Katya Frankel is fast becoming one of the most prolific and innovative designers of children’s knits.  Last year she produced the book Boys’ Knits and now she has just released ‘Head to Toe’ which is a book of kids’ knit accessories.

I didn’t realize quite how much I liked Katya’s design aesthetic until the patterns started appearing on ravelry. Every time one would pop up in the new design section it would catch my eye and I’d click through to see the details and I’d then realize who had designed it :-). The subtle traveling cable details, the minimal color-work with bright splashes of color within greys, I love them all.

So in this blog post I thought I’d give you a little set of the pattern highlights for me. The book is divided into 4 sections; Head Things, Neck Things, Hand Things and Foot Things. I’ll share my favorites with you from each section. (I’ll also let you in on a secret – even though this is a book of kids’ accessories many of them are sized large enough for an adult!).

Head Things – Bowburn

In the hat section my definite favorite is Bowburn. Subtle faux cables cross smoothly over each other to create an almost tulip-like effect with this hat. Knit in Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend this hat comes in 4 sizes that will fit most children’s and adult heads.

Neck Things – Wetland

This double- knit scarf really caught my eye. Knit from the super soft Debbie Bliss Rialto Aran, it is knit in one size and it’s fully reversible due to it’s double-knit nature.

The double knit motif is not overly complex but its fun graphic nature really appeals to me.

Hand Things – Cheviot Hills

My pick of the Hand Things would have to be Cheviot Hills. These fingerless mitts also come in 4 different sizes and are knit using Mirasol Yarns Tuhu. Again it was the traveling cable that caught my eye. A very graphic but subtle detail that create unique mitts that are unisex enough that you could easily knit them for any child.

Foot Things – Cannonfire

I think these socks are my absolute favorite from the book. I love wearing grey with bright pops of color so these socks are just perfect! They’re knit from Cascade Yarns Heritage which is a great durable yarn and the socks are given in 4 different sizes.

I usually knit my socks with a little bit of negative ease so I think that if I added a little length the largest size should be just a perfect size for me….

Now if you want to enjoy these patterns as much as I have Katya and Cooperative Press have kindly offered a digital copy to give away.

Just leave a comment, telling me which is your favorite pattern from the book. I will choose a winner at 11.00 am Irish time.

On a different note – I’ve just finished my pledge to help the Philippines. Thanks to your generosity I was able to send $760 (546 euro) to MSF this morning. Thank you for helping.