Where to Find Great (and Mostly FREE) Knitting Patterns

There are probably thousands of cowl patterns on the Internet, so I was surprised yesterday when  we had two customers come in working on the same cowl. One customer had finished knitting the cowl and just needed a little help with finishing. I had not seen this cowl. This knitter had done an amazing job and I was really impressed. As soon as she left, I went on Ravelry to find the pattern. It is called Honey Stitch Cowl from Canadian Living Magazine

 



 



You can find this pattern at the following link - http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/honey_stitch_cowl_pattern.php

One of the recommended yarns is Berroco Vintage Chunky, one of our most popular yarns which we stock in several colours.

 

To find the pattern, Ravelry linked me to the Canadian Living Website where I was surprised and delighted to find a large selection of FREE knitting patterns. Check them out at the link below.

http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/

There are many knitting websites offering wonderful (and frequently FREE) patterns. And new ones keep appearing. Over  the next few blogs, I will fill you in on some of my favourites. I certainly do not claim to know them all, so if you have a favourite you think other knitters might enjoy, please e-mail (  info@sernityknits.ca  ) a link and I will check it out and pass it on in a blog.

For now, my two  top favs many knitters already know -

Ravelry     http://www.ravelry.com/invitations

If you are not on Ravelry, click on the above link to sign up. You need to register your e-mail address, a user name and a password. You can purchase patterns through Ravelry, but thousands of patterns are available FREE. You are not required to provide personal financial information to Ravelry to access patterns unless you choose to purchase. You can then purchase via credit card or Paypal. I personally have used Paypal several times and have experienced no problems. Serenity Knits is an authorized Ravelry Retailer which allows you to purchase many Ravelry patterns through us.

Knitty       http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEw14/index.php

Knitty is an on-line magazine which publishes pattern and articles several times a year. If you Google Kntty, you will be linked to the current issue. Each issue has several FREE patterns and articles. You can view the pattern and just go ahead and print it if you like it. There is no need to sign up or provide any personal information. When you access the current issue of Knitty, there is a link at the top to their pattern library which is an archive of all previously offered patterns or articles. Many Knitty patterns go absolutely viral. One of my favourite shawl/scarfs is CLAPOTIS from Knitty.
http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall04/PATTclapotis.html

 

 

On of the fabulous aspects of Ravelry is that knitters post pictures of their finished projects with information about yarns used etc. It is a very helpful resource to give you ideas for knitting projects. The last time I checked Clapotis on Ravelry, there were over 21,000 posted Clapotis projects. Many of the most popular designs on Ravelry were originally published on Knitty.

 

 And put a maple leaf beside it, Knitty is Canadian.

 

Over the next few posts, I will let you know about some other great pattern resources.

 

Beth