Review: Quick Knitted Scarves

I enjoy little pattern collections that don’t include a lot of knitting instruction but do offer lots of ideas about how to make a particular kind of project.

Quick Knitted Scarves, complied by Amy Palmer and published under the Craft Tree imprint from Interweave, is a large-sized booklet containing 18 patterns for a wide variety of scarves (as well as a shawl and a head scarf).

Most of the projects use allover repeating stitch patterns that are pretty easy to memorize, so there are great projects here for newer knitters. But I don’t want you to think these scarves are plain, either. There are some really fun, dramatic projects here, large scale scarves and fun techniques you might not have tried before.

One of the most interesting ones to me is the Pooling Colors Scarf by Lori Gayle, which involves deliberately knitting with a space-dyed yarn so that the colors pool into stripes. There’s also a fun shaded scarf worked in a simple lacy stitch (the Spectrum Scarf by Eunny Jang) and the Wobble Scarf by Michaela Moore, which uses short rows and asymmetrical shaping to break up the colors of a highly variegated yarn.

There are also simple stripes, chevrons, Moss Stitch, a Garter Stitch triangular shawl knit with two different sized needles, even a striped scarf with knit fringe.

If you’re a fan of scarves, this is a great one to check out.

[Photo via Interweave.]

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Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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