Get Some Virtual Learning in with Melissa & Friends

Melissa Leapman is a well-known knitting and crochet designer and all around good human, and when the mess with Stitches went down, causing a lot of fibers arts teachers and vendors to lose money for event registration, travel and sales, she wanted to do something to help.

Melissa & Friends is a four day, virtual knitting event that includes a Friday evening welcome party and cookalong; a la carte classes in reading your knitting, adjusting patterns to your gauge, advanced beginner double knitting, shawl knitting, sock knitting, fixing mistakes and more; and a vendor’s marketplace in which select vendors will offer presentations about their products (often including a coupon code for an event-only discount).

I love this idea so much and there are a lot of great class options that I would say mostly trend toward intermediate knitters, but there’s something for everyone. The event is in Eastern time, but if you register for a class you’ll have access to the video for two weeks, so you can participate from anywhere in the world.

And since Melissa has been so great to organize this event, let’s show her some love by buying some of her patterns at her website or on Ravelry. She also has a bunch of books (her most recent is Insta-Knits) if you’re into that.

And if you missed the whole Stitches story, read about how parent company XRX announced the company would be closing down and ceasing events the day after one of their events finished, an update on people getting chargebacks and some ways to help teachers and vendors, and instructions from their attorney on filing claims. I just checked and the company did file its annual report with the state of South Dakota in July, which doesn’t sound like something a company declaring bankruptcy would do, but we’ll keep an eye on it and report any further developments.

In the meantime, if you’re a teacher or vendor who was affected by the Stitches shutdown, I’d love to help promote your work. Just click on Suggest a DIY at the top of the page and send me a note!

[Photo via Melissa Leapman]

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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