Colorwork Cardigan Knitting Patterns

As I go about my perusal of the Internet and social media, I collect knitting patterns of various types that catch my eye. Sometimes a single pattern will inspire me to write a whole post, while other times I wait and gather and see if a theme will emerge that I can write a longer post about that includes more patterns.

That’s how this colorwork cardigan knitting patterns collection came about. These projects all use color in different ways — from stripes to allover stranded knitting, intarsia color blocks and bands of colorwork — and hopefully they’ll inspire you to add more color to your projects.

The Camden Cardigan is a simple, boxy striped cardigan that has been on my personal knit list for a while. It’s worked in two colors of bulky yarn and comes in five sizes. Designed by Vladimir Teriokhin, it’s a free pattern on Lion Brand’s website.

Work stripes of colorwork with tuck stitches that give them a vintage flair in the Mohn Cardigan pattern from EKnitsShop on Etsy. Inspired by a 1950s cardigan, the pattern is knit flat and the sleeves are worked separately and sewn in. The pattern information on Etsy doesn’t give all the details but I looked it up on Ravelry and it comes in 12 sizes from 32 to 62 inches.

Melanie Berg’s Pandau cardigan is a longer cardigan that has colorwork in bands below the armholes. There are some standard stripes and some mosaic/slip stitch designs. This one uses bulky yarn in five colors, comes in seven sizes, and is available on Ravelry.

The intarsia color blocking on this super long cardigan from The Blue Mouse on Etsy looks like a lot of fun to stitch. It uses worsted weight yarn and comes in one size with a 56 inch chest measurement (142 centimeters) so depending on your size it can have lots of ease for wearing as a coat or less to wear as a cardigan.

Practice allover colorwork with the Beckham cardigan from Kyle Kunnecke. This pretty DK weight design is covered with repeating diamond patterns. It’s worked flat and the colorwork pattern is charted. You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

Get a super cozy cardigan with Cowichan style with the Patons True North cardigan. Worked flat in pieces in bulky yarn, this design features stripes and intarsia-knit trees and bears. It uses five colors and comes in six sizes, with chest measurements ranging from 38 to 63 inches (96.5 to 160 cm).

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It might seem weird to feature a book about protest movements around the Fourth of July, but as Rise Up! Powerful Protests in American History reminds us, protest is patriotic and part of the very fabric of American life from the beginning.

This picture book, written by history teacher Rachel C. Katz and illustrated by Sophie Bass, tells a rhyming story of how Americans have stood up throughout the nation’s history to protest and spread the word about injustice and unsafe conditions. From the Boston Tea Party to modern movements like the Standing Rock pipeline protests and the Obergefell case, it touches on women’s rights, environmental activism, civil rights, Pride, access for disabled people and more.

The illustrations, often based on historic protest signs and artwork, help tell the stories, while a timeline, map, and overview of each event for further discussion. Readers will learn about Silent Spring and The Jungle, the Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, the Seneca Falls convention, Robert Smalls, the Delano Grape Strike and the movement to un-dam the Klamath River, to name a few.

Each event includes a few bullet points to provide context about what happened, why and what the result was. The book reminds readers that protests are not always effective, or don’t always get the people involved what they want right away (since it took women 72 years to get the right to vote after Seneca Falls, for example).

This book is a great way to introduce kids to the long and proud history of protest movements in the United States and could prompt discussions about current events and things happening that they might want to see changed. It could also be used to start kids researching different protests discussed in the book for further learning. You can talk about how art can educate people and encourage kids to make their own art pieces to educate others about something important to them.

Rise Up! is a great starting point for learning about the history of protest and the effects it has had on American history. The publisher’s website has more resources for teaching with this book at the link below.

About the book: 48 pages, hardcover. Published 2025 by Barefoot Books. Suggested retail price $17.99.

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Have you read?