CROCHET QUILTS – no guilt

I used to be a quilter. Occasionally, I still get the ‘itch’ to pull out my fabric, scissors, and needle and whip one up. Last time I did that, I spent the entire day at it and ended up with a small wall hanging that found a home with a friend. I just went out to my front yard, gathered leaves from several different trees to use as templates for appliques, cut my fabric and hand stitched the whole works together. It was so satisfying.

Now that I’m a dedicated, dyed in the wool crocheter, I have discovered that I can combine my l0ve of quilting with my love of crochet. All it takes is your crochet skills and some knowledge of geometry – or at least the ability to crochet squares, triangles, etc and join them. There are a number of free patterns for this technique, but this is one you can certainly try on your own with no pattern. Great for using up scraps too.

Here are a few ideas.

Nine Patch is one of the most basic and commonly made quilts. Here’s how you can crochet one:

http://happyyellowhouse.com/htm/baby9patch.html

Another ever-popular design, especially this time of year, is the Wedding Ring. Here it is in crochet:

http://www.coatsandclark.com/NR/rdonlyres/A645C5B1-1501-46EE-9B8A-3C65C6650015/71959/WT1648.pdf

And, here’s another classic, especially designed for those among us who actually ENJOY joining motifs!!

http://www.happyyellowhouse.com/htm/swmed.html

These are just some ideas. Of course, there are other resources online and in books and magazines. But, try one on your own. Find a quilt pattern you like, grab your yarn scraps, and make one for yourself or another.

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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