Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

This Lacy Knit Kerchief Honors the New President of Iceland

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I’ll admit to not knowing a lot about global politics and national elections in other countries, so I was happy to read the back story on this pattern, Hölluklútur by Maja Siska.

This little lacy kerchief was inspired by a candidate for president in Iceland, Halla Tómasdóttir, who wore a silk neck scarf during the first televised debate of the election season. She said she wore it because she felt a cold coming on, but whatever the reason, it became a bit of a symbol among her supporters, with others wearing them at campaign events and rallies. She ultimately won the election and is now the president, having been inaugurated on August 1.

This mesh lace scarf is an asymmetrical diamond, worked by increasing on one side and decreasing on the other. It’s finished with a crocheted picot edge, but you can use a different edging if you don’t know how to crochet. 

It uses lace weight yarn, but if you wanted to make a more substantial scarf or shawl in the same style you could use heavier weight yarn. As it is, this is a quick and easy project that’s a good introduction to mesh lace knitting if you’ve never done it before.

It only uses about 130 yards, or 120 meters, of yarn, so this might be a good project for using a bit of leftover yarn from another project, or a small single skein you’re not sure what to do with.

The pattern was developed for South Iceland Wool Week and is available as a free download on Ravelry. The pattern is offered in English and Icelandic.

If you’re looking for more easy lace knitting patterns to try, check out this collection of easy lace scarves, or this one with easy lace knitting patterns including other projects aside from scarves.

[Photo: Maja Siska]

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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.