Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Use Your Stash to Make Loop Scarves

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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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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.