A little while back I shared my post about how to increase knitting stitches, so now it’s time to take them away. There are a lot of different ways to decrease stitches, just as there are a lot of ways to increase stitches, so my collection isn’t exhaustive, but it does cover the most common knitting decreases you are likely to encounter as you begin your knitting journey. For example, knit 2 together. This is probably the most common decrease out there, and if you don’t care how it looks you can use it most of the time. It’s often paired with a slip, slip knit or SSK, though, because a knit 2 ..read more

Back in 2020, Taylor Swift delighted music fans and knitwear lovers alike with her album folklore, which has a song called “Cardigan,” the music video of which features that article of clothing. She also sold cardigans like the one in the music video and sent them to friends and others around the same time the album came out. The original cardigan is a cable knit and textured sweater with blue stripes on the cuffs and button bands, and appliqued silver stars on the sleeves. There have been several knit replicas of the pattern made through the years, but I recently came across the Folklore Card ..read more

Sometimes when I’m scrolling through Ravelry something will just catch my eye because it’s weird or pretty or fun or cheerful. The Sun Sun Sun Shawl from Åsa Tricosa is definitely pretty and fun and cheerful. It’s an asymmetrical triangle with a narrow lace border along one side and a deeper lace border along the long bottom edge.  The lace design looks a bit like shells, or flower petals, or maybe even the sun coming up over the horizon after a long, cold, lonely winter. (The shawl is in part inspired by the song “Here Comes the Sun” as well as a way to honor the life of artist Steve Har ..read more

Admittedly this roundup of patterns is a little niche, but I was looking at colorwork sock knitting patterns and happened to find a lot that include animals or are inspired by animals, so why not take a walk on the wild side and knit some animal inspired socks? It all started, as most things do, with cats. In particular the Hubble Bubble socks by Abi Marshall-Smith, From Devin with Love. These sweet stripey socks have little black cats on the backs of the heels, so you’ll definitely want to wear them when you aren’t wearing shoes. The pattern comes in three sizes and is available on Ravelry. A ..read more

I knew I wanted to share this particular knitting pattern with you (mostly because I really want to knit one, too) and I grappled with the idea of whether it was time to pull together a roundup of tank top knitting patterns. I think it might be a little early in the season for that, at least where I live, but I promise to have more tank top and summer top patterns for you soon. In the meantime, I think Maxie’s Tank Top pattern from Ainur Berkimbayeva deserves its own post. This sleek V-neck is worked in one piece from the top down. It uses fingering weight yarn (in particular, Knit Picks Lindy ..read more

This is probably just a personal problem, but I always feel like cable patterns need to be knit in a solid color of yarn. If I’m going through all the work of making cables, I want them to be seen! But the Ropes and Twines Cardigan from Joji Locatelli shows me that a yarn with a little bit of color to it can still make pretty cables that stand out. This top down cardigan features a cable that runs across the back and down the sleeves, and the fronts and back panel have a lot of texture on their own worked in broken rib, but after the knitting is done, I-cords are braided into the fronts and ba ..read more

A lot of times when I share knitting patterns that are meant to be colorful I will say something about how they would be good stash busters because you can change colors as often as you like or need to as you run out of yarn. I’m not going to make that recommendation when it comes to the Pixel Tweed Pullover by James N. Watt. That’s because for this pattern to work it really does best as three distinct, repeating colors throughout the project. James was inspired by the red, green and blue pixels on vintage TVs to create their color palette, but of course you can use any three colors you like ..read more

While many knitters will make a scarf or a washcloth as their first knitting project, once you have the basics down you might want to add some shaping. There are lots of different ways to increase (and decrease!) stitches in knitting. Usually a pattern will tell you which increase you should use, and the designer will have chosen that one for an aesthetic reason. For example: yarn overs make holes. Make 1 looks different from knit in the front and the back, which looks different from just casting on an additional stitch. So, if the pattern you’re knitting calls for a particular increase, be su ..read more

Earlier this year I designed a beginner’s sampler scarf knitting pattern that I thought would be a perfect first project for new knitters. It includes casting on, knitting, purling, changing between knit and purl in the same row, binding off, and options for increasing and decreasing stitches, all in one project. I love this kind of sampler style project for a new knitter because you learn lots of skills and get to change things up before one stitch or pattern gets too boring. Here’s another option for knitters new or seasoned who get a little bored by a project that’s worked in the same stitc ..read more

I feel like I’ve been writing a lot lately about projects that are made to use up all your scraps, or that could be adapted to use scraps, because they call for mini skeins and the like. I have been saying this for years, but I really am trying to use as much of my stash as I can, for economic purposes as much as I just like the idea of using what I have. I like the creative challenge of making a project work with the yarn I already have on hand. If you happen to have a lot of odd balls in the sock/fingering weight category that at least somewhat coordinate in colors, the All Used Up Shawl mig ..read more