Archive for the ‘Pattern Reviews’ Category
April 9th, 2010 | 
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Most of th
e easy knitting patterns I either present or review on this site are for smaller quick-to-finish items such as scarves and baby blankets. (I try to practice UFO avoidance, as in “un-finished objects.”) But the topic of today’s entry is a grown-up-size afghan that measures about 46 x 54 in. This easy knitting pattern, called “Cromwell Court,” is available for free on the Lion Brand Yarn website here.
Many of those who submitted reviews on the Lion Brand website felt this pattern should be rated Easy+, even though the stated skill level is intermediate. You do need to know how to increase and decrease. In case you haven’t learned that yet, the pattern’s webpage has links to directions within the Abbreviations/References table near the bottom of the page. These directions are very nice, with both drawn diagrams and video to show you how to do it.
This pattern makes up fairly quickly (for an afghan) Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Easy Knitting Patterns, Pattern Reviews | 
Tags: afghan, easy knitting pattern, Easy Knitting Patterns, pattern review | 
5 Comments »
My favorite baby knitting pattern is from Vanna White’s book entitled Vanna’s Choice Heartfelt Gifts to Knit and Crochet. She calls it Saw Tooth Edge Afghan (page 22). It’s definitel
y an easy knitting pattern because it’s almost all knitting. The hardest part of the body is remembering to change colors every two rows. The only thing you need to know besides the knit stitch is how to knit-two-together for the little Prairie Point-like triangles all around the edge. These Prairie Points take a long time to make, but they are what takes this quilt from boring to super-special.
Vanna’s original design calls for a boyish color scheme of Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Easy Knitting Patterns, Pattern Reviews |
Tags: baby afghan, Baby Knitting Pattern, Easy Knitting Patterns, vanna white |
3 Comments »
“Wavy” is one of my favorite easy knitting patterns created by someone else. I have made it twice, both times in Caron’s Simply Soft yarn. (Six sets of 44 rows takes about 8 oz of Simply Soft. I used #8 needles.) To me, this yarn seems reminiscent of cotton embroidery floss. I love the little bit of sheen it has, along with the softness and drape. The only problem I have with this pattern is keeping track of what row I’m on. (The pattern has 44 rows that can be repeated 6 or 7 times to make the full scarf.) Which leads me to the real topic of this article: how to not lose your place when you’re easily distracted (or, in other words, when your brain is starting to turn to mush).
There is no shortage of ideas for counting rows out there. Forty years ago, my mom used the kind of row counter that slides Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Easy Knitting Patterns, Pattern Reviews |
Tags: easy knitting pattern, row counters, row counting, Scarf Knitting Pattern |
3 Comments »
Chicks with Sticks authors Nancy Queen and Mary Ellen O’Connell bring a fresh, new approach to teaching an old subject. As they say, this is not your grandmother’s knitting. They share my philosophy that one of the attractions of knitting is that it is completely portable. In fact, they add a new knitting venue that hadn’t occurred to me: car pool lines. Now I wish I had re-learned to knit before my kids learned to drive!
This book starts at the very beginning, explaining needles, yarn, gauges, and Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Easy Knitting Patterns, Pattern Reviews |
Tags: book review, Easy Knitting Patterns, how-to |
1 Comment »
