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.]

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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