world in recent history is cake yarns. These colorful cakes feature an array of colors (or tones of the same color), which makes it easy to make a project using a single ball that looks more complicated than it is.

And when you combine a cake yarn with a simple design, it’s a big win. Beginners can make projects that automatically look more complicated just because they’re not a solid color, even though it’s no more work on the knitter’s part.

An example of this is the Piece of Cake Shawl from Maria Wellmert. It’s a triangular garter stitch shawl with a slip stitch edging that’s super simple to knit. The hardest part might be remembering to pay attention to how much yarn you’ve used so you can start decreasing when you need to so you don’t run out of yarn before the end of the project. 

If you’ve been a reader here for very long you might sense that I’m going to suggest this might be a great stash busting project, too. You can use up a bunch of odd balls and make a wild colored shawl, or pick all the leftovers of a particular color that you have to make a more harmonious design. Or anywhere in between. 

If you’re using smaller balls of yarn you might want to make a magic ball before you get started so you don’t have to think about changing yarn as you knit. It’s almost like having a DIY cake of yarn!

You can get the free pattern for the shawl on Ravelry.

[Photo: Maria Wellmert]

Free Knitting Pattern Zig Zag Shawl

One Skein Sock Yarn Shawl Knitting Patterns

 

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Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.