Frankie’s Knitted Stuff

Summer Cottage
This little cottage doubles up as a
box and is an exciting project to
work on.
Inspired by the stone cottages of
the Cotswolds, the cottage has
dormer windows and chimneys
and all four walls are full of
summer flowers. There’s even a
tiny button cat sitting by the back
door.

Facts and Figures

The finished cottage measures about 14 cm wide, 14 cm tall and 11 cm
deep. That’s roughly 5½ x 5½ x 4½".
The structure of the cottage is provided by plastic canvas. You will need
one 33.5 x 26 cm / 13 x 10" sheet of Ultra Stiff 7 count plastic.
The knitting is all done with DK weight yarns. I used Stylecraft Batik
(138 m / 50g) in Biscuit for the walls and various shades of Stylecraft
Special DK (295 m / 100g) for all the rest. You will need about 40g for
the walls and much less for everything else. The embroidered flowers
can be done with short lengths of leftover yarn.
Tension
I used 3.25 mm / US size 3 needles throughout, working to a tension of
13 stitches and 18 rows for 5 cm / 2"² in stocking stitch. The plastic
canvas keeps everything in check so, as long as your tension is roughly
the same as mine, you should be all right.

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Start by knitting the basic structure of the house, four walls and a
base. The outsides of the walls are lightly textured to represent stone,
the insides are in stocking stitch.
The Back and Front Walls
The Plastic
Cut two rectangles measuring 31 x 19 bars. Trim the corners to stop
the points sticking through the knitting.
The Knitting
This is done in one piece, first the front and then the back of the wall.
I cast on with a larger needle (3.75 mm / US size 5) but then switched
to 3.25 mm for the actual knitting.
Using the long tail method, cast on 30 stitches. The less bumpy side
of the cast on edge is the right side.
Work 27 rows in double moss stitch:
Rows 1 & 2: *K1, P1, repeat from * to end.
Rows 3 & 4: *P1, K1, repeat from * to end.
Now change to stocking stitch and, starting with a knit row, work 22
rows. Cast off knitwise, leaving a long tail for sewing up.
Your finished piece of knitting should be a bit smaller than the plastic
so that it can stretch to cover it. Baggy walls are never a good look.

Fold the knitting over the plastic and oversew

/ whipstich the knitting together. You can use
the cast on tail for one side seam and then the
cast off tail for the rest.
When you get to cast off edge, tuck it in so
that you are working through the outside
edge of the chain only. I shall be saying this a
lot as we work through this pattern.

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 The outside and inside of one of the finished walls.
I promise the photos will get prettier later on.
The Side Walls
The Plastic
Start by cutting two rectangles, each one 19 x 30 bars.
Mark the central bar on one of the short sides (this will be the top of
the wall) and the ends of the 19th bar from the top edge.
I did this by putting the plastic rectangle on a piece of paper with a
weight (my phone) on the bottom to keep it in place. Then I marked
the relevant points on the paper with a pencil and stuck two lengths of
tape to the plastic between these points. Then you can pick up the
plastic and cut along the side of the tape. I found this easier than
trying to make marks on the plastic that I could actually see! You only
need to do this for the first wall; you can then hold it on top of the
second rectangle to mark the cutting line.
This is what you should end up with. You can trim the bottom corners
but leave the top and side points for now.

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The Knitting
This time the outside and inside walls are knitted in two separate
pieces and then sewn together.
Outside Wall
Using a 3.75 mm needles and the long tail method, cast on 18 stitches.
Change to 3.25 mm needles and work 28 rows in the same double
moss stitch pattern used for the other walls.
Next row: SSK, *K1, P1, repeat from * to last 2 sts, K2tog.
Next row: K2, *P1, K1, repeat from * to end.
You will have decreased two stitches. Repeat these two rows until you
have four stitches left on your needle.
Next row: SSK, K2tog (2 sts).
Knit the last two stitches together and fasten off.
Inside Wall
This time using a 3.25 mm needle and the long tail method, cast on 18
stitches. Work 23 rows in stocking stitch, starting with a purl row.
Next row: SSK, K to last 2 sts, K2tog.
Next row: Purl.
Repeat these two rows until you are down to two stitches, knit them
together and fasten off.
Oversew the two sides round your plastic, trimming that top point a
little if needed.

