Knit a Blanket with a Fun Ripple Pattern

I feel like I’ve been seeing feather and fan and similar stitch patterns a lot lately. Maybe it’s just because I knit a feather and fan scarf earlier this year so now I’m paying attention to it. But this stitch pattern and its variations are a fun introduction to lace knitting, so it makes sense that they would be popular.

Studio Knit used a feather and fan (also known as old shale) variation to make her Mavericks Ripple Wave Blanket. This one has a garter stitch border and uses garter stitch ridges and an eight-row repeat (the feather and fan pattern I used is a four-row repeat) that’s easy to memorize.

The pattern calls for sport weight yarn, and she used four colors in a repeating stripe pattern to evoke ripples in the water and sand on a beach (Mavericks Beach, to be specific). You could of course work yours in a solid color or a multicolored yarn, or make it a stash busting project and change colors whenever you need to.

There’s a chart included to show you when she changed colors, or you could make your own for the colors you are using if you want to change it up. The instructions are both written and charted.

There are six size options given in the pattern, including a baby blanket, stroller size, receiving blanket, lapghan, throw and bedspread size. The sample shown is the throw blanket size, which is about 42 by 64 inches, or 107 by 163 cm, and uses around 2,026 yards (1,853 meters) of yarn total.

You can grab the free pattern for this great blanket from Studio Knit, and if you want to learn more about feather and fan, and why it should really be called old shale, check out my post all about feather and fan over at Our Daily Craft.

[Photo: Studio Knit]

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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