Review: Tweed Yarn Knitting

There’s just something about tweed yarn. The shifting colors are always a surprise on the needles, and the texture of the yarn is great for accessories and garments.

Tweed Yarn Knitting: Over 50 Sumptuous Woolen Projects from Landlust magazine (based in Germany) is a celebration of these fun yarns and includes a ton of projects that would be really great for gift knitting.

The book includes 52 patterns for hats, scarves, cuffs, sweaters, vests, dresses, skirts and home accessories, all made with Irish tweed yarn. Each chapter begins with large pictures of the projects followed by the patterns, which makes it fun to browse for the patterns that catch your eye.

There are so many cute projects here, including headbands, hair ties, wrist warmers and boot cuffs that would be perfect little stocking stuffers. I also love the Jacquard Corset (pictured at top left on the cover) and the father and son Fair Isle pullovers, a sweater for dad and a vest for the little one. There are fantastic, colorful dresses for little girls, and a tunic dress with pockets for women. There’s also a nice range of pillows and bags.

The only problem I see is that there aren’t a lot of sizes for the patterns. The kid’s patterns, for instance, only have one size for each, while the women’s dress comes in two sizes and the men’s sweater in three. A few patterns have three or four sizes, but you need to check carefully before you get your heart set on a pattern, or be willing and able to alter the designs to fit you or their intended recipient.

Still, this is a really fun collection and there are a lot of great patterns that don’t rely on sizing. This book will keep you in fun knits to gift for a long time, and you’re sure to find some things you want to knit for yourself as well.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback with interior flaps, 50 patterns (no skill levels are given, but most are good for advanced beginner to intermediate knitters). Published by Trafalgar Square Books, June 2016. Retail price $23.95.

Looking for more Knitted Headband Patterns? Check these patterns out on Etsy. Headbands are a great gift idea as they knit up fast and are well received by friends and family. Everyone loves wearing Knit headbands right?

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?