Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Substituting Yarn, or, It’s Supposed To Look Like That!

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My current WIP is the Sunrise Circle Jacket from Interweave Press. Apparantly I didn’t do the math real well when I figured that the amount of hand-dyed, one of a kind yarn I bought over a year ago was enough.

Almost, but not quite.

What to do? I wrote to the company that I bought this yarn from www.yarnhollow.com to see if maybe, just maybe they had more of the same dye lot. Not likely, but what the heck, worth taking a chance. Then, I ran down to my stash room (what? You don’t have enough stash to take up a whole, entire room with no space to spare?) to see what I had enough of to kind of “go” with this. I found 5 different yarns that I did have enough of to finish the jacket.

 

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

 

So, I’m almost done with the first sleeve/front combo. and while I’ll have enough of the original to maybe make the next sleeve, I’m still out a front. I’m going to do this:

Since these sleeves/fronts are made in one piece each (left sleeve knitted in one piece with the left front, and right sleeve knitted in one piece with the right front) I think I’ll take the different yarn and do the right sleeve/front. There are two yarns that I’ve narrowed it down to, so I’m going to do 2 rows of one, then 2 rows of the other, then 2 rows of the first, then 2 rows of the second, then… whew. dizzy! You get the point.

See the picture? It’s kind of “stripey” when doing rows of each color. Don’t like it. And the bamboo splash green is too close to the original color. So, while I’m still holding out for the original (she did email me back and said she could dye another hank of it for me – happy dance!) I might be able to go with the brown. I like it, the brown (in the picture it’s brown, actually, there’s blues, purples, teals, burgandy’s and a gold fleck), so as usual, I never really know what I’m going to do in the end.
When someone asks me about it, I’ll just tell them that I planned it that way!

My other current WIP (can it really count if you haven’t cast on yet, but are planning to any day?) is the Mossy Roving’s cardigan from Jane Thornley’s current KAL.

Stay tuned…..

Have you read?

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.