Help Funding the Knitting Maine Pattern Booklet

I love a good knitting-related Kickstarter, and this one from knitwear designers Kristen TenDyke could use our support.

She’s looking for funding for the printing of her lovely looking pattern booklet Knitting Maine. That’s certainly a topic I can get behind because I love Maine (even went on my honeymoon there!) and I love knitting, of course. The designs, from the look of them, are classic with a twist, and Kristin is mindful to use ec0-friendly yarns in her designs, if that’s something you care about. All five designs — four sweaters and a shawl — are knit using yarn produced in Maine.

She’s hoping to raise $5,000 to print the booklet on recycled paper with soy ink with the help of a local, family owned printer. This is such a lovely idea for a project I was sure you all would want to hear about.

As I write this there are 12 days left in the campaign and she’s raised about $2,000. Thank you gifts include PDF and printed copies of the booklet or her previously published patterns, crocheted hearts, beads infused with Reiki energy and distance Reiki healings.

Check it out for more details and information.

[Photo via Kristin TenDyke.]

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?