Review: Small Knits: Casual and Chic Japanese Style Accessories

Japanese knitting patterns are popular around the world for their simplicity of style, timeless designs and easy to understand charts that basically give you the whole pattern without words. It’s not a style everyone loves, but there are plenty of Japanese style knitting pattern books that include a little bit of written instruction to get you started but mostly rely on the charts to convey necessary information.

Small Knits by Yoko Hatta is done in this style. It includes 19 patterns for accessories including hats, mitts, cowls, socks and a shawl.

The book opens with full page, full color photos of each of the projects. It almost feels like a fashion collection in that pieces often repeat motifs or stitch patterns in different ways or projects coordinate with each other.

I love the Nordic mittens, with their wavy multicolored cuffs and detailed colorwork on the hands; the Aran hat, densely cabled and designed so you can flip the brim back and it still looks good; the houndstooth neckwarmer (find more houndstooth knitting patterns here); and the Argyle neckwarmer, worked with intersecting bands of color that make for a colorful and cozy project.

Once you flip through the photos you’ll find the patterns, which include information on the yarn used, needles and other tools needed, gauge and finished size. The pattern is presented as a schematic with the instructions written within and beside the chart. There are also charts for the colorwork and stitch patterns as needed.

These patterns also include a bit more written instruction and some photo (or drawn image) tutorials for techniques such as working magic loop and turning cables. More techniques are included in the back of the book such as cast on methods, how to knit and purl, increases and decreases.

The extra bit of written instruction makes these patterns a nice way to try Japanese knitting patterns with a bit more hand-holding than you would usually get, so if you like these classic designs and want to give Japanese style knitting patterns a try, this would be a good book to check out.

About the book: 80 pages, paperback, 19 patterns. Published 2022 by Tuttle Publishing, suggested retail price $16.99.

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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