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The Base
The Plastic
Cut another rectangle measuring 31 x 19 bars (the same as the front
and back walls). Trim the corners.
The Knitting
This is done in one piece. Using the long tail method and 3.25 mm
needles, cast on 30 stitches.
Work 47 rows in stocking stitch, starting with a purl row. Cast off and
sew round the plastic as before.
That’s the four walls and the base finished. They won’t be sewn
together until right at the end of the pattern as it’s much easier to add
all the details to a flat piece of knitting.

The Roofs
These are the last two big bits of knitting.
The Plastic
Cut two rectangles, each measuring 17 x 36 bars. Trim the corners.
The Knitting
The roofs are grey; I used Stylecraft Special DK in, funnily enough,
Grey. Use 3.25 mm needles throughout. Each roof covering is knitted
in one piece.

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Using the long tail method, cast on 35 stitches.
Work 22 rows in stocking stitch, starting with a purl row.
Now knit one row to mark the top of the roof.
Work 22 more rows in stocking stitch, this time starting with a knit
row. Cast off and sew the knitting around the plastic as before.

Top ridges (you may

need a magnifying glass)

Another dull photo but at least it’s a different colour.

Dormer Windows
These are a bit fiddly to make but they really add character to the
finished house.
You will need to cut five small plastic shapes for each of the two
windows. The two roof pieces are 9 x 6 bar rectangles; to shape them
cut a diagonal line from one corner to the end of the seventh bar on
the opposite side as shown in the photo on the next page.
The front of the window is cut from another 9 x 6 rectangle. This time
cut two diagonal lines from either side of the top of the sixth bar to
the sides of the central hole on the short side.
The two sides are made from a 6 x 6 bar square, cut in half
diagonally.
If you study the photo on the next page, you should be able to see
what I’m talking about.

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 That’s the two roof pieces at the top with
the front and sides of the window below.

Start by knitting the covers for the front and sides of the window. Use
the same yarn as you did for the cottage walls and 3.25 mm needles.
The Front
Using the long tail method, cast on 12 stitches.
Work 7 rows in stocking stitch, starting with a purl row.
Next row: (SSK, K2, K2tog) twice (8 sts).
Next row: Purl.
Cast off, working (SSK, K2tog) twice and passing the first stitch over
the second whenever you have two stitches on your right hand needle.
Oversew the knitted piece around the plastic.
The Sides
Using the long tail method, cast on 6 stitches.
Work 5 rows in stocking stitch, starting with a purl row. Cast off
knitwise. Your knitting should be roughly square.
You can just fold the knitting over the little plastic triangles and
oversew it in place but, to make the stitches run vertically on the
finished piece, you’ll need to arrange the plastic carefully.

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To do this, position one plastic triangle with one of its straight sides
on the side with the yarn tails and the other on the opposite side. It
took me a lot of experimentation to work this out!

This is what your covered pieces should look like. I left some of the
yarn tails for sewing the window together later.

It’s easier to add the glass before assembling the window.

I used a darker grey than that for the roof (Stylecraft Special
Graphite) and 3.25 mm needles.
Using the long tail method, cast on 4 stitches and work 5 rows in
stocking stitch, starting with a purl row.
Cast off knitwise and sew to the front of the window. Try to keep the
rectangular shape and, again, tuck in the cast off edge, working
through the outside edge of the chain only.

I used a traditional Cotswold

green for my window frames,
(inappropriately called Lincoln by
Stylecraft) which are embroidered
on.

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Begin by dividing the glass into four panes, working four stitches
from the outside to the centre. Then add lines to the two sides and the
top, making sure that they meet at the top corners. You may have to
go past the corners of the knitted glass to keep the corners sharp.
The windowsill is three long stitches worked over the top of each
other, using the same grey as for the roof. The sill should be wider
than the window.

To assemble the window, oversew the

sides to the front with the wrong sides
together. At this point the window will
still lie flat; if you sew the seam again,
this time on the inside while holding the
sides at a right angle to the front, it will
pull it into shape.

