5 Projects to Help Improve Your Knitting

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I have a friend who is becoming a master handknitter. It’s a daunting task, and she’s spending a lot of time working on swatches, projects, and even writing reports on things like the History of Knitting. As impressive as becoming a master handknitter might sound, most of us just don’t have time for all that. Instead we choose knitting projects—be they colorwork, cables, short-rows, or what-have-you—to challenge and inspire us on our terms. Maybe we want to improve our knitting, learn something new, find more finesse applying a technique we already know, or simply break out of a knitting rut.

With that in mind, here are 5 projects that are sure to improve your knitting skills or teach you new ones:

Dawson City Pullover

Yoke sweaters are yuuuuuge these days. They can have fit issues, though, especially if you have broad shoulders or a large bust. What elevates Sarah Solomon’s design is the thoughtful shaping of the yoke so it fits really—I mean REALLY—well.
Skills: stranded colorwork, short-rows, grafting

Slippery Slope Socks

These amazing socks pack a punch. Not only are they a visual fanfare for your feet, they combine a plethora of techniques in a single project. Pick a fun variegated yarn and go to town.
Skills: slip-stitch colorwork, knitted cables, reading colorwork charts, short-rows, Kitchener stitch

Big Sur Pullover

Simple to knit, Norah Gaughn’s pattern is a painless lesson in brioche knitting. Tackle increases and decreases in that tricky stitch, learn how slipped stitches make a beautiful collar edge, and do just enough grafting to feel superior without gritting your teeth.
Skills: brioche knitting, grafting, seaming

Dahlia Cardigan

Heather Zoppetti’s charming cardi is a feat of engineering. The sweater starts in the middle as a circular lace medallion grows from the center out. Panels are added for the front and back, and “afterthought” sleeves are anything but as you have to plan their placement well ahead of time via provisional stitches in waste yarn. Find more on working this unusual construction here.
Skills: provisional cast-on, lace knitting, reading charts, picking up stitches, blocking lace, seaming

Koolhaas Hat

Learning doesn’t have to be an epic enterprise. Inspired by architect Rem Koolhaas, Jared Flood’s beanie is a spiraling lattice of twisted cable stitches, and it’s a surprisingly simple knit. If you want to jump on the cable knitting trend but don’t have time to knit a bulky sweater, try this one out.
Skills: twisted stitches, chart reading

Never stop learning,
Allison

Originally published March 8, 2018. Updated March 10, 2022.

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