Practice Short Rows with This Colorful Knit Blanket

I feel like there are a lot of things in knitting that seem hard until you do them. Everything from cable knitting to lace to knitting socks just sounds hard and weird until you try it. Once you understand what’s happening and learn to trust the process, you’ll probably wonder why you hadn’t tried that technique before.

Short rows are one of those things in knitting that gives some knitters pause (and it’s part of why socks seem hard because shaping the heel just sounds weird in words).

If you want to learn how to do short rows and master them in a short amount of time, try the Cozy Claws Knit Blanket from Yarnspirations.

Designed by Erin Black, in is made in blocks of two colors worked in wedges that are shaped with short rows. Because the project is worked in garter stitch this is about as easy as short rows get, and you’ll get a ton of practice making them as you work this blanket.

The pattern calls for five colors of bulky weight yarn (specifically Patons Inspired, which I had never heard of before, but it’s a bulky acrylic and wool blend that’s great for fall and winter knits and is machine washable) and comes out to about 43 inches or 109 cm square. It’s a great size for a little kid or a blanket for tummy time for a baby.

But because the blocks are worked separately you can make your blanket any size you want. And of course you can make it a stash busting project and use even more colors if you have leftover bits of bulky yarn from other projects. Just make sure if you plan to machine wash this blanket and are mixing yarns that all of them can be washed.

You can grab the free pattern for the Cozy Claws Knit Blanket from Yarnspirations.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

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