Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Mix Your Colors for a Fun Cardigan

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I’m not saying you have six different colors of super bulky yarn in your stash, but if you did, this would be a great use for it.

Anastasia’s Cardigan from Anastasia Pargett and Andi Satterlund is a cute, boxy, colorblocked cardigan with an open front that would be a fun first sweater pattern or first playing with color sweater.

It comes in 10 sizes, ranging from a chest measurement of 34 to 70 inches (that’s 86.4 to 177.8 cm for our metric friends). There’s no shaping at all except a little bit on the sleeves, so its a great choice for knitters of any skill level. The color changes are easy to do because all the pieces are worked separately and seamed together. And because there are different colors everywhere your seams don’t even have to be perfect to line up different blocks of color.

In addition to the color blocking options (which of course you could tone down if you don’t want as many color changes or don’t have that many colors) there are other ideas for customization through surface stitching. One of the versions shown here, for example, only uses five colors, while one uses contrasting yarn for the bands and more stitching to highlight the color changes on the sleeves.

If you don’t happen to have a ton of super bulky yarn on hand, you could make this an odd ball project by working multiple strands of worsted or other weights of yarn held together. Change colors when the pattern suggests or just whenever you run out of yarn to make it colorful and fun to knit and wear.

The pattern is available for free from Knit Picks, where you can also make yourself a kit using the suggested Fluff of the Andes yarn, a singles yarn made of Peruvian Highland wool that’s available in 26 colors.

[Photo via Knit Picks]

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Pencil Knitting Patterns

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.