Ways to Keep Your Arms and Legs Warm

I have mentioned before my deep love of arm warmers, but leg warmers are great, too, especially when you have to be outside in the cold and you still want to wear a skirt or just need an extra layer of protection around your boots.

If you’re still in need of warmth for your hands, arms and legs this winter, I’ve come across a few patterns lately that may help.

In the armwarmer category, I have these cuties from Louisa Harding (free with registration at Love Knitting). With a little bit of lace and a flowery frill, they’re pretty as well as functional.

If you’re in the market for warm mittens, the Felted Mittens and Headband worked in Donegal Tweed might be a good choice. They certainly look really warm, don’t they?

And for super easy legwarmers, check out these ribbed, striped beauties from Lion Brand. They use a yarn with a little glitz, but you could go with a plain wool or wool blend, too, if you’re not the sparkly type.

Working on anything warm to get you through the winter? I’d love to hear about it!

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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