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Log cabin knitting is a great way to use your yarn scraps to make something beautiful. You start with a tiny square and build around the edges as big as you want to go!
Learning Log Cabin Knitting
I first learned how to do log cabin knitting from Ann and Kay at Modern Daily Knitting. There’s a chapter in their first book all about log cabin, which Kay calls “homey and folksy, but fresh and modern at the same time.”
So I did learn from the book, but also I literally learned from them because they did a class at a yarn festival I attended many many years ago. I still have the practice piece I did for the class, and many years later I made a log cabin washcloth for a blog hop, but I have never done much with the technique.
Which is a shame, because I love it when crafts collide as they do here. Log cabin is of course a classic quilt pattern with a ton of variations, and there are lots of ways to jazz up log cabin knits, too, if the basic design isn’t enough for you.
I was recently confronted by a bag full of fall-colored yarn balls and decided playing with log cabin blocks was just the thing to do with them.
Starting a Log Cabin Block
Log cabin knitting is worked from the center out in blocks. You start by casting on a small number of stitches and knitting until your piece is square.
Bind off to the last stitch, turn your needle so you’re working down the side of the block, pick up stitches and knit until that piece is the same size as the first one. Bind off again, turn again, knit some more and so on.
Repeat this as many times as you want to make a block of any size.
That’s basically all there is to it.
Log cabin blocks are typically worked in garter stitch, meaning this is a technique that even beginners can do. I sat down with my bag of bits and got started. Follow along if you like!
Log Cabin Knitting Block
You’ll need a bunch of yarn of the same weight and knitting needles that work with that yarn to get started. I used worsted weight/medium/size 4 yarn and size 7 US/4.5 mm knitting needles.
To begin, cast on as many stitches as feels good. I used 16 because I thought I could get a square of that many stitches out of the yarn ball I was using.
Work in garter stitch until the piece is square. You can measure with a ruler, of course, but a handy trick is to fold the bottom right corner up to the needle. If the fabric makes a right angle triangle, you’ve got a square.
Bind off all but the last stitch.
Turn your work so that the needle is facing down the side of the square you just knit.
Change to your new yarn. Knit the fist stitch, then pick up and knit as many stitches as you stared with, minus one for the stitch left over from the first square.
Work in garter stitch until this square is the same size as the first square.
Bind off all but the last stitch.
Turn your work so your needle is facing down the side of the square you just knit. Change colors and knit the first stitch.
Pick up and knit down the side of both squares. Yes, I need a longer needle!
Knit until this piece is the same width as the previous pieces.
Continue in this manner, changing colors and picking up stitches along the next edge, until your piece is the size you want.
I made mine with five colors so far. When you’re done just bind off all the stitches.
Log Cabin Pillow
Of course you can do all sorts of things with log cabin knitting, from washcloths to blankets, bags to mitts to sweaters.
I think I’m going to make a bunch of squares of this size and turn them into a table runner, but to give you another idea of what to do with a single log cabin block, I turned this one into a pillow.
The back of mine I knit as a panel on my circular knitting machine, but you can knit it by hand, too, or use another block of the same size for the back.
I crocheted around the edge and stuffed it with a small amount of old T-shirt sleeves left over from making T-shirt yarn. Nothing gets wasted over here!
Log cabin knitting is a lot of fun and mildly addicting, which is why I don’t think this pillow will stay a pillow for very long.
Have you ever made a log cabin project? I’d love to hear about it!
