Treat Yourself by Knitting the Mindful Mosaic Blanket

Every year as the weather starts to get colder I like to pull out one of my longstanding scrappy blanket knitting projects. Yes I said one of the them, because I have more than one (and actually there’s a crochet one, too!). I love being able to use what I have to make something beautiful, and one day I’ll have all those blankets finished and I’ll never be cold again.

The Mindful Mosaic Blanket from Berroco would be great to work just as a scrappy blanket, making each square a different color based on what you have left over from other projects.

But the idea behind it is a little more meaningful. It’s meant to be a mood blanket, which is like a temperature blanket but it’s about your feelings rather than the weather outside.

Choose a range of colors to represent different feelings, and stitch a square each day to reflect your mood. The sample blanket uses a worsted weight cotton yarn, but you can use whatever you like or a mix if you’re working from stash.

Instead of buying new yarn for this project, you could make it both a mood blanket and a stash busting project by choosing yarn you already have to represent different moods. For example, any purple yarn from your stash might be designated as happy, so even if the squares don’t all match you know what they meant. Or you can choose an odd ball each day that represents how you feel even if the colors don’t always match the same feeling.

I love this idea as a way to track almost a year (the pattern says it takes around 357 squares, but you could always add more) especially if you need help paying attention to your emotions. But I also think it would be a great winter project to just make with the odd balls in your house. It’s sure to make you feel a bit of comfort either way.

You can grab this free pattern from Berroco. And if you’d rather crochet your feelings, there’s a crochet version, too.

[Photo: Berroco]

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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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