Ideas for Craft Fairs and a Cute Christmas Project

November 5, 2015 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

Did you know you can share what you’ve been blogging about with me and I can share it with readers? Just click on that link at the top that says “suggest a DIY.”

There are several people who regularly share links, and I really appreciate it. One of them is Donna, aka purl3agony, and I have a couple of links from her this week because I’ve been slow getting through them lately so I thought I’d share them together.

The first has to do with ideas for things you can knit that will sell well at craft fairs or shows. There are some great ideas here for what is trending in the craft world (boot toppers, headbands, ruffle scarves) as well as perennial favorites (baby things, washcloths) that you should consider making as well.

A lot of these are great gift ideas, too, if you’re still thinking about such things (I am seriously considering ruffle scarves in school colors for the girl’s teachers).

The second post is another great one leading into the holidays, all about knitting a tree skirt for a tabletop tree. Donna received a ceramic tree from her in-laws, but was worried it might scratch the table. She knit up a circular doily for it to sit on that looks like a tree skirt. And while hers is plain white so she can use it for other things through the year, she offers ideas for giving it more of a holiday look if you want.

Who are some of your favorite knitting bloggers? I’m always looking for more people to keep up with!

[Photo via purl3agony.]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Calcifer Knitting Pattern

I don’t know if you all know this about me, but I’m a huge fan of the Studio Ghibli movies and the books that inspired them. Calcifer, if you don’t already know, is an important character in the book and the movie Howl’s Moving Castle, which is one of my daughter’s favorites (though she did like the book better thanks to some changes that were made for the movie).

Whether you’ve got a Ghibli (or Diana Wynne Jones) fan in your house or you just want to knit a roaring fire to sit in your fireplace in the off season, the Calcifer Knitted Plushie from Kamila Hernandez Firl is here for you.

This irresistible pattern is super cute even if you aren’t familiar with the story (which I won’t spoil for you, but you should check it out!).

The pattern calls for DK weight yarn in eight different colors, for of which make the colors of the flame, two browns for the log and black and white for details. You’ll also need some black embroidery thread for finishing the details on the face. The project is worked in the round, with the flame and the log worked separately, stuffed and sewn together. The general instructions for the pattern are written, but the color changes (and some shaping on the flames) are shown in chart form, so you should have some familiarity with reading and following charts before you start this one.

It’s well worth learning how to do it if you know someone who loves Calcifer, or even just to make a pretend play “campfire” for your kiddos who aren’t old enough to know who Calcifer is yet. They’ll thank you later.

This pattern is free to download on Ravelry, so go check it out and get ready to stitch up some firey fun.

[Photo: Kamila Hernandez Firl]

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply