Ideas for Craft Fairs and a Cute Christmas Project

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.]

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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