Check out Kristin Nicholas’ New Fair Isle Hat Class

I don’t know how the online crafty classroom Creativebug escaped my notice for so long, but I was led there by something earlier this week and noticed that they have a brand-new class from Kristin Nicholas all about knitting a basic Fair Isle hat.

You should know from the outset that basic for Kristin still involves three colors, and some duplicate stitch to make it look more complex, but this really is a pretty easy pattern and, better yet, a pretty pattern.

Creativebug, it turns out, offers classes in all sorts of skills, from knitting and crochet to apothecary (soap and essential oil use), jewelry making, paper crafts, printmaking and more.

Some of the classes are available for free, while premium content (such as Kristin’s classes; she also has one on more general colorwork knitting) is viewable for $24.99 a month if billed monthly (or as little as $16.99 a month if billed six months at a time). Unfortunately you can’t buy a single class if you just want to see what their content is like, but you can look at the free stuff to get a feel for it.

Is anyone a member of Creativebug? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

[Photo via Creativebug.]

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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