Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

The Craft Yarn Council Wants You to Stitch Away Stress

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lemon stress ball pillowA few years ago (long ago enough that I wrote about it for About.com), the Craft Yarn Council started an initiative called #StitchAwayStress for Stress Awareness Month, which is in April.

That first year they released knit and crochet patterns for squeezable lemons, which you could use yourself or pass on to someone who needed a reminder of what to do when times get hard and to squeeze for a little stress relief.

This year they’ve supersized the fun, with huggable lemon pillow patterns. The knit version is designed by Lori Steinberg, while the crochet version is by Twinkie Chan.

Stitch one up for yourself or for a friend who needs a little stress relief. Visit the Craft Yarn Council site for patterns, info on the benefits of yarn craft for stress relief and fill out their survey all about using crafts for stress relief.

I’d love to hear your stories about knitting for stress relief/self-care, too!

[Photo: Craft Yarn Council.]

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Knits for the Table for Thanksgiving and Beyond

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long. 

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders. 

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well. 

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn. 

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions. 

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table. 

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter. 

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.