Use Your Stash to Make Loop Scarves

I’ve recently been playing more with my Sentro knitting machine, and my favorite thing to make right now is loop scarves. Because the easiest thing to make on one of these machines is a tube, you can just crank out a bunch of knitting and sew the ends together and you’ve got a great looking and useful project.

If you’re a knitter and you know how to graft, this is even easier because you can just put all the stitches on needles and graft them together as if you were finishing a giant sock.

Of course you can make loop scarves on your knitting needles, too, if you don’t happen to have a circular knitting machine. Just cast on a comfortable number of stitches for working in the round and knit as long as you want. A provisional cast on makes it easier to finish because you can graft with live stitches on both ends, but you can also bind off and just sew the ends together.

I decided this was going to be my charity knitting project because it’s faster than knitting by hand, and also an easy way to use up stash. I’m ending up with a lot of color blocked loop scarves as I use up leftovers from other projects, but it’s fun and easy and a great way to help people keep warm in season.

I love loop scarves because you can more easily loop them around your neck and it stays where you put it, but you could make non-loop scarves in the same way, just sew the ends of the loop closed rather than to each other.

You can find my pattern for a loop scarf on the Sentro (or any other circular knitting machine, of course!) over on Our Daily Craft. I have a 40-pin machine but of course you can do this same thing with whatever machine you have.

If you have a circular knitting machine I’d love to know what you’re making with it!

[Photo: Our Daily Craft]

Sentro Knitting Machine Review

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Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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