Tips and Projects for New Knitters

This is a perfect time of year to learn knitting if you haven’t already done so, to brush up on your skills or to teach someone else how to knit.

Over at About I have a great collection of links to tutorials, easy patterns and tips that should get you going when learning to knit.

Nicole from Darn Good Yarn also has some thoughts to help beginning knitters that you might want to check out. My favorite is her advice to check out online resources, because there’s really a ton of great information out there, from online tutorials to videos and tons of free patterns. But don’t be afraid to go to a class at a local yarn shop if you have access to one; there’s nothing better than learning from a real-life person.

If you’re learning to knit this year, I’d love to know what you need help with. And if you’re a more seasoned knitter I’d love to hear your advice for new knitters.

Mine is just to stick with it! I know everyone says knitting is great for stress relief and it doesn’t at all feel like that in the beginning, but in time it will get easier and more comfortable and it will really be the best thing you can do with your time.

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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