How to Decorate with Fiber Arts

Knitting garments is great, but there’s something really fun about having knit, crocheted, woven, whatever you like to do items around your house. It’s a great way to show your love for fiber arts and a lot of home decor items like pillows and blankets can be great first or early projects when you’re learning a new craft because they don’t have to fit a person.

I was recently asked to contribute my thoughts on knitting home decor items to a post for Porch.com. It covers knitting, crochet and quilting and covers materials, stitches, things to make and more.

I talked about knitting stitches that are great for beginners to use in home decor projects, which reminded me of this great knit wall hanging I have in my office. It’s made with jumbo yarn so it literally takes minutes to stitch and I keep all my buttons and pins on it. So fun!

Do you have knit or crochet decor in your home? I’d love to hear about it!

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I guess I’ve decided it’s time to start knitting vests, and while I typically think of vests as being for fall, this one is decidedly summery.

Vanessa Ewing’s Fruit Salad Fest is covered with all kinds of fruits. I see grapes, blueberries, strawberries, peaches and kiwi all stitched up in rows for a cute and colorful vest.

This one is worked in sock yarn and comes in nine sizes. The actual finished chest measurement of the vest ranges from 29.5 to 59 inches, or 75 to 150 cm. It’s meant to be work with 2 to 4 inches/5-10 cm of positive ease. And while it’s called a vest it doesn’t look like it has any shaping, which gives it little cap sleeves when worn.

There’s a bit of ribbing at the armholes and neckline, and the bottom has a split hem. It’s worked in the round from the bottom up and includes steeks. It’s not really a pattern for people new to colorwork thanks to all the charts and different colors used, but if you’re ready to take on a challenge this would be a fun one.

Speaking of colors, there are 13 involved in this pattern, but a few of them aren’t needed in a huge quantity, so this could be a use for some mini skeins or leftovers from other projects if you have them in the right colors. This isn’t one where you can substitute colors that easily since they are meant to be true to real fruits, but you could use a different background color, make your grapes green or red, or change the blueberries to another fruit if you have different colors on hand.

Any way you slice it, this looks like a super fun knit that is sure to bring a smile to your face whenever you wear it, and to others whenever they see it.

Check it out and grab a copy on Ravelry.

[Photo: Vanessa Ewing]

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