Review: Cozy Knits

Knitting has long been a textile art in use in most of the world, with different traditions, techniques and colors used in different places. The book Cozy Knits: 30 Hat, Mitten, Scarf, and Sock Patterns from Around the World (edited by Kari Cornell) aims to gather together as many of these styles as possible in little projects sure to inspire.

The book draws inspiration from knits and other objects from around the world, including the knitwear traditions of Iceland, Scandinavia and Peru; one designer’s wedding ring; Chinese characters for good luck; Maori symbols; and a barbed wire collection from a cowboy museum in Wyoming. There’s lots of colorwork and some cables and lace as well. The patterns don’t indicate skill levels but I would say more are for intermediate and beyond knitters because of the techniques used and the heavy reliance on charts.

Some of my favorite scarves include the Icelandic Yoke Scarf by Gretchen Funk, which has flared ends to mimic the decreasing size of a yoke sweater’s motifs as you work toward the neck; the European Cowl by Donna Druchunas, a big, rectangular loop featuring an Estonian-inspired leaf lace motif; and Lucy Neatby’s Pendleton Scarf, inspired by Native American blankets and stained glass.

In the hat and mitten category, I like the Icelandic Leaf Pattern Tam and Mittens from Helene Magnusson, which features colorful, traditional leaf colorwork motifs and Janel Laidman’s Japanese Sashiko Hat and Mittens, inspired by the embroidery technique of the same name and worked in classic blue and white.

For socks, I like the Uppsala Socks by Chrissy Garner, which use traditional Bohus methods including purling as a design element and Anna Zilboorg’s Poppy Socks: Turkish Socks, which have a traditional Turkish hook design commonly found on rugs and other Turkish textiles.

You can see a few of the patterns on the publisher’s website, but the book doesn’t appear to be on Ravelry.

Cozy Knits is a fun book if you like to think about how knitting has been a part of the textile tradition around the world and if you want to play with different motifs and techniques on a relatively small project. It might inspire you to delve deeper into a knitting tradition that you didn’t know much about or might not have known existed.

About the book: 192 pages, originally issued in paperback, now available as an ebook, 30 patterns, published 2021 by Voyageur Press. Suggested retail for the ebook is $24.99.

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?