Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Tips for Knitting at the Beach

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It must be summer because I’m seeing a spike in the search term knitting at the beach, so let’s talk about it!

For several years my family went to the beach for our vacations (our teen has since declared she doesn’t like the beach, which is pretty sad for the rest of us) and I have always knit at the beach, as well as in our condo and in the car or airplane on the way there and back. So I have a few ideas on what makes a good beach knitting project.

In general the tips I use for any travel knitting are good for knitting at the beach, too: pack a couple of different projects, generally small, easy to pick up and put down, often something that uses smaller yarn because you get more yardage that takes up less space in your travel bag.

I like socks for beach knitting, though I’ve been known to knit a shawl at the beach, too.

The key for literally knitting at the beach instead of just on a vacation near the beach is that your projects be washable. It’s very likely despite your best efforts that you’ll get sand in your project so you want to be able to wash it when you’re done knitting. (Though shaking it well when you’re leaving the beach will help to get a lot of the sand off, too.)

You might also want to stick to more summery fibers like cotton, linen, bamboo and hemp, both because they’re more easily washable and because they’re not as hot to work with when it’s hot outside. I’m OK with a wool blend sock yarn because it’s not heavy, but this is not the time for knitting a big wool sweater.

Another key is to have a way to protect your yarn as you knit. A small project bag that you can feed your yarn out of is a great idea. A big plastic cup or a zip bag mostly closed will also do in a pinch (and a plastic bag has the benefit of being water resistant).

Finally, when you’re packing your travel knitting kit, make sure you’re not bringing along your most precious supplies. Even if you’re not worried about the question of whether you can knit on an airplane, there’s always a chance with knitting on the beach that something will get lost, stained, bent, broken or left behind, so this is not the time to use your favorite, most expensive needles and notions. Pack things you wouldn’t be too sad to lose and you’ll enjoy knitting on the beach that much more.

Have you ever knit on the beach? I’d love to hear your suggestions!

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Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use. 

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make. 

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!). 

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn. 

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart. 

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern. 

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.