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Vote for the Best in British Knits

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vote now in the british knitting awardsVoting for the British Knitting Awards for 2014 is now open. There are 20 categories ranging from favorite yarns and companies to the best book of the year and favorite designer.

Two new categories this year are Best Brand for British Yarn and Best Yarn Shop Day Experience.

I’m pretty sure you can vote even if you don’t live in the UK, if you happen to be a big fan of British knitting brands. The voting is taking place in a Survey Monkey survey.

To encourage people to vote, Let’s Knit (a British knitting magazine that puts on the contest) is giving one person a £500 stash of goodies from the winning companies to include yarn, needles, books and knitting accessories.

I’m not seeing that the site says when voting is done, but the results will be announced in the November issue of Let’s Knit, which hits newsstands Oct. 24, so vote soon if you want your thoughts included!

Check out the winners from last year.

[Photo via Let’s Knit.]

 

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Knitting Machine Scarves with a Fun Twist

One of my favorite things to make on a circular knitting machine is scarves, because they’re a great way to use leftover yarn and certainly faster than knitting by hand. 

But if you pay attention to the colors you’re using and how you are using them, you can make fun knitting machine scarves that look like something different when you roll them up. 

One of the first versions of this I saw was the sushi scarf, are there are a lot of variations on this one. For example this one from Flower and Anchor that uses five colors of yarn, or this one from Three Threads NE that uses four. These generally are made to look like California rolls, but you could change up the colors to make them different things if you like. Just make sure the outside of the “roll” is black or green to indicate the nori. I found another version on Pinterest if you’re looking for a free pattern, but there’s no image of it rolled up. 

Another popular variation is making a scarf that rolls up to look like a mug with coffee, tea or another fun beverage inside. This collection of three mug scarf circular knitting machine patterns from Idaho Cottage Creation includes green tea, a pumpkin spice latte with whipped cream and a candy cane colored confection (which honestly reminds me of the Grinch since it has a green mug!). Again you can change the colors of the mug part and the drink part. The little handle looks like it’s crocheted on these, and it doubles as a loop you can thread the scarf end through when you wear it.

Again there’s a version of the green tea scarf on Pinterest with crocheted elements. I also found a latte done with a striped yarn and a red mug that’s pretty cute and gives you an idea what a different beverage would look like. 

I also love this pumpkin pie scarf designed by Jodi Favish Saunier. It has a bit of crocheted edging to give it a fancy crust but you can omit that if you don’t crochet. These are all on Facebook but she also has a watermelon and lemonade pattern that are super cute.