Charm pack baby quilts

Image from quilted castle

You can make a baby quilt lightening fast using charm squares like this Moda precut called Wonderland by MoMo available on sale at The Quilted Castle for 7.00 USD. A Charm Pack consists of 40 squares of 5” X 5” fabric

There are many patterns and tutorials available if you need design inspiration or direction in using a charm pack.

Amy Smart of The Quilting Diaries blog shares a nicely written tutorial for a simple baby quilt using Moda Wonderland. She says this about using specialty cut fabrics:
Charm Packs are an easy way to make a simple baby quilt with a large variety of different but coordinated fabrics.

Go here to get her tutorial.

If you have time and want something more challenging, check out this Baby Dot-to-Dot quilt pattern by Cotton Way. It has a design for a girl and one for a boy, so you get two! Price $8.00 USD.

Go here to get more details about the Dot-to-Dot pattern and to see the entire collection of Charm Pack Patterns.

Image from Fat Quarter Shop

Be sure and share your quilt made from charm squares at Craft Gossip Flickr group.

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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