It’s easier to attach the windows to the roof of the cottage now and
then add their roofs later. They go at the bottom of one of the roof
pieces - make sure that little knitted roof ridge is at the top - and each
window should be about ½" in from the side.
I marked the lines where the sides of the windows needed to be with
pins in the roof. Using the same yarn as the walls, sew the windows
down along the sides and the front.

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Dormer Roofs
Each of the two plastic roofs are covered with one piece of knitting so
you will need to knit four all together. Use the same colour yarn as for
the cottage roof and 3.25 mm needles.
Using the long tail method, cast on 7 stitches.
Row 1: (and all odd numbered rows) Purl.
Row 2: K6, m1, K1 (8 sts).
Row 4: K7, m1, K1 (9 sts).
Row 6: K8, m1, K1 (10 sts).
Row 7: Knit (this is for the ridge at the top of the roof).
Row 8: K8, K2tog (9 sts).
Row 9: (and all odd numbered rows) Purl.
Row 10: K7, K2tog (8 sts).
Row 11: K6, K2tog (7 sts).
Row 12: Purl.
Cast off knitwise and sew round the plastic.
Join the two roof pieces by working through the inside loop of the
garter stitch ridges, putting the needle through one side then the other
all along the ridge. The needle should go from the inside to the
outside each time. There are some photos of this technique on the
next page as the main roofs are joined in the same way.

I used grey sewing thread that matched the roof to sew them on to the
windows. Work along the side of the window from back to front, then
across the front wall and back down the next side. You can put your

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needle right up through the plastic roof as the yarn will hide the
thread. You only need to work through the yarn at the top of the
window walls though.
Once you have done this, use grey yarn to sew the back of the
window roofs to the main roof, this time just working through the
knitting.
It doesn’t matter if your stitching is a bit rough and ready; knitting
hides a multitude of sloppy stitches.

Now that the windows are on, you can sew the two roofs of the
cottage together. Using grey yarn and the same method as for the
window roofs, stitch the garter stitch ridges together. Take particular
care at the two ends, going just round the corners with a few stitches
to sharpen the corners and strengthen them.

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The Chimneys
I knitted two chimneys, one for each end of the cottage. Again, the
structure is provided by plastic canvas.
For each chimney you will need to cut three rectangles measuring
5 x 8 bars and one 5 x 4. On two of the bigger rectangles cut between
the top of the fourth bar and the opposite top corner; these will be the
sides of the chimney.

From left to right that’s the front, side, back and other side of the
chimney.
Use the wall colour for the knitting and 3.25 mm needles.
The Back
Using the long tail method, cast on 10 stitches. Work 8 rows in
stocking stitch, starting with a purl row.
Cast off purlwise and sew around the plastic, turning under the cast
off edge as normal. That edge will be the bottom of the chimney.
The Front
Using the long tail method, cast on 10 stitches. Work 4 rows in
stocking stitch, starting with a purl row. Cast off purlwise and sew
round the plastic as before.
The Sides
Using the long tail method, cast on 10 stitches. Work 3 rows in
stocking stitch, starting with a purl row.

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Next row: SSK, K6, K2tog (8 sts).
Next row: Purl.
Next row: SSK, K4, K2tog (6 sts).
Next row: Purl.
Next row: SSK, K2, K2tog (4 sts).
Next row: Purl.
Cast off, working, SSK, then K2tog before passing the first stitch over
the second and fastening off.
Sew round the plastic; the angled sides will be at the bottom of the
finished chimney.

Use the yarn tails to sew the pieces together, working just round the
corners at the top to pull the finished piece square.
The slate edging is a short chain crocheted using the roof colour.
I used a 3.25 mm hook and made 20 chains. Just make it long enough
to fit round the chimney when slightly stretched. Use one of the yarn
tails to sew it near the top of the chimney, flat side down with small
running stitches. Join your length of chain with the first stitch and it
will be easier to manage.

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Using yarn to match the chimneys, sew them to the back half of the
roof. Position them so that they are about ¼" down from the top of
the ridge and the same distance in from the sides.

