Building on the Basics

The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting, by Nicki Trench, was given to me several years ago when I first started knitting. I found, and still do, find this book to be very helpful. I have made many of the patterns listed in this book, such as a dog sweater for a puppy, a bikini for my best friend, and several flowers, which make adorable adornments to other knitting projects.

This book has several basic patterns, which can be built upon by you. These patterns provide the perfect opportunity to express your creativity and to practice your hand at pattern writing. I have decided to share a few of my past projects and present ideas to help get your creative juices started.

1920's Cloche Hat
Made for and wore by my niece, Lejla.
This baby hat was worked in three colors: maroon, light pink, and white. While I don't remember the exact number of stitches I cast on, the general pattern is listed below.
Cast on the desired number of stitches using maroon yarn. Knit in this color until the piece measures an inch. Switch to the light pink yarn and knit for an additional inch. Then add the white yarn in and finish knitting the hat in this color.
***It is important to note that you need to add colors on the same side to prevent a hem-look with the yarn being added and taken away.
I then knit a flower, using the pattern provided in The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting, in the maroon yarn and a smaller flower (do this by decreasing the number of stitches used for each petal) in light pink. I then finished off this floral adornment by sewing the pieces, through the middle, with white yarn and attached this to the finished hat.

Shell-Tastic Bikini Top
This project began with the bikini top pattern in The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting with additions added by me. Unfortunately I do not have a picture of this project, but I remember roughly what I did. I quickly knit up the bikini top in a plain black yarn. I then used a light brown (mixture of several shades of brown) yarn to crochet a border around the triangle pieces of the top. I then took shell beads and added then to a piece of yarn, which was used to hold the triangle pieces to each other.
***These additions were not complex, but they added a lot to an already great pattern.


St. George's Hoodie
This is a current project, designed for someone special.
I am using the existing pattern for the Unisex Hoodie listed in this book. Instead of using three different colors, I am only using Jiffy True Red yarn. I plan on this hoodie knitting up fairly easy, but the real fun is in the finishing. The plan is to create a pocket on the front of the hoodie, which will be a mini replica of the St. George flag. I am still considering whether I will line the hoodie in a soft fabric that compliments the overall design.
Pictures of this project will be posted upon finishing.


I just gave you three ideas on how you can use patterns from The Cool Girl's Guide to Knitting as a starting point for your own project. While it is perfectly fine to follow the patterns exactly as listed in the book, it is also easy to add your own additions.

Have fun and get crafting!