Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Bust Through Your Stash with a Garter Stitch Blanket

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garter stitch afghanConfession time: my stash is starting to make me a little nervous. I have book leftovers, yarns I bought, things people have sent me to review, little bits of balls from projects I’ve finished and big projects I stopped in the middle.

Something needs to be done.

I have plans for some of this stuff; some will get used, some given away, maybe even a little sold. If you’re looking for a way to use a bunch of yarn (somewhat) quickly, check out the Color Blocked Afghan from Smiling Colors. More of a method than a pattern, she used two strands of yarn held together and changed colors five times across the length of the blanket.

You could also hold two different colors together, or have one strand the same color throughout and change the other one as needed.

Holding two strands together like that both makes it go faster and makes it go through yarn faster, both of which are great when you’re trying to process some stash.

What are some of your favorite stash busting projects? I’d love to hear about them!

[Photo via Smiling Colors.]

Comments

  1. The end result would be much appreciated by the homeless. Friend pays a huge amount of postage to ship hers from the UK to Africa. My knitting group prefers not to pay that, we’re retirees, some on small incomes. I intend no criticism of anyone,it’s a free country for anyone to do what they like with their charity makes. but by phoning around locally, we’ve found 2 homeless hostels who welcome our stash-busting blankets.

Have you read?

Pencil Knitting Patterns

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.