Get Ready for Winter (or Next Winter) with Free Mitten Patterns

The good people at Knitting Daily have just released a free pattern ebook full of patterns for mittens. Since those of us in the Northern Hemisphere are very much in a spring frame of mind right now (which does not at all mean we won’t still need some mittens for a little while), I dedicate this one to our friends in the southern part of the world, who will be facing cold weather soon.

There’s a pretty basic pattern worked in stripes (which you could make solid if you like), a pair with a cute cuff treatment, one worked in colorful Linen Stitch (remember how we were just talking about how great two-color Linen Stitch is?), a stranded knit pattern covered with sonwflakes and a simple unisex pattern you’ll knit again and again.

You can download this pattern book from Knitting Daily if you are a member; it’s free to sign up and you’ll get daily emails about all sorts of fun stuff in the world of knitting.

Are you still knitting/getting ready to knit for cold weather? I’d love to hear what you’re working on!

[Photo via Knitting Daily.]

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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