Professor Pullover Knitting Pattern, Plus Knitting with Stripes

There’s nothing better than a roomy, boxy sweater on a cold day. It’s just so cozy and easy to wear over leggings (or, let’s be real, pajama pants) and they’re pretty quick and easy to knit as well.

Perfectly Knotted’s Professor Pullover is a great example of a cozy, boxy, oversized sweater (it’s meant to be worn with 15 to 25 percent positive ease) that also has great style because of the addition of simple stripes.

The sweater is a top-down raglan style and offers sizes from 30 to 70 inches in 4-inch increments. There’s also a modification for broad shoulders.

The Professor Pullover is available on Ravelry.

It got me thinking about how much I love a good stripe pattern. While this pattern has the stripes planned for you, did you know there’s such a thing as a random stripe generator? This would be so fun to use if you’re planning a stash-busting project or just wanted to combine a few colors in the same project in an interesting way.

I’ve also used part of the Fibonacci sequence to make stripes. This is where the last two numbers are added together to make the next number (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13…).

If you’re working stripes in a project and don’t want to cut the yarn every time your color changes, here are some ways to carry yarn up the side of the project while knitting stripes.

Also, do you know the history of stripes? I shared this post back in 2013 and had since forgotten what I’d learned, so you should check it out, too!

And speaking of raglans, have you ever wanted to design your own? This post shares designer Kristen Ten Dyke’s process for designing a raglan. It is, of course, math heavy, but she uses spreadsheets to make it easier.

Looking for more great top down sweater patterns? I shared 15 fantastic top-down sweater knitting patterns here.

[Photo: Perfectly Knotted.]

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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