A Simple Lace and Cable Stitch Pattern

My love for learning new stitch patterns is well documented (I even just recently wrote a book review about a fun new book full of knitting stitch patterns, The New Knitting Stitch Dictionary).

Lilia Craft Party likes learning about, knitting up and sharing different stitch patterns, too. This one is called knitting stitch no. 19 on her blog, but to me it looks like little candle flames.

It’s made with easy eyelets for the bottom part of the flame and some traveling stitches (also known as cables, though these don’t twist together like cables normally do) that make what you could consider the outside of the flame or even like a little lantern holding the flame.

The trickiest part of this stitch pattern is the knit three together that’s worked at the top of each little flame section. It’s not actually hard, and it’s exactly what it sounds like. If you know how to knit 2 together, a knit 3 together is the same, just worked with three stitches into one instead of two. But it can be a little fiddly, especially on heavier weight yarn.

The sample of the stitch pattern shown above was worked on sock yarn, and this actually would be a fun pattern to add to the leg and top of a sock. The stitch pattern requires a multiple of 10, which would be perfect for me because I tend to use 60 stitches for my socks. You can always make a little swatch to see if the math works out for you, or add a couple of stitches to the back of the leg to make a faux seam that also helps to make the sock a bit bigger.

Lilia Craft Party has the pattern on her website, both written out and as a chart, so you can practice it and then add it to an upcoming knitting project. If you try it I’d love to know what you use it for!

[Photo: Lilia Craft Party]

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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