Sweet Accessories to Stitch for a Little One

This set of patterns from Lion Brand isn’t necessarily meant to be a set, but I like the look of them all together and a couple of them would make a cute gift for a little one in your life.

The Birthday Pullover is sized for a 12 month, 18 month or two year old child, and the sweet pastel stripes of their Ice Cream yarn makes this sweater simple to knit and fun to wear. The pattern by Amy Gaines includes the option of working surface chain stitch to make it a true birthday sweater, or you can add the child’s name or another word if you’re making it for a different occasion, or no occasion at all.

If you have yarn left over or grab an extra ball you can also make these cute embroidered gift bags, perfect for stashing some sweet little gifts. They also use the Ice Cream yarn, and because the bags are so small you can make about six of them with one ball of yarn. Add embroidery if you like — the pattern suggests a candle, gift box or party hat but doesn’t include images to follow, so you could also do a monogram, the number of the birthday being celebrated, or anything else you like.

Both of these patterns are rated easy, and a baby sweater is a great place to start if you’ve never made a garment before.

This last pattern doesn’t actually go with the other two because it uses different yarn, but I still think it would be cute with the sweater so I’m including it. The Garter Stitch Bonnet is another easy pattern, this time using Feels Like Butta yarn for super softness that’s also machine washable. This pattern has four sizes ranging from newborn to 2 years, so you could make it to go with the sweater or on its own.

It is shown in two colors but you could make it solid if you’d rather. Any or all of these would be so cute to make for your favorite little one.

[Photo: Lion Brand]

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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