The finished roof.

Now you can start adding things to the walls of the cottage, first the
doors and windows and then all the flowers.

The Front Door

Again, I used Stylecraft Lincoln for a traditional Cotswold door with
dark grey fittings. I used a very dark grey thin 4 ply yarn for these but
you could use black, either yarn or perhaps a few strands of
embroidery thread.
First knit the door. Using the long tail method and 3.25 mm needles,
cast on 8 stitches.
Work 12 rows in stocking stitch, starting with a purl row.
Cast off knitwise, leaving a long tail.
Pin the door in the middle of the wall with the cast off edge at the top
of the wall and sew it down all round, keeping the corners square and
turning under the cast off edge as normal.

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All the door fittings are embroidered on. The letterbox is two short
horizontal lines, one above the other while the lock is two tiny
vertical lines.
The handle is made up of three vertical lines and one horizontal.
Finally, the door knocker is two short horizontal lines at the top with a
lazy daisy stitch beneath it; catch down the two sides of the stitch as
well as the bottom to open it out a bit more than normal.

Knocker
Handle
Letterbox
Lock

The Back Door

Using the long tail method, cast on 8 stitches.
Row 1: Purl (wrong side).
Row 2: Knit.
Next row: P2, (K1, P2) twice.
Next row: Knit.

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Work five repeats of these last two rows and then cast off knitwise.
Sew the door to the back wall, about 1" away from the side and with
the cast off edge at the bottom of the wall (see the photo below).
Add a black seed bead for the door handle, about two thirds of the
way up the door.
The Porch
I added this simple porch - this is the last bit of covered plastic, I
promise.
The plastic rectangle measures 3 x 9 bars and the knitting is done
with the same colour as the roof and 3.25 mm needles.
Using the long tail method, cast on 8 stitches. Work 7 rows in
stocking stitch, starting with a purl row and cast off knitwise.
Sew the knitting round the plastic and then sew the seam edge to the
wall above the door. Work along the top edge of the porch first and
then back along its bottom edge too.
To hold the porch in place you will need yarn supports. Take a length
of grey yarn down through the plastic hole at one of the front corners
of the porch and then right through the wall to the inside. Tension it
so that the yarn is at a 45° angle to the wall and then take the needle
back up through the wall in the same place and up through to the top
of the porch before fastening off. Repeat this process for the support
on the other side of the porch.

I hope this makes sense; it was

too small to photograph so just
have a go. The porch should end
up sloping down at a 45° degree
angle from the wall.

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The Windows
There are four of these, two big ones on the front of the cottage and
two smaller ones on the back. They are all made in the same way
which is similar to the dormer windows. These ones have proper
windowsills though.
The glass is knitted with Stylecraft Graphite, the frames are in
Lincoln and the windowsills are in the roof colour (Grey).
3.25 mm needles are used for the knitting.
Front Windows
Using the long tail method, cast on 8 stitches. Work 5 rows in
stocking stitch, starting with a purl row and then cast off knitwise.
Position the windows either side of the front door so that the middle
of each window is level with the top of the door. Pin them in place
and then sew down, keeping the corners square and turning under the
cast off edge.
Now use a length of green yarn to divide the glass into four panes as
you did for the dormer windows and then outline the sides and top.
Windowsills
Using the roof colour and the long tail method, cast on 10 stitches and
then cast them off again.
Sew this cast off edge to the wall immediately below the window,
extending it slightly at the sides.

First fold the sill down and sew

along its top edge and then fold
it up and do the same for the
bottom edge of the sill. Pull the
two ends tight to the wall to
hold the sill in place.

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Back Windows
These are knitted in exactly the same way as the bigger windows but
on fewer stitches. All the windows are the same height.
For the narrow window next to the door, work seven rows of stocking
stitch on six stitches. The windowsill is a strip of eight stitches.
The other window is slightly wider, seven stitches rather than six and
the sill is nine stitches wide.

