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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Just about anything you can make in fabric you can make in knitting, but there are some styles that you just don’t see that often translated into knitting.

For example, a button down collared shirt. This is a classic design, of course, and it looks great in a knit version, but it’s just not something you see much of.

Noma Ndlovu’s Guglethu shirt is the pattern to try if you want to knit your own button down shirt. This one is inspired by cashmere tops (though the sample was made out of yak yarn, not cashmere, and uses two strands of lace weight yarn held together) and includes lots of high-fashion details like double-knit cuffs, collar and shoulder seams.

It has a patch pocket on the front and 10 buttons including the button band and the cuffs.

The designer says you can also use a DK weight yarn held singly if you’d rather, and that the shirt looks good in a variety of yarns. There is another version on Ravelry that uses Berroco Remix Light, which is a mix of nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and cellulose fibers. It has a more relaxed look but it still really pretty.

The pattern has 12 sizes, with a full bust measurement ranging from 32.35 to 72.25 inches, or 82 to 183.5 cm. The designer suggests 2 to 6 inches, or 5 to 15 cm, of positive ease when you pick your size. I could totally see knitting one that’s even bigger to wear more like a jacket, because I do that a lot with button down shirts I already own.

I love all the details on this shirt, which isn’t necessarily difficult to knit, but might introduce you to some things you’ve never knit before (like those cuffs with the plackets, or a shirt collar like this).

To learn more about this shirt and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself, head to Ravelry.

[Photo: Noma Ndlovu]

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