Free Pattern: Mother’s Love Hoodie

Moms — and dads, of course! — spend a lot of their time as parents trying to protect their children as well as give them the resources they need to go out in the world without our protection. Though parenting is one job the goal of which is to work yourself out of, it can still be jarring when it’s time for our little ones to go off on their own.

So when knitter Karen King’s daughter decided to take her junior year in high school to study abroad, she wanted to do what any knitting parent would do: cover her child in the love that only a knit garment can provide.

What she came up with is the Mother’s Love Hoodie (available as a PDF on the linked page). The front features OXO cables and a tied ribbing, both of which are meant to express the connections between mother and child. The back of the top-down raglan hooded vest also has a tree of life pattern. It’s a cute, quick knit in bulky yarn that will keep anyone you love warm and protected.

[Photo by Karen King Knits.]

Looking for sweater patterns? Check these books out and these patterns over at Sirdar.

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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