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A Cozy Sweater as Good as Your Favorite Flannel

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Real talk: I’m trying not to buy new patterns this year, because I have a LOT of patterns already, and using stash includes my stash of patterns as much as it includes my stash of yarn.

Also, knitwear designers are making this resolution really hard on me because they keep releasing really cute stuff that I want to knit. The nerve of them.

Case in point: Alicia Plummer’s Favorite Flannel Cozy sweater. This bit of adorableness uses an easy textured stitch pattern to make a sweater as snuggly as your favorite sweatshirt (or, ok, your favorite flannel).

It’s worked from the top down, uses aran weight yarn and comes in 11 sizes (meant to be worn with 4 to 6 inches of positive ease).

I’m pretty tempted by this one and I hope you are too. You can grab it on Ravelry.

[Photo: Alicia Plummer.]

Looking for sweater patterns? Check these books out and these patterns over at Sirdar.

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A Few of My Favorite Things for Knitters

It’s that time of year when you might want to shop for something special for a knitter (or crocheter!) in your life, or when you might want to start dropping hints for someone who might want to buy something for you this holiday season.

Either way, I’ve got just the thing on my list of gift ideas for knitters and crocheters. The full list is over on my blog Our Daily Craft, but I wanted to share a few of the highlights here to get a conversation going about great gifts for knitters.

This year I really want to get some knitter’s barber cord. There are lots of knockoffs of this product out there, but as far as I can tell Handsome Fibers on Etsy was the first to sell it. It’s a flexible cord that you can slip over your needle points (up to size 9 US/5.5mm) so that you can slip on a top-down sweater or a sleeve without having to slip all the stitches onto a piece of yarn, then back onto the needle. I feel like this would save me a ton of time, and they’re just fun besides.

I love a good knitting toolkit that can hold a bunch of tools in one place for your travel knitting kit (or to keep near wherever you knit most often). I’ve got my eye on a Akerworks knitting and crochet kit, which includes a needle gauge, swatch gauge, tiny scissors, a tape measure, stitch markers and darning needles.

And this is one I already have, but I was recently reminded how much I love my set of Fix-A-Stitch double-ended crochet hooks. These short hooks are perfect for picking up dropped stitches, and because they have hooks on both ends you can move the tool around instead of having to flip the fabric when you’re fixing a dropped stitch in garter stitch. It’s honestly the coolest thing and they’re great for fixing stitches in any other kind of fabric, too.

So, you tell me, what did I miss? Do you have a favorite knitting tool or accessory that you think every knitter should have? Tell me about it!

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