How a Little Stitching Makes a Big Difference on a Project

A couple of weeks ago I shared a really simple pillow cover pattern that is mostly Stockinette Stitch. As you know, Stockinette Stitch is just a big old blank canvas that you can embellish in a ton of different ways, such as:

knitting stripes instead of a solid color
working in some simple colorwork
sewing on buttons for decorative purposes
adding embroidery
working duplicate stitch on the surface

It’s the first and the last option that Mom Made Blog used to turn that basic pattern into a watermelon cushion. It’s so cute and it only takes a few minutes to add those little “seeds” and it’s not any more difficult to work in those stripes to make a super cute cushion.

This is a great lesson in embellishment and how just taking a little time to think about how you could fancy up a basic project can make a big difference.

How have you embellished basic knitting projects before? I’d love to hear your ideas.

[Photo via Mom Made Blog.]

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Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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