Make a Trivet out of I-cord

We’ve talked before about I-cords, and whether you knit them with needles, use an I-cord maker (I just broke mine a couple of weeks ago!) or make them with a French knitter/spool knitter, they’re kind of fun and meditative and a great way for kids to learn the basics of knitting.

But what to do with all those cords? Why not make useful trivets for the table? Evelyne from Nemcsok Farms has a great tutorial that shows just how to sew the cord together so that it will hold its circular shape.

It occurs to me you could also glue the yarn trivet to a piece of cork, which would keep it from sliding so much on the table and add an extra layer of protection. And remember that if you use acrylic yarn, it might melt, so make sure you keep really high temperature things away from it (or use wool or cotton yarn).

What do you use I-cord for? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo via Nemcsok Farms.]

Next Pattern:

It’s been well documented that I love a knitting pattern with a bit of whimsy, so when I saw the Mine! Pullover from Sarah L. Kelly recently I knew I had to share it with you.

I mean, who wouldn’t want to knit a sweater with a yoke full of seagulls? And another seagull at the waist? Chasing little crabs?

The story behind the sweater (and you knew there had to be one, right?) is that while Sarah was traveling around Europe there were a lot of cheeky seagulls about. They reminded her of the scene in Finding Nemo where the seagulls say “mine, mine, mine” and thus the Mine! series of patterns was born.

Oh yes, there’s a whole set. It was the sweater I saw first but there’s also a pair of socks (and the pattern says there’s a cowl, too, but I couldn’t find it as of this writing. If you see it let me know and I’ll add the link here!) so you can totally deck yourself out in pesky seabirds if you want.

But back to the sweater for now. This is worked in DK weight yarn from the top down in the round. The yoke and a section at the bottom are worked in stranded colorwork, with stripes on the body, though you could make the body a single color if you wanted. Details like the beaks and eyes are added with duplicate stitch to make the knitting a little easier.

The colorwork sections are charted. The pattern comes in 10 sizes, with a finished chest circumference ranging from 32 to 68 inches, or 80 to 170 cm.

The socks are worked in sock yarn and come in three sizes. There worked from the cuff down and change needle sizes to accommodate the less stretchy nature of stranded colorwork. You can choose from a side profile or a seagull that’s looking out from the sock. Make a matching pair or mix it up.

Both patterns are available on Ravelry: sweater and socks. If you make them I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Sarah L. Kelly]

Next Pattern:

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