Thinking About Blankets for Fall?

It happens that, while I’m busy with all my book knitting, I’m also working on cleaning out my office. We moved into this house about a year and a half ago, and when we did, my daughter was still home with me full time, and she was an into-everything toddler, so the unpacking happened quickly and rather haphazardly (horrible confession: some of my yarn and fabric isstill packed!).

When you’re really, really busy is kind of a bad time to decide you want to organize, but my brain literally was not working when my office was full of all that stuff. So now I’m systematically going through all my books, yarn and other crafty stuff, deciding what I absolutely need and what I can part with (which will be very good news for you in the coming months).

The trouble with this, though, is that I’m looking at all my yarn. That perfect-for-fall colorway of that awesome Knit Picks sock yarn. That gorgeous bamboo/silk blend I’ve been wanting to make a fancy top out of for years. The Malabrigo I’m dreaming of making into a cowl (that one is actually on my list for next month, deadlines be forgotten for a few days). That basket full of Lion Wool I’ve always wanted to make into an afghan.

Speaking of Lion Brand and blankets, I spied a really cute, super simple”car blanket” pattern on their website that is easy enough for new knitters (it’s just stockinette with a garter stitch border) and would be a great way to use up stash. Rather than using just the two colors called for, change colors at random when you run out of yarn. You could, of course, also make this project bigger, just figure out your gauge in one of the yarns you’re using (yarns of the same weight should be close enough to the same gauge for this purpose) and cast on however many stitches you need for the size blanket you’d like.

For even more stashy fun, work a bunch of different stitch patterns in a bunch of different yarns, aiming to make your blocks the same size. Sew them together and you’ve got a great blanket that used up some leftovers and was great travel knitting, too! See my Sampler Baby Blanket at About for more ideas on how to do this.

Planning any afghan or blanket knitting this fall? Spill it!

[Photo by Lion Brand.]

Looking for Fall patterns to Knit? Check out these Fall knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

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.

Have you read?