Pin of the Week: Tips for Finishing Knitting

If you’ve ever knit a sweater or another big project you know that it’s not always done just because the knitting is finished. There are some little things that you can do that make the finished knit look so much better, so that people will be impressed when you tell them you knit it yourself.

Back in 2011 Kristen from Kristen Makes was doing a knitalong of her Cadence sweater and spent a post talking about the little details that could be prettied up after the knitting was done.

There was that weird unevenness where the slip knot is, the gaping underarm hole, a bit of lace and stockinette that could be smoother.

One by one she tackles each of those problems, showing that it doesn’t take a whole lot of effort to take your knitting project from OK to great.

These tips are great reminders to look back on whenever you finish a knitting project.

Don’t forget to check out more goodies on my Knitting Pinterest board!

[Photo via Kristen Makes.]

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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