Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Take it Easy with a Bulky, Textured Sweater

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If you’re looking for a sweater that embodies afternoons sitting by the fire, reading and knitting with a favorite warm beverage at hand, it might just be the Easy-Going Sweater from Bernat.

It’s worked in chunky roving yarn, with an ample funnel neck, boxy shaping and an allover texture pattern. I think you’d call it a variation of fisherman’s rib, as it’s worked by knitting in the row below on some stitches in one round of the four-round repeat.

The sweater is worked from the bottom up in pieces, starting with twisted ribbing. The shoulder seams are sewn together, then you pick up stitches around the neckline and work the collar piece in the round before finishing sewing the rest of the project together.

It comes in six sizes and is meant to have a lot of positive ease. The actual size of the sweater ranges from 41 to 64 inches at the bust, or 104 to 157.5 cm. But the smallest size is meant to fit an actual chest measurement ranging from 28 to 34 inches, or 71 to 86.5 cm. If you’re in the middle of the sizing you may be able to choose a size that would give you less ease if you prefer, but it is meant to be a super cozy, oversized design.

The pattern page includes a video tutorial that walks you through how to do your swatch and demos a tiny version of the sweater in case you need any help working any of the stitches or putting it together. I would have said this wasn’t ideal as a first sweater because of the textured stitch pattern and because roving can be a little tricky to work with, but the video definitely helps if you have any questions.

The pattern has a skill level rating of easy and is available for free on the Yarnspirations website.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

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Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.