Pretty Leaf Knitting Patterns for Fall

It’s been a while (since 2023, it turns out) since I’ve done a post on leaf knitting patterns, so I wanted to share a few more. Leaves are fun to knit, take a small amount of yarn, and they’re great to use in your decor year after year.

I’ve been wanting to knit a scarf made out of knit leaves for years; maybe this will actually be the year I do it! In the meantime, I hope these leaf knitting patterns inspire you to knit up some fall decor.

These sweet little autumn leaves from Everything Shapes Us are similar in design to my dreamed of scarf leaf (though mine would be worked in super bulky yarn). This is a great basic shape to start with if you’ve never knit leaves before. It calls for sock yarn but you can use two strands held together to make bigger leaves if you like.

The little leaves from JaNae Knits are also great beginner projects because they’re worked in garter stitch. These use worsted weight yarn and are so pretty when you work a bunch of them in a multicolored yarn because it looks like your leaves are turning right on the needles! The designer says these are inspired by elm leaves.

If you’d like an array of leaves to knit in a single pattern, this collection from Tiny Knitting includes five different leaves and an acorn pattern for extra cuteness. The pattern notes don’t indicate the weight of yarn used but it looks like DK to worsted (and of course you can use different weights to make different sizes of leaves).

Or if you want your leaves more on the chunky side, check out this pattern for a coaster-sized leaf from 3 Monkeys Inc. This one mostly uses garter stitch as well, and while the pattern shows them being used as coasters, I think this size would be great for knitting a fall leaf garland.

Svetlana Gordo’s Knitted Maple Leaf gives you a ton of options for your leaf knitting. The pattern includes three sizes of leaf and also encourages you to play with the yarn weight. Make a tiny leaf with lace weight yarn you can wear as a brooch, or use super bulky and the larger pattern to make a rug. Either way you’re sure to enjoy this pretty pattern, which you can find on Ravelry.

Vicki Monthe’s ginko leaf knitting pattern isn’t strictly fall, but I found it and couldn’t resist sharing because ginko leaves are such a fun shape. This design calls for fingering weight yarn and comes out to about 3.75 inches wide by 2.5 inches long (that’s 9.4 by 6.4 cm). The designer says each leaf takes about two hours to make. The pattern is free on Ravelry.

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.

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