How a Knit Nativity Helps a Hospice

Here’s your heartwarming Christmas knitting story of the year.

The Knutty Knitters is a group of women in Bristol who all used to work together at the same school. They started a knitting group in 2011 and try to meet once a month to chat, knit and eat chocolate cake.

When one of their members, Christine, died, the remaining members decided they wanted to do something for St. Peter’s Hospice, which had cared for her at the end of her life.

They ended up knitting a life-sized nativity, complete with Mary holding the baby, Joseph, shepherds, wise men and animals. In 2012 they took the nativity on tour and raised £8,000.

The next year they had Christmas cards printed (you can see one above) and the card sales alone cleared £25,000.

Learn more about the women behind this amazing piece in the video at the link above, or visit them on Facebook to see where the nativity has been this year. You can also donate to the cause on Just Giving.

Merry Christmas to all!

Looking for more Christmas themed Knitting patterns? Check out some of our favorite Knitting patterns on Etsy and

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

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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