On the Shore

I have been envious of quilting projects for a long time because my sewing skills just aren't up to par. Imagine my dlelight when I found the following knit quilt. The On the Shore is made up of rays, birds and turtles... I cannot wait for an excuse to make it! You can purchase it through Ravelry.com.

52 Pickup

Wow, this is an amazing double knit pattern! Now I want to play 52 Pickup. Pattern is available on Ravelry.com for $14.99. The price is high, but the pattern document is 115 pages. (According to the designer, there are many options on how to display the cards and not all pages are needed for the project, so don't feel intimidated!)

A Knit Ball and Chain

Make your own ball and chain... but soft enough that you can wack things with it without the risk of causing damage. (Assuming you fill the ball with polyfill stuffing, not rocks.)

Knit Your Own Drugs

Knit Your Own Drugs is a cute little novelty pattern. Rather than making a mobile for someone who has to take a lot of medication for health reasons (as was suggested) I think it would make a funny gift for someone working in the pharmaceutical industry.

Inspiration behind design

I love finding out what goes in behind the scenes on a knitting design. KnitPicks offers videos for most of their kits. I appreciate the 3D view of many of the garments, but also learning a bit about how the project came to be.

Knitting Graph Paper

I prefer knitting charts to written instructions. Why? I have a much easier time looking at a row and keeping track of where I am if I can see the stitches visually. I like being able to compare where I am now to where I was on the previous row. This is very useful when dealing with colorwork projects (I don't think anyone would complain about having a chart there) but people tend to be much more intimidated by lace knitting charts.

Today I am going to feature two articles, one that I may have mentioned in the past. The first are sources of knitting graph paper. This way you can work to convert writing instructions, of your own design or from another pattern, into a visual representation. The second article is about free knitting fonts that you can download so you can type in popular knitting symbols. Combine these two resources and you will be drawing your own knitting charts in no time!

365 Knitting Clock

This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen:

"365 is stitching the time as it passes by. It is knitting 24 hours a day and one year at the time, showing the physical representation of time as a creative and tangible force. After 365 days the clock has turned the passed year into a 2-m long scarf. Now the past can be carried out in the future and the upcoming year is hiding in a new spool of thread, still unknitted."