Project Notebook: Irish Coasters

St. Patrick’s Day is such a fun holiday, and it’s a great time for crafters because working some bright green into your wardrobe or decor this time of year is a welcome change from the drab colors of the end of winter.

I like really quick and easy projects for the “smaller” holidays like St. Patrick’s Day, because it’s not a holiday you get to keep your decorations out for over a long period of time. They can come up after Valentine’s Day (or Mardi Gras, in my house) and go right back down in favor of Easter decor.

One great way to infuse your home with a little St. Patrick’s Day cheer is to knit simple coasters in Irish colors or with shamrock shapes. They add a bit of color even when people aren’t using them, and they make keeping your table clean a lot more festive.

I whipped up a couple of versions that you can find over on CraftBits. There’s a solid color version with the shamrock worked in Reverse Stockinette Stitch, and versions showing the same pattern worked all is Stockinette in green and white. It only takes an hour or so to knit each one, so you can have a stack in no time.

While I was working on those, I was thinking about some red, white and blue coasters I made a long time ago and thinking about knitting some in the colors of the Irish flag. I decided to go with the same striping that’s found in the flag, and did both Garter Stitch and Stockinette Stitch versions, which you can find over at About.

Have you done any knitting for St. Patrick’s Day? I’d love to hear about it!

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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