Blog Tour With Donna Druchunas

We’re going to be part of a blog tour! Donna Druchunas, in promoting her newest book, Ethnic Knitting, Exploration has agreed to stop by on April 23rd. So, in honor of this event, I cast on for yet another project. Don’t laugh, I don’t need a reason, but really there was one!

At first, thinking of how much fun knitting with Lopi is, Iceland seemed the reasonable choice. Then I remembered how much I like cables so Ireland it was. But in the end.. Lithuania won out. So, one of the designs from this book in a Lithuanian pattern will be for one of my twin granddaughter’s birthday presents this year. The sweater, a cardigan, will be in a gorgeous heathery purple (the swatch above is not a true color) with a white pattern. Haven’t picked out the stitch pattern yet, maybe birds, maybe berries, maybe an elk, who knows, not there yet. I do know I have to make two of them though. The swatch above was knit in a simple k2 check pattern (k2 purple, k2 white…) just to get gauge with two colors, which when I knit with 2 colors is different than just knittng with just one color. The solid color purple on the bottom is with size 8 needles, as is the first of the checkered sections. The second checkered section I went up to a size 9 and the gauge is a lot closer to the solid, so 8’s and 9’s is what it will be. Measurements were taken, which when dealing with a pre-teen girl need to be subversive. When she was younger I could measure her and tell her I was making curtains and she’d belive me. Now, not so much.

Stay tuned for more of this fun sweater!

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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