Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Stash Busting? Try Knitting a Zero-Waste Shawl

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Sometimes when you have a really great ball or two of yarn you really want a pattern where you can use every drop. That’s the idea behind the Zero Waste Shawl, designed by Katarina Linnhagen.

This bias knit, triangular shawl with a sawtooth edge is designed to use up all your little bits, or a set of mini skeins. You can use sport or fingering weight, gradients or more strongly contrasting colors.

From the description it sounds like the key is using wool yarn and felting the ends of each ball together so that you run straight from one color into the next and don’t have to waste yarn or time weaving in ends.

The pattern is free on Ravelry and looks like a great basic you’ll want to wear all the time.

[Photo: Katarina Linnhagen.]

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Looking for more amazing shawl patterns? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

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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.