Knitters Stitch a Stunning Garden Pergola

The knitters of Norfolk in the UK are really quite amazing. They once knit a 15-foot-tall Christmas tree, and this year they’ve put together a spectacular garden pergola adorned with knit flowers, birds and bugs.

The structure, which measures more than 7 feet tall and is 35 feet in circumference, was stitched to raise awareness and funds for John Grooms Court, an assisted living home for disabled adults.

Knitters from throughout the UK — and as far away as Australia — contributed to the piece, which was unveiled earlier this week. The piece will be at the Forum in Norwich through April 22.

The base of the structure is made up of thousands of squares, and more than 10,000 knit flowers and other adornments decorate the structure.

The Christmas tree knit by the group in 2010 featured more than 4,000 knit squares and 2,000 decorations and helped the group raise almost £10,000.

[Photo via EDP24.]

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

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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