Knitters Raise Funds to Aid Joplin, Thanks to a 9-Year-Old

A nine-year-old girl in Kentucky who had never heard of Joplin, Mo., before an EF-5 tornado hit there last year has raised more than $10,000 to aid rebuilding efforts, and she added to that total thanks to a trip to Stitches Midwest last weekend.

Cee Cee Creech has been knitting elephants and other little critters to raise money for Homes of Hope for the last 14 months, and at the yarn industry convention she sold 78 kits at $25 each to people wanting to make their own elephants. Combine that with $1,600 raised in an auction of elephants at the event and it was a good weekend for the organization.

They also raised money by raffling off some of the critters at the McAllister’s Deli in Joplin. Cee Cee says she doesn’t know when her efforts for Joplin will stop, and her mom notes that as long as people still want the elephants they’ll keep making them. You can follow her efforts and find out how you can help at the Elephants Remember Joplin Facebook page.

[Photo by Roger Normer/Joplin Globe.]

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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