Book Review: Urban Knit Collection

I’m not sure why it is that knitters find inspiration in architecture and the urban landscape. The shapes of archways, gates and buildings seem to make a natural translation into cables, textured stitches and colorwork patterns, as well as sometimes being reflected in the shape of garments themselves.

Kyle Kunnecke takes inspiration from cities and architectural styles in his book Urban Knit Collection: 18 City-Inspired Knitting Patterns for the Modern Wardrobe.

The book is full of shawls, scarves, cowls and sweaters, mostly for women but with some garments and accessories for men as well. He talks about his projects as being involved or time consuming rather than difficult, and instead of including a skill level he lists the skills needed to complete a project, which helps the knitter know if they are ready or need to build some other skills first. Some of the techniques are found at the back of the book or explained in sidebars.

Many of the projects are quite detailed, like the D’Amour wrap, worked totally in stranded colorwork that is almost symmetrical but isn’t quite, and which requires seven charts; or the Sunburst shawl, a half-circle speckled with more than 4,000 seed beads.

Some of my favorite projects include the Arabella pullover, a pretty, lacy pullover with the pattern stitch on the front and back and one panel running down the ribbed sleeves; the Savoy cardigan, a boldly patterned design of lines and curves that repeats all over; the Apollo wrap, a giant, Art Deco, Garter Stitch Wrap that will warm up the coolest days; and the Ellington mittens, with a pretty chevron design and a cute button and loop to keep the mittens together when not being worn. (Check out all the projects on Ravelry.)

This is a fun book for knitters who like projects with a lot of detail and interesting inspiration. Fans of architecture and the urban environment are sure to find something they want to knit here.

About the book: 160 pages, paperback, 18 patterns. Published September 2016 by Interweave/F+W. Retail price $26.99.

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

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.

Looking for Yarn online? Check out Lionbrand our preferred source for purchasing yarn online.

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I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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