Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

The Principle of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt

by

It’s been a long time since I came across a definite MUST HAVE reference book. Dudes, this is totally it! If you have a question about knitting, it’s in here.

I’m sure you’ve heard about this book. The entire name is The Comprehensive and Timeless Guide. The Principles of Knitting. Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting, and it’s every bit of that. Just shy of 800 pages of every bit of knitting info, every technique, every little thing you can imagine.

You can find the original, on sale, or now the electronic version HERE:

This book has been completely revised and updated, and just released – Feb 2012.

Check out this link HERE to get an inside view of this book. Check out the table of contents. There’s everything; every single thing you could ever think of to help with your knitting. New and better ways to do things, from casting on to seaming up and blocking. Everything!

Read about placement of hands and fingers for different methods of knitting. Read about how the techniques and stitches got their names. I could go on and on listing the different ideas and contents of this book, but you’d get a much better idea by clicking over to the BROWSE ONLINE version. Go on, check it out, I’ll wait right here….

 

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.