That’s all the structural stuff done; now you can move on to filling the
walls of the cottage with flowers. Nearly all of mine are embroidered
on with simple stitches - straight stitches, french knots and lazy
daisies - but you could replace any or all of them with little buttons
and beads.
The Roses
Roses are my favourite flower and I think you can never have too
many of them. I started by putting a climbing rose in a pot on one of
the side walls of the cottage and then added another round the back
door … and then two more on the front.
The technique is much the same for all of them. Let’s start with the
rose in a pot.
The Pot
I used Stylecraft Mocha for this and 3.25 mm needles; it is knitted
from the top down.
Using the long tail method, cast on 10 stitches.

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Purl two rows.
Next row: SSK, K6, K2tog (8 sts).
Next row: Purl.
Next row: Knit.
Next row: Purl.
Next row: SSK, K4, K2tog (6 sts).
Next row: Purl.
Cast off knitwise.
Sew the pot in the middle of the wall, tucking the cast off edge under
as normal. Add a tiny bit of stuffing before sewing the last side down
and then work a line of backstitch below the purl ridges at the top to
accentuate them.

The next thing to do is to add the stems

of the rose. This is a case of making it
up as you go along. I laid long, slightly
curved lines up from the pot and then
added shorter lines for branches along
these. I used Stylecraft Cypress yarn
and hid my yarn tails in the pot. If it
looks unbalanced, you can go back and
add extra lines until you’re happy with
the look of it.

I may have got a bit carried away with

the actual roses. These are french
knots, wrapping the yarn four times
round the needles. Use long lengths of
yarn, bringing the needle up in place
for the next flower and checking that
the wraps are tight before pulling the
needle through. My rose has pink
flowers, all Stylecraft shades. I started
with Blush …

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… and then added flowers in increasingly paler shades: Apricot,
Candyfloss and Toy …

The other roses are a bit less formal - no pots and they wander around
the doors and windows freely. I used a dark green (Stylecraft Bottle)
for their stems which are worked in the same way as the first rose.

The front wall looks like it’s frowning now, doesn’t it? Never mind, it
will cheer up once it’s got its flowers.
I used two shades of yellow for the rose by the back door, Stylecraft
Dandelion and Saffron.

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Both of the roses on the front wall have red flowers, one using
Stylecraft Lipstick and the other one the darker shade of Claret.
The two colours mingle a bit in the middle.

Still a bit grumpy looking? We’ll sort that out with a mass of daisies.
Daisies
First I used Stylecraft Kelly Green to embroider lots of stems along
the bottom of the wall, adding shorter, branching lines to the sides for
leaves. It’s easier if you sew three or four per side first and then go
back and add others in between.

The daisy flowers are rough groups of four straight stitches, worked
in white. Work the stitches from the outside in and don’t make them
too regular, rough and ready is fine.
I worked an uneven row of flowers along the top of the stems and
then added a few more lower down too. It will all look like a mess at
this point but adding the centres to the flowers will sort that out.

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 Use yellow yarn (I used Stylecraft
Dandelion) to add small straight
stitches to the centre of each
flower; again, these can be a bit
rough. This will bring the flowers
to life.

That’s the front wall finished now and I think it looks a lot happier.

Geraniums
The last lot of flowers for the back wall of the cottage are a group of
potted geraniums for the windowsills, two for the bigger window and
one for the small.
I used Stylecraft Gingerbread for the pots and just embroidered three
or four small vertical stitches for each.

I found an anonymous length of

mid green for the stalks and
embroidered them in the same
way as for the roses, some
growing upright and others
trailing down over the sills.

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For the flowers I used Stylecraft Lipstick for the red geraniums and
Soft Peach which is the palest of pinks for the other one. They are
tiny lazy daisy stitches, small enough to make a solid shape.

