Crafty Crafty Editor Says Goodbye

Lauren O’Farrell, probably better known by her monicker Deadly Knitshade, has worked fro the British craft website Crafty Crafty since 2007, but as all good things must end, she’s announced that she will no longer be a part of that publication.

O’Farrell says she will “spread my love of the handmade elsewhere,” and the Crafty Crafty site will be on hiatus as behind-the-scenes changes are made. If you want to keep up with her knitty adventures, you can finer her at Whodunnknit or follow her on Twitter. She’ll also remain active with Stitch London, the largest crafty community in the UK, which she co-runs. She says that site “is pegged to be the next big UK craft news site,” and she’s becoming the editor over there, so that gives you some clue of what her plans are after Crafty Crafty.

You can see more from O’Farrell in her book Stitch London, which I reviewed at About and recently gave away here. It will be interesting to see what happens with these two sites! In the meantime, check out Lauren’s farewell and a look back at some of her favorite posts from the more than 1,200 she’s written for Crafty Crafty.

[Photo by Lauren O’Farrell.]

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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