I love it when it’s my turn to open a gift on Christmas! And my family loves to surprise me.
Most of the time, however, I take a back seat and knit while my family plays the Santa Game.*
Yesterday I blogged about 7 Free and Mindless Knitting Patterns for Beginners.
Today, here are 7 free knitting patterns that will be mindless IF you are an intermediate knitter.
Most of them have one spot where you’ll need to pay attention (usually the cast-on), so you may want to do that part before the family comes over.
The great thing about these free patterns is that they are not only mindless but also interesting and unique – I checked. Enjoy!
- Super-Bulky House Socks by Liat Gat – helpful video: Judy’s Magic Cast-On
- Camp Out Fingerless Mitts by Tante Ehm – helpful video: Pick Up and Knit
- Age of Brass and Steam by Orange Flower – helpful video: Garter Tab Cast-On
- Grrlfriend Market Bag by Laura Spradlin – helpful video: Circular Cast-On
- Honey Cowl by Antonia Shankland – helpful video: Infinite Tail Cast-On
- Man Hat by Haven Leavitt – helpful video: Italian Tubular Cast-On for 1×1 Rib
- Show Your Colors Shawl by Amy King – helpful video: Garter Tab Cast-On
*How To Play The Santa Game:
All you need in order to play is a Santa hat.
Usually the youngest family member starts out as Santa. “Santa” has to select a gift from under the tree that is not from him or her and give it to its recipient.
Then everyone watches that person unwrap the gift and does the requisite oohing and aahing and photographing, after which the recipient then becomes Santa and selects the next gift. Don’t have a Santa hat? Why not knit one!
Leave a Comment
This week at KnitFreedom is all about relaxing with the family while you knit, and that’s what I’ll be doing this Christmas.
I’ve already ordered and received a skein of Malabrigo Rasta from ImagiKnit in San Fransisco – they even wound it into two balls for me. I’ll be ready to knit my big sister’s requisite super-bulky house socks – the world’s easiest knitted gift (don’t tell her!).
Before you head off to find your Santa hat, tell me about your favorite mindless knitting projects. What are your favorite things to knit that are still interesting but don’t require you to count, look, or otherwise pay attention? Leave a comment below and let me know.
And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
16 thoughts on “Relax While You Knit: 7 Free, Intermediate, & Mindless Knitting Patterns for Christmas Day”
Where can I get the show your colors shawl by am king
Dear Liat,
My favourite :’mindless knitting projects’ are all based on ‘Granny’s favourite dishcloth…My Mother used to talk about the dishcloths she knit as a child …from string! ( England in the depression).
The basic pattern is to cast on 4 stitches and add a ‘yo’ after the second stitch of each row…until the desired diagonal size the ‘ 2 tog. , yo , tog’ at the beginning of each decreasing row to the original 4 stitches. Cast off. Secure.
Depending on the yarn and needles used, it can be a coaster( 25 st. approx. on diagonal before decreasing) or a blanket( two large balls of yarn knitting half of the blanket with each ball).I have done coasters, hot pads ( double thickness of cotton yarn), baby blankets ( especially cuddly), lapghans & placemats might also use technique to knit rectangle ( I have to look it up each time!)
If I have yarn and needles there’s always something I can knit!
Happy knitting!
Kathleen McDiarmid
The “Show Your Colors “shawl is no longer available on Ravelry. Do you have a pattern for us ?
Hi Evelyn,
I’m going to be passing your question along to Liat, but I want to let you know that she is currently on maternity leave (she is expecting her baby very soon) and will be taking up to 1-2 weeks to answer.
Thanks so much for your patience and understanding!
Best,
Elias
Thank you, Liat, and Merry Christmas!
Thank you so much for all your lovely patterns, wishing you a Merry Christmas,
Take care,
Denise xx
I made two of the Man Hat for Christmas gifts and found that I liked the look of the inside (wrong side) even better than the outside (the right side). The inside has almost a seed stitch look to it. So I wove my ends into the right side and turned it inside out. :-) Also, the Chinese Waitress CO has definitely become my favorite CO. I’ve been using it for almost everything that I want to have a neat edge but that needs some stretch, like the Man Hat or the bottom edge of a vest to go over a fat little toddler stomach and not ride up.
My favorite easy/quick knits are the Jimi Shawlette (one of my all-time favorites), and a simple keyhole scarf consisting of a k4, p4 rib with a hat to match. The ribbing can vary depending on my mood.
These are great! I already knit the Man Hat pattern for a request. It turned out great and was well received. Super easy, too.
Well done Bettye! We’d love to see a photo! :)
Liat, thanks for all the wonderful motivation and patterns you’ve inspired me with this year. Looking forward to being productive asap!
Shawlettes and hats are my goto knitting when I can’t have quiet.
Use a bulky yarn, their favorite color. #us 13 needles. Make A flat knit rectangular cowl about 8 inches or so wide, length for giftees neck with a two or so leeweigh of an easy stitch (twiswted rib or 2X3 rib) , make buttonholes –3– on one side using one row button hole stitch. Add a short garter stitcfh 3 row on the other side for a placket, sew on buttons, wrap it up and off it goes!
Try your pattern for a cell phone cozy! I knitted one to match the fingerless mitts for my daughter.
Socks or baby hats that are made for charity that seems them to NICU’s across the country.
Awwww, such a worthwhile thing to do Toni! :-)