Fun Knitting Ideas: 10 Things to Knit
Is your knitting boring you? There are plenty of patterns out there that are exciting to knit without looking ridiculous.
As beautiful as the simplicity of stockinette stitch sweaters and garter stitch blankets can be, there's no denying that when you get about halfway done with your project, it's easy to get a little bit bored. Endless rows or rounds of the knit stitch just don't capture your attention the same way that an interesting stitch pattern or unique colorwork panel does. In my experience, if I'm too bored by a knitting pattern, it's going to take me a lot longer to finish than something that may look a bit more complex, so the easy patterns sit in my project bag for a month and the complicated stuff is done in two weeks!
That said, just because a pattern has a more interesting look doesn't mean that it's going to have you tearing your hair out in frustration, or be too complex to knit while binging your favorite series on Netflix. There are plenty of things to knit out there that are mindless enough to relax with, but still exciting to make. Even if you've fallen in love with a pattern that looks extremely monotonous, there are a few things you can do to make knitting that pattern more fun, such as using a variegated or tonal yarn so you have the added incentive of seeing where the color lands in the finished project.
Meanwhile, here are 10 fun knitting ideas on AllFreeKnitting which, in my experience, are the furthest things from boring (yes, I've knit all of these, and had a great time doing it):
Mosaic Blanket
I have never been bored with mosaic knitting. It's got all the beauty of stranded colorwork with much less work (hey, no catching your floats and carefully examining your tension every few stitches... sign me up)! This blanket works up right before your eyes, and if you're worried it's too complex for you, don't be—the slip stitch pattern is surprisingly easy to memorize.
Spring Meadow Scarf
The problem with scarves is that they're just long, narrow rectangles of the same old thing. It's easy to get fed up with any scarf pattern, no matter how excited you were about it to begin with. This scarf is a knit-along from AllFreeKnitting back from 2016 (check out the page here!) and it's made up of a bunch of different lace panels to keep you from getting bored.
Tree of Life Throw
What's great about this baby blanket is that the cable pattern looks a lot more difficult than it actually is, but since this cable pattern isn't just endless repeats of the same thing, it keeps you on your toes. It definitely helps that the finished product is one of the most beautiful, heirloom-quality baby blankets I've ever seen.
Wickerwork Hat
This is the hat that I learned the "left twist" and "right twist" on, and the effect is just so stunning that it works up quickly because you love to see the pattern growing on your needles! I made mine on ombre yarn that I dyed myself, so for some extra fun on your needles, try using a yarn with a gradual color shift.
Morning Stroll Knit Sweater
Okay, maybe I'm biased because I designed this sweater, but I threw in those garter ridges for a purpose: I love the look of stockinette, but dang it gets monotonous on sweaters knit in the round! Being able to anticipate a garter ridge coming up to "shake things up" a bit helps keep this sweater from getting boring (the shorter sleeves certainly don't hurt).
Secret Garden Knit Shawl Pattern
At first glance, you wouldn't think that this shawl would be very fun to knit up (it is, after all, entirely garter stitch and a pretty basic design), but the beauty of this pattern comes from the yarn. Not only is the color palette of this yarn absolutely gorgeous, but the shifts in color come frequently enough to keep things interesting, but not so frequently as to make your finished shawl look chaotic. This is the ideal TV-watching knit, for sure.
Budding Blossom Cowl
Bobbles: love them or hate them, they keep things interesting. The other reasons this cowl pattern was super fun to knit for me, personally, are because I'm obsessed with cherry blossoms, and I'd never knit a cowl before, and I think there's a lesson there: if you're truly bored with your knitting, a way to keep things fun is to try something new in a look you love, even if you don't anticipate ever wearing the finished knit. It's all about the journey!
Anthophila Knit Scarf Pattern
Alright, sure, I designed this one, too, but my point stands from above with the Spring Meadow Scarf: a knitted scarf made up of panels of different stitches is just infinitely more fun to knit than one that has the same stitch throughout the whole thing. Slip stitches in particular are fun to knit because they create such a unique look for very little effort, and this scarf is made up entirely of slip stitch panels.
Darling Lace Socks
I'm convinced that people who aren't obsessed with knitting socks simply haven't tried it yet. Not only am I a lot less likely to be bored with knitting any sort of sock pattern (before you can get tired of one section of the socks' structure, you're moving onto the next!), but this delicate lacy pattern just shines with any kind of yarn, solid or color-changing; I knit mine in a pretty pink and brown self-striping yarn. Try it for yourself!
Knit Lemon Stress Ball
You know what makes this project so fun? Not only is it exciting to imagine a bunch of them littering your kitchen and picking them up for a squeeze every time you're overly stressed, but they're so customizable from size and color that you can truly knit just about any sort of citrus you want. Switch up the colors to make a lime. Widen the center portion to make a grapefruit. Before you can get bored with this knit, you're already done with it.
Up Next:
10 Cute Knitting Projects
What's the most fun thing you've ever knit?