Take It Easy with the Bessie Scarf

Sometimes you just need a little something to occupy your hands that will make a cute and wearable accessory when you’re done.

Enter the Bessie Scarf by Gavriella Treminio , a bias knit garter stitch and eyelet scarf that’s a perfect relatively mindless project.

It’s worked from one of the long ends, so you can make it with a single skein of DK weight yarn (or use another yarn weight if you’d rather) and make it as wide as you want or have yarn available for.

The edges use slipped stitches for a nice clean edge.

This is a great piece to make with one of those special vacation skeins of yarn that you buy because you’re at a local yarn shop and you don’t know what to do with it when you get home. You have those, right?

It makes a lightweight scarf that you can add to an outfit any time of year, and it comes with a bit of history.

Bessie is named for Bessie Coleman, who was the first Black and Native American woman aviator in the United States. She was known for her flying tricks and she encouraged women and Blacks to reach for their dreams. What a lovely legacy and person to reflect on while you knit.

I love a good eyelet pattern, and little holes can be really effective as a way to add a pattern to an otherwise simple project. Here are a few more eyelet projects for you to try.

Many years ago I actually shared a couple more patterns that include eyelets and bias knitting (who knew there were so many?).

The Zeffira top uses eyelets as a design element that starts with dense diamonds at the bottom and fades to single eyelets toward to top. Or try to Lovell top, which has allover eyelets. Both are great projects for spring and summer!

[Photo: Gavriella Treminio]

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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