Check out These Booklets Full of Knit Holiday Cheer

It might be a little late to order these books from Leisure Arts to make something for this Christmas, but they’d be a great gift for the knitter in your life (or you) who loves to knit things for the holidays.

The Stockings Were Knit by Mickey Landau includes eight cute stocking patterns: one with a dog theme and a cat theme, one with a cool textured colorwork cuff, one decorated with bells, one with herringbone and a bit of lace (pictured on the cover), on covered with snowflakes, one with a snowy scene and one with a gingerbread man (see some of them on Ravelry). They’re all really cute and best for intermediate knitters.

Beaded Ornaments is a collection of 12 knit balls, with beads worked in different designs, made to slip over a ball ornament (the page on Ravelry is for an older version, but the patterns are the same). There are a variety of designs here including hearts, crosses, zigzags, stripes and diamonds. Because they are worked in the round and include beads, all the patterns are rated intermediate, but they aren’t really that difficult.

Either of these books would be fun to start knitting for next year or to whip up a quick ornament or two for gifts this year.

Are you done with your gift knitting yet? I’d love to hear what you’re working on.

Looking for more Christmas themed Knitting patterns? Check out some of our favorite Knitting patterns on Etsy and

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

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.

Have you read?