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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Knitters are always looking for ways to continue to knit and to wear their knits even when it’s hot outside, so there are tots of great T0shirt knitting patterns to choose from. I love knitting short-sleeved shirts because they feel so much faster than sweaters, and you can wear them on top of dresses or even longer-sleeved items when it gets cooler.

There are lots of different styles of knit tops, from the basic to the more detailed. On the more basic side are things like the Perfect T-Shirt from Originally Lovely, a basic raglan tee with nine sizes and worked in worsted weight yarn; Paper Bloom by Yvonne Hugo (free on Ravelry), available in six sizes and worked with cotton and silk yarn for extra coolness; or Iris H’s Amelia Top, also on Ravelry, a slim fit, DK weight top with nine size.

Jazz it up with a bit of lace like on the Athens Lace Hem top by Sarah Hatton (Ravelry). This otherwise simple project has a bit of lace at the bottom, which is an easy way to make a project more interesting without a ton of work. This one uses fingering weight yarn and comes in nine sizes.

Another simple embellishment is to emphasize the lines of your top with different stitches. The Spring Lines top uses twisted ribbing at the center front and V-neck and along the raglan lines to give it a slimmer fit and more interest. This design from Turquoise Toque Designs has 11 size options and is available on Ravelry.

Silfurberg by Joji Locatelli uses both of these elements, with lace panels at the center front and back and purl ridges throughout to make it a little more fun to knit and to wear. The pattern uses fingering weight yarn and comes in 10 sizes. Learn more on Ravelry.

Keep it simple or add puffed sleeves (and/or long sleeves) to the slim fit Knitty Committee top by Lily Kate France. This one has two length options, waist shaping and optional bust darts to fulfill all your curvy top dreams, and it comes in nine sizes. You’ll find it on Ravelry.

Take it even more romantic with the Daphne Top from Friday Knits, which has puffed sleeves and applied I-cord to emphasize the bust and sweetheart neckline. It comes in eight sizes and uses DK weight yarn.

Or add some sweet flowers with the Gigio pattern from Emilie Luis. This pretty pattern found on Ravelry has cable panels running up the front with the option for adding sweet embroidered flowers. You can also add decorative buttons if you like. It comes in 11 sizes and calls for sport weight yarn.

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