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Everybody knits for babies, right? It’s the standard knitting stereotype: expectant moms with their knitting needles. For exactly that reason, there are all kinds of knitting books filled with adorable little baby sweater patterns. But what happens when those babies grow up? What do those no-longer-expectant moms do with their new knitting skills? There just aren’t all that many knitting books for kids out there—so I was eager to check out Catherine Tough’s new book, Easy Knits for Little Kids. I figured it would be the perfect thing to keep me busy after all of my friends’ new babies grow up a little bit.
Easy Knits features more than 20 knitting patterns for clothing and stuff for around the house, designed for kids ages three through six. Here, you’ll find everything from hats and scarves and sweaters to mats and pillows and even a doll.
Technically, the book is wonderful—as long as you already know how to knit. There aren’t any knitting primers here, so it’s not a book for beginners (But, then again, you were supposed to have learned to knit when you were pregnant, right? So you should already know anyway.). There are, however, tons of pictures of every project, which is crucial. There’s nothing worse than spending weeks of your time on a pattern that looks cute from the cropped picture in the book, only to end up with something that’s totally not what you expected. All of the patterns are also laid out well, with plenty of information about sizing and all of the needles and yarn and notions needed.
Some of the patterns in the book are just plain adorable—like the first pattern in the book, the garter stitch swing coat. There’s also an adorable wrap skirt and some fun tiger slippers. And Fred, the doll, would be fun to knit clothes for.
On the other hand, though, there aren’t as many stand-out patterns as I’d hoped to find. The dress and the appliqué sweater are cute, but there are also a number of the same old patterns—patterns for hats and scarves and mittens. As for the second chapter, “Home Comforts,” I can’t say that much of it is really little-kid-specific. The pillow covers look nice, but you’ll find similar patterns in other books. The same goes for the chair pad and the felted pen pots. And other patterns just don’t seem that practical—like knitting a robe for a child who probably won’t end up wearing it.
Though the cute patterns in this book are really cute, I just wasn’t impressed with the book in general. So I got a second opinion—from one of my expectant-mom friends. And she agreed. Easy Knits for Little Kids has some cute patterns for kids—just not enough of them.
