Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Knit Your First Sweater with Easy Raglan Patterns

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I know a lot of people like to start knitting sweaters that are made flat in pieces, and that’s totally fine. That way you can focus on getting the stitches and the shaping right while you’re knitting, but the skills required to finish a sweater well when it’s been knit in pieces are not always things beginners have a good handle on. (It takes practice to make even mattress stitch seams, for example.)

My first sweater was worked in pieces so I didn’t know until it was done that it was alarmingly small. (My second sweater was worked from the top down in one piece, fit correctly and is still in my closet 20-some years later.)

Which is why I want to make an argument for learning to knit sweaters by working in the round. You don’t have to worry about finishing, and, in the case of top-down designs, you can even try it on as you go to make sure it fits.

If you’re looking for a good first sweater knitting pattern, or just want something easy you can modify with stripes, stitch patterns or other embellishments if you like (or leave plain if you don’t, I love a plain stockinette sweater!), try the Step by Step Sweater from Florence Miller.

This free pattern on Ravelry is sized for chest measurements of 90 to 150 centimeters, or 35.5 to 59 inches. It uses worsted weight yarn and you can work in a solid color, add stripes, make it a stash buster, whatever you like. There are two neckline options and the pattern includes videos to help you along, though none of the techniques are that tricky.

If you want to try a bottom up raglan instead, check out Nina Petrina’s children’s raglan sweater. It’s worked in one piece from the bottom up and shown with contrasting hem, cuffs and collar (one of my favorite stash-busting techniques), but here too you can add stripes or other colorwork or patterns as you like. It’s sized for kids 1-10 years (6 sizes in all) and is free on Nina’s website (scroll down for the English version).

The Key to Raglan Cardigans that Fit

A Sleeveless Raglan for Summer

A Great Raglan Pullover to Knit

Have you read?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

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.