Projects to Knit for Valentine’s Day

It’s kind of funny to me that I can come up with different things to share for Valentine’s Day every year, but here we are with another roundup of Valentine’s Day knitting patterns. (For some old ones, check out hats with hearts, quick Valentine’s Day projects and more projects with hearts.)

This little heart garland from Little Red Window caught my eye this time. My daughter has a garland of felt hearts that’s been hanging in her bedroom for years, but this is a super cute handmade option. It calls for worsted weight yarn and is actually knit in one piece so you don’t have to sew all the hearts together.

Cables are a fun way to make hearts, and you can practice your cable knitting with this cute washcloth pattern from Oh La Lana Designs. There are actually two versions of the pattern, one with a single cable panel up the middle and one with two panels as shown.

Or how about a heart shaped washcloth or dishcloth? The Practical Little House by Heidi Kirrmaier (free download on Ravelry) uses worsted weight cotton and is worked from the bottom up until you have a square, then you pick up stitches for the curved bits.

If you’ve got a baby in your life you want to knit a special sweater for, check out the Valentine Baby Cardigan from Love Life Yarn. This project uses worsted weight yarn and comes in three sizes for babies up to 18 months. It’s worked flat in pieces and seamed, with the heart worked in intarsia. The front zips and it includes a hood.

Caitlin Hunter’s Cold Hearts Cowl has flowers that look like hearts and is a pretty easy two color cowl knitting pattern. Worked in the round in heavy DK or worsted yarn, it’s a pretty quick project that’s perfect for practicing stranded knitting. Grab the pattern on Ravelry.

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Magical Woodland Knits by Clare Garland is a few years old as I write this, but it’s such a fun book I couldn’t resist sharing it. Step into a magical forest full of realistic woodland creatures including rabbit, deer and squirrel, birds and mice, to name a few.

In all there are 12 creatures, and though they are rather small (the wolf is the largest at 14.5 inches/37 cm tall and 18.5 inches/47 cm long), they are so detailed these are definitely not projects for new knitters.

One of the smaller projects, for example, is the robin, at 5/5 inches/14 cm long. It calls for nine different kinds of yarn. Sometimes some are held together, while others are worked with on their own. This pattern only includes three pages of instructions, but the print is rather small and in that time there are six different sets of short rows. None of this makes it too difficult for a knitter with experience reading detailed patterns, working short rows and working with multiple strands of yarn at once, but it’s worth knowing going in that even for small projects you’ll need a lot of supplies and time to work on them.

These are also not meant to be children’s toys, as they can include wires and other supports that could be a danger to little ones.

The process photos often look like taxidermy on a tiny scale, with little animal pelts stretched out and tons of stitch markers showing where and how things go together.

The finished animals are so pretty it’s certainly worth the effort to stitch up these creatures. You might be tempted to make all 12 and set up your own forest scene or use them to decorate your Christmas tree. You can check out all the patterns on Ravelry.

Along the way you’ll also find a little folklore about the animals, charming drawings and pretty photos of the finished animals, too. In the back you’ll find some helpful techniques like picking up stitches, making I-cord and working short rows.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 12 patterns. Published 2020 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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