Sock Sales to Benefit Red Cross

Chrissy Gardiner designed and knit her Hurricane Socks after the devastating hurricanes in the summer and fall of 2008. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the pattern went to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

Since the storm called Sandy caused such great damage on the East Coast, Gardiner is ramping up her fundraising efforts again, and has pledged to donate the full $6 pattern cost to disaster relief efforts when people buy the pattern through Ravelry (that’s the link above) from now through the end of November. (Ignore that part on the page about helping earthquake victims; I’m sure it just wasn’t properly updated.)

The pattern is worked top down and involves stranded knitting to make the white hurricane motifs on a blue background. The pattern isn’t so literal as to be creepy, and it is an easy way to support a good cause and get a cool knitting pattern to boot.

You can learn more about the pattern on Gardiner’s website, but remember to buy through Ravelry for the donation to count.

[Photo by Chrissy Gardiner.]

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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