MDK Field Guide No. 4: Log Cabin

In this volume, we distill our decade of experience in log cabin knitting. We’re so jealous that you’re beginning this journey. You have a lot of fun ahead of you.

For more than a decade now, we’ve been celebrating log cabin knitting. Inspired by the idea of the piecework of quilting, this style of knitting is wildly popular. Thousands of knitters have jumped onto the log cabin love train, with an endless array of projects.

It’s time for a new generation to discover the endless joys of this clever way to knit.

Field Guide No. 4: Log Cabin presents three patterns that teach, inspire, and amaze.

Log Cabin Cloths: These six simple squares explore the piecing, joining, and edging of a log cabin project. By the end of these quick cloths, you’ll have all the tools you need. And you’ll have six pretty cloths to use in the kitchen or bath—or to give to your sister with a superfancy bar of handmade soap. Rowan Handknit Cotton provides a friendly palette to play with. See the colors of Rowan Handknit Cotton here.

Ninepatch Blanket: We saw a quilt that plays with the age-old ninepatch pattern, and we immediately had to make a knitting pattern from it. The off-kilter color blocks turn a traditional quilt into something modern and surprising. Mixing mitered squares into a log cabin pattern adds texture and fun to this jigsaw puzzle of a blanket. The two colorways (available here) take advantage of the rich color of Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca, long a favorite of ours.

Sommerfeld Shawl: Ann Weaver takes log cabin to an inventive, airy place with this extraordinary pattern. Short rows, feather and fan, and long skinny blocks are all part of Ann’s genius for experimenting with log cabin.  The yarn here, Neighborhood Fiber Co.’s silk/mohair Loft, is a dream. It almost disappears when knitted, so that the saturated color becomes filmy and dissipated. Gorgeous to see, so fun to knit. See the four colorways here.