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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Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal.

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles.

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges.

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to.

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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