Use Your Stash on this Stranded Knit Sweater

I am known to be a big fan of stash busting projects (I even have a whole little ebook about it!) so when I saw the Stowaway pattern from Wool & Pine I knew I had to share it, and I might just have to make it, too.

The body of the sweater is a solid color, but the sleeves and kangaroo pocket (!) are worked in stranded knitting, which you can make match across the pieces if you have a lot of the same colors, or you can mix it up and use all your odd balls in one place. Or you can use fewer colors than are called for and use a great amount of each color if that’s how your stash works.

This project calls for DK weight yarn, and the pattern lists the weight in grams for each color used so you can go hunting in your stash for just the right thing. And if you don’t have enough leftovers, you can leave off the pocket, though that seems pretty drastic (there’s a cropped and pocketless version shown on the pattern page on Ravelry if you want to see what that looks like.

The pattern comes in 10 sizes, ranging from 32 to 66 inches, or 76 to 168 cm in the chest. It’s meant to be worn with 2-6 inches/5-15 cm of positive ease depending on what works for you. And as mentioned if you don’t want a pocket you can knit a shorter version, or do the longer sweater without a pocket if you’d rather. It’s made by picking up stitches at the bottom front, knitting flat and attaching to the body at the top with mattress stitch; no seaming required!

Check out all the options and grab your copy of the pattern from Ravelry, or buy direct from Wool & Pine.

[Photo: Wool & Pine]

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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