Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Knit Flags and More for the Fourth of July

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Check out these quick knitting patterns for the Fourth of July!The end of June kind of snuck up on me, but there’s one more weekend you can knit some red, white and blue accessories in for use on the Fourth or for any summer celebration. These 4th of July patterns are perfect for your patriotic decorations. 

Check out my Fourth of July patterns over at About to get started, and here are some more easy ideas:

This American Flag Garland from 400 Square Foot Living is adorable and really quick to knit. Just make as many pieces as you have time for, use the yarn tails to tie to flags together and you’re done. I’d love these a cupcake toppers, too.

Claudette D’s beer cozy is fit for a 40 oz. beverage and quick to knit in red, white and blue with optional personalization.

The Americana Wrist Cuff from Cirilia Rose (check this Ravelry page for instructions on how to get it) is really lovely and a great piece to wear for any patriotic holiday through the year.

And if you want to keep your hands warm in patriotic style, check out Lisa Bee’s Colbert Nation Gloves, inspired by mitts worn by Stephen Colbert. But you don’t have to be a member of the nation to love these.

Make sure not to miss my Captain America placemat over at CraftBits, too!

Are you knitting for the Fourth, or do you have knit things you bring out for the holiday? I’d love to hear about it.

 

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Make Your Knitting Machine Scarves Better

I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve shared any patterns for our circular knitting machine users. I know these devices aren’t for everyone but even though I much prefer knitting by hand, it is kind of fun to crank things out on these machines.

One of the most common early projects for a circular knitting machine is a scarf. Which makes sense, because it’s just one long tube and you can make it as long as you like.

One problem that comes from knitting scarves on the circular knitting machine, though, is that it can be hard to know how to finish the ends of the tube so that it looks like a finished scarf and not a tube of knitting.

If you’re not a knitter or crocheter, the most basic way to finish a circular knitting machine scarf is just by cinching up the ends and maybe adding a pompom to each end to cover up any hole that might still be visible at the end.

But if you have a little knitting or crochet skill or are willing to learn, there are a lot of different options for closing up the ends of a scarf. And this would also be true if you hand knit a tube scarf!

I recently wrote a post over at Our Daily Craft that includes five different ways to close up the ends of a tube scarf:

  • the simple cinching method mentioned above
  • sewing the stitches together
  • three needle bind off
  • grafting
  • crochet bind off

Grafting is my favorite because I feel like it gives the cleanest, closest to a seamless look. If you’re a knitter you may already know how to do it but even if you don’t it’s not that hard to learn.

Do you knit tube scarves by hand or machine? I’d love to know how you like to finish them!