Review: Highland Outlander Knits

I’ve never read any of the Outlander books or watched the television series based on them, but I know the time-traveling romance set in the Scottish highlands is appealing to a lot of people for a lot of reasons. Knitters swoon at the storyline as well as the knits worn by the characters, which inspired designers to take on some of the garments shown in the series or projects inspired by the show and books in the book Highland Knits: Knitwear Inspired by the outlander Series.

Even if you’re not a fan of the series, there are lots of lovely patterns here, starting with the super-bulky, long, reversible, shape-shifting Time Traveler Reversible Vest by Karen Clements. Jennifer Jackson’s triangular Rent Collection Shawl is inspired by Clare’s shawl and uses intarsia to make the striped edging.

Clements’ Lallybrough Shrug is another easy, super bulky project that can be customized to fit, while the Sassenach Cowl by Kristin Brooks is another classic from the show that couldn’t be easier — it’s a Garter Stitch cowl worked with super bulky yarn held double (get the pattern free from Amazon through the end of April 2016). And Kalurah Hudson’s cabled, knee-high Standing Stones Socks are perfect for keeping toes warm on the moor or anywhere else. Check out all the patterns on Ravelry.

Classic Scottish style combines with easy modern elements like large scale and simple stitch patterns to make an evocative collection that’s also easy to fit into everyday life, which is great regardless of whether you’re a fan of the series.

About the book: 112 pages, paperback, 16 patterns (skill level is not given, but most are good for beginner to advanced beginner knitters comfortable with cables and a bit of shaping). Published by Interweave/F+W, April 2016. Suggested retail $22.99. Use code OUTLANDER20 at Interweave to get 20 percent off if ordered before the end of April 2016.

So if you are looking for knitting patterns from the Outlander series then this is a great start to finding the Highland patterns.

Looking to buy your Yarn online? Check out these online yarn specials.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Check out these books dedicated to Knitted Cowl Patterns still looking for more cowl patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts.

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts.

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects.

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version.

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want.

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do.

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like.

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.

Comments

Mckee says
October 26, 2016 at 7:44 pm
I purchased the book a few weeks ago. I just finished the sassanach cowl, and I came very close to running out of yarn on my 50th row. It said to knit 78 rows! And had I knitted all of those without running out of yarn, it would have been way to long and not fit right. So I stopped at 50. And I have a question for you or anyone else that has made the time travelers vest, how many stands of yarn do you use, all 3? Just wondering because it didn’t say.

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