Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Sweet Accessories to Stitch for a Little One

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This set of patterns from Lion Brand isn’t necessarily meant to be a set, but I like the look of them all together and a couple of them would make a cute gift for a little one in your life.

The Birthday Pullover is sized for a 12 month, 18 month or two year old child, and the sweet pastel stripes of their Ice Cream yarn makes this sweater simple to knit and fun to wear. The pattern by Amy Gaines includes the option of working surface chain stitch to make it a true birthday sweater, or you can add the child’s name or another word if you’re making it for a different occasion, or no occasion at all.

If you have yarn left over or grab an extra ball you can also make these cute embroidered gift bags, perfect for stashing some sweet little gifts. They also use the Ice Cream yarn, and because the bags are so small you can make about six of them with one ball of yarn. Add embroidery if you like — the pattern suggests a candle, gift box or party hat but doesn’t include images to follow, so you could also do a monogram, the number of the birthday being celebrated, or anything else you like.

Both of these patterns are rated easy, and a baby sweater is a great place to start if you’ve never made a garment before.

This last pattern doesn’t actually go with the other two because it uses different yarn, but I still think it would be cute with the sweater so I’m including it. The Garter Stitch Bonnet is another easy pattern, this time using Feels Like Butta yarn for super softness that’s also machine washable. This pattern has four sizes ranging from newborn to 2 years, so you could make it to go with the sweater or on its own.

It is shown in two colors but you could make it solid if you’d rather. Any or all of these would be so cute to make for your favorite little one.

[Photo: Lion Brand]

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Textured Hat Knitting Patterns

There are all sorts of knitting techniques you can use on hats, but some of my favorites are textured stitch patterns or cabled hats worked in a single color. Check out these great textured hat knitting patterns and find your next fall favorite. 

The K?pekapeka hat from The Practice of Fibre was the one that got me started thinking about textured hat knitting patterns. This one has a simple zig-zag pattern worked with purls. This hat uses centered double decreases for shaping to help keep the pattern going as you finish the top of the hat. It uses worked weight yarn. 

Little Totz Designs has this simple knit hat that uses worsted weight yarn and an allover knit-purl stitch pattern that’s easy to memorize. This one would be a great first hat in the round pattern if that’s something you haven’t tried before. 

The Fia Beanie from Honey and Grace Fiber Co is another simple stitch pattern that’s full of texture. It calls for bulky yarn so it should stitch up in no time in this great textured diamond design. 

Kalurah Hudson’s Cindersmoke hat is an interesting stitch design that uses double moss stitch and bands of slipped stitches throughout the pattern, which is where the decreases are worked, keeping the rest of the pattern as established. It uses bulky yarn and is sized for adults, and you can find it on Ravelry.

Benjamin Matthews has such pretty designs that often turn out to be simpler to knit than they look. The Snow Carved Beanie (find it on Ravelry) for example only uses knits, purls and slipped stitches, but it has a design that looks almost like cables. The pattern uses worsted weight yarn and has a foldover brim for extra warmth. 

While I wanted to keep the focus in this roundup on simple stitch patterns, basic cables are not that much more difficult than regular knitting, and the lattice pattern on this CrissCross Hat form the Purling Princess is so charming I couldn’t resist sharing. This hat comes in three sizes (baby, child and adult) and uses worsted weight yarn. It would be a great gift to knit if you’re thinking about that.