To complete the scene I sewed a little cat button next to the door.
That leaves just one side wall to decorate and, for this one, I’ve added
a mixture of flowers.
Sunflower
In the middle of the wall I’ve put a tall sunflower in a pot.
The Pot
I used a very pale grey for this (Stylecraft Silver) and 3.25 mm
needles. It’s worked from the top down.
Using the long tail method cast on 8 stitches.
Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: Purl.
Row 3; SSK, K4, K2tog (6 sts).
Row 4: Purl.
Row 5: Knit.
Row 6: Purl.
Cast off knitwise and sew to the middle of the wall. Stuff it very
lightly but you don’t need to backstitch across the top this time.
I used Stylecraft Cypress for the stem and leaves. Embroider a long
stem with one or two straight stitches and then add a few leaves,
using lazy daisy stitches and longer stitches than normal to catch
down the loop of yarn.
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 I used a sunflower button for the flower,
sewing it on with thread to match the wall.
As the button had a shank, I sewed right
through to the inside of the wall to hold it
firmly in place.
If you don’t have a sunflower button, you
could embroider the flower instead; try
brown french knots in the centre surrounded
by small, bright yellow lazy daisy stitches.

Hollyhocks
I put three of these on one side of the sunflower and two on the other.
The stems and leaves are embroidered with Stylecraft Lincoln (the
same shade that I used for the window frames). The stems are straight
stitches and the leaves are double lazy daisies, one worked outside the
other to give them a fatter shape.

The flowers are fun to make. I used Stylecraft Cream for one set and
Candyfloss for the other.
Using a small crochet hook - I used a 2.5 mm one - make 6 chains
and join with a slip stitch into a ring. Make another 7 chains, slip
stitch into the 6th chain from the hook and fasten off. This gives you
two little flowers joined together.

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Make three pairs of flowers like this in cream and two in pink. I then
made another single flower in pink to give one of the hollyhocks a
line of three flowers.
Sew the flowers vertically to the stems with a few stitches in the
centre. Then, using cream for the pink flowers and pink for the cream,
add single wrap french knots to the centre of each flower.

Anemones
The last set of flowers are some rather big anemones; the soil must be
very fertile round this cottage.
I used Stylecraft Kelly Green to embroider the stems and leaves with
a few straight stitches, two flowers on each side of the sunflower.

The flowers are yet more lazy daisy stitches (what a useful stitch it
is), using Stylecraft Boysenberry and Proper Purple - you wouldn’t
want a pretend purple, would you? The centres are three wrap french
knots in dark grey (Stylecraft Graphite).

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That’s the last wall decorated so now you can
assemble your cottage. Before doing this, you
might like to add your initials and date to what
will be the bottom of the building as I did.
The picture below shows the base and four
walls ready to be sewn together.

Begin by sewing the

bottoms of the walls to the
sides of the base before
joining the walls together.

Use the wall colour yarn and hold the pieces to be joined with the
wrong sides together. Oversew / whipstitch along the seam, working
through the knitting only but taking fairly big, firm stitches. When
you get to the tops of the walls, work just round the corner a bit as
this will square the walls up and strengthen them.

Adding the Roof

I have to say, this is probably the trickiest part of the whole pattern
but, once it’s done, your cottage will be finished so take heart.

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Only the back half of the roof needs to be sewn down (thank
goodness) so start by using long pins to secure it in place. I used the
T pins that are used for blocking knitting.
Then, using sewing thread to match the roof, work round the outside
edge of the roof, sewing the underneath edge of the roof to the wall.
You only need to sew through the knitting, not the plastic and your
stitches can be as rough and ready as you like.
Before you’ve gone very far your pins will probably pop out but, by
then, the stitching should hold the roof in place so grit your teeth and
keep going.
At the end work a few stitches through
the top of the side wall and right up
through the plastic to the outside of the
roof and back down again. This is the
weakest point so needs a bit of extra
stitching. Go back and do the same to
the other side and you are done.
Put the kettle on and admire your finished creation. Now you can
think of what to keep in your box. Packs of summer seeds perhaps?
I’m tempted to knit some summer themed decorations for mine …
Abbreviations
st / sts stitch / stitches
K knit
P purl
SSK slip, slip, knit (see below)
K2tog knit two stitches together
Slip, Slip, Knit
slip two stitches knitwise (or knitwise
followed by purlwise) one at a time, insert tip of left needle into stitches from
above, put yarn round right needle and knit both stitches together.

© Frankie Brown, 2023.

My patterns are for personal use only and should not be used to knit items for sale.
Please do not use them for teaching purposes without my permission.

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