Join Me at the Holiday Crafts Summit

Are you ready for holiday crafting? I’ve been doing a lot for Halloween lately so I haven’t given much thought to the winter holidays, but they will be here quicker than we imagine.

If you’re ready to get started on your holiday crafting list, whether you’re looking for decor for your home or easy gifts to make and give, you’ll want to check out the Rebecca Page holiday crafts summit.

This free summit takes place Oct. 16-20 and offers 44 classes in knitting, crochet, paper crafts, embroidery and sewing. I’m teaching two classes, one of which is for knitters.

My class is about knit headbands and earwarmers. In this class you’ll learn how to make custom headbands and ear warmers using any weight of yarn you like, any stitch pattern you want and whatever size you need.

I demonstrate working projects flat and in the round, sewing them flat or with a twist, or using a cable to make the twist. The hope is that this will give you ideas to make the perfect headband/ear warmer for yourself or to give as a gift.

There’s another knitting class that I’m not teaching, for a knit Santa gift bag that is just so cute!

My other class is a sewing class, which shows you how to make a couple of simple and useful gifts for the reader in your life: a pillow case with a pocket to hold your book (or notebook, pens, highlighters, reading glasses, etc.) and a book weight to help hold the book open so you don’t have to. Because I love to read and knit at the same time, which I can’t do if I’m holding the book open!

Each day through the summit a number of classes are released and available for viewing each day. You can also sign up for a VIP pass to get lifetime access to all courses, plus three classes that are only available through the VIP ticket. I hope you’ll join me to learn all about these quick, easy and fun to make gift ideas!

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

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