Patriotic 4th Of July Knit Patterns

In honor of Independence Day it seems only fitting to post 4 pictures of July 4th inspired knits (ok, Patriotism is a year-roung gig, but work with me here!).

1. Dave Cole’s American flag installation piece entitled “The Knitting Machine“, was knit on 20′ poles and has been exhibited in galleries worldwide.

2. Mary Jane Mucklestone’s “4th of July Hat” may be too warm to wear today but it’s smart, star-on-top construction will have you singing the Star Spangled Banner, way into the winter. Get the free pattern here!

3. Lion Brand’s “Patriotic Placemats” are the perfect accessory for your holiday BBQ. Start working on them this year to use them nest–that’s two times the Indepenece Day knitting pleasure in one, easy project! Psst…pattern’s free, too!

4. If rather than wearing your patriotism on your sleeve, you prefer desplaying it on your ankles, then the Thinking Knitter’s Flag Socks, is the project for you! It’s a free country, right? Well, so is this pattern. Get it here.

Happy 4th, everyone!

Looking for King Cole Knitting patterns? Check out these King Cole patterns we found on Etsy.

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

Have you read?