Sweaters to Knit for Dog and Cat Lovers

I like to share a range of patterns with you all, include free and paid patterns, and projects with a lot of different styles (though admittedly most of the things I share are things I would actually want to knit myself, if I had infinite time and yarn!).

In scouting around for patterns I regularly visit the websites of the big yarn companies that often produce free knitting patterns, and that’s how I found these beauties.

I think I spotted the dog pullover first, but in good, unbiased fashion, there’s also a cat pullover pattern.

Both of them are worked flat in pieces with worsted weight yarn, using the intarsia method of colorwork.

If you don’t know what intarsia is, it’s a method of colorwork where you’re knitting blocks of color, each with their own ball of yarn. So for instance when you start the bottom of the cat’s face you’d have a ball of yarn for your main sweater color, then one for the light gray, one dark gray, another light gray and another one for the background color. You twist the threads as you go so there aren’t gaps in your knitting. It’s really easy once you try it, but yarn management can be an issue.

Anyway, the sweaters both come in seven sizes, with a chest measurement ranging from 42 to 65 inches (it’s clearly meant to be worn with some positive ease). The cat sweater as shown uses five colors, while the dog uses six. It would be easy to make the cat sweater look more like your favorite feline by changing the colors. For the dog you could look for other dog breeds done in knitting charts if you want to alter it to look more like yours.

Both the dog and the cat are available as free downloads from Lion Brand, or you can buy a kit with all the yarn you need.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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.

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