Welcoming Patchy - a cute new Kindle cosy

Patchy - a super cute Kindle case

What all the best dressed Kindles are wearing this season - Patchy - the stashbusting Kindle cosy with a bit of a difference.

Patchy is a doubled layered cosy - for maximal protection for your Kindle - one side is made up of tiny mitered squares, the other is cosy stripes.

Using sockweight yarn from your leftovers Patchy is the ideal way to have fun with colour and also create something cute and functional.

Yes, of course you can buy a commercial Kindle case from any number of big corporations but there is something very stasifying about creating one yourself - even more so when you are making it from yarn leftover from other projects.

The case knits up very quickly - once you have done the mitered square side, the stripy liner is knit in the round so it’s ideal for travel or purse knitting.

Perfect for yourself or for gifting - ideal for the reader in your life who likes something a little bit different.

Patchy

£6.50

Take the easy option

Don’t get me wrong, we all love a challenge from time to time. But there’s nothing wrong with going for the easier option every now and again.

If you have always admired the look of colourwork but felt slightly intimidated by it I know exactly how you feel. The thought of having to hold two strands of yarn at the same time, not to mention following a complex chart can be enough to make the bravest of souls think twice.

But this cunning, slip stitch pattern avoids the need for all that and creates a lovely intricate texture whilst only holding 1 strand of yarn per round.

Ideal for stashbusting too

The yarn I used for this sample is the beautiful West Yorkshire Spinners Fable Brushed Aran - a beautiful, slightly fuzzy blend of wool, alpaca and mohair.

But the entire, single-loop cowl only takes 80g aran weight yarn - making it perfect for using up those leftovers in your stash

Cappuccino Cowl

£6.50

Because Kindles like to be cosy too

Well, why not.

Sometimes we just want a project that is simple, straightforward and fun - and I think this cute little Kindle Sock manages to be all 3.

Knit using leftover sock yarn (fingering weight), it’s ideal for playing with colour or stripes or any kind of pattern you care to think of.

Essentially it is knit as a long tube, closed at both ends, you then fold it in half to create a simple, reversible pouch. The double layer of fabric giving some handy extra protection against accidental knocks whilst in your handbag.

And even better, the fact that the tube is closed means that you don’t even have to bother sewing in your yarn ends - they will safely be tucked away inside, free from prying eyes.

Kindle Sock

£3.00

A corner to corner blanket: Free pattern

I knit this simple garter stitch blanket last year sometime and published it as a free pattern on Instagram for those who follow me there, with the full and certain intention of adding it to my free patterns page here too.

I have no idea why it fell off my to-do list, I can only assume that life, combined with my butterfly brain conspired against me.

In any case, I wanted to add it here as it’s such a lovely, straightforward knit. Ideal for a beginner or for those times when you just want a bit of relaxing, stress-free knitting. I knit this small lap blanket with DK yarn on 4mm needles but you could easily adapt it to work with fingering weight yarn (suggested 3mm needles) or worsted/aran (on 4.5/5mm needles, respectively).

It produced a perfect little square blanket - ideal for baby knitting as well in an appropriate yarn.

You can find the blanket over on my free pattern page, or it’s written out here (below) as well if you wanted to bookmark it for later.

Reading Corner Shawl

The Reading Corner Shawl

If you find yourself with some DK leftovers or small 10g mini-skeins this is the perfect shawl to use them up. The Reading Corner shawl combines 2 x 100g DK skeins and 5x10g minis in a simple stripe and eyelet design. Designed for minimal counting and maximum ease.

The Reading Corner shawl is an elongated triangle, knit mainly in garter stitch with contrast stripes, with an eyelet detail. As it’s knit in DK weight yarn it’s wonderfully warm and squishy, perfect for draping over your shoulders while you read, or the elongated ends mean that it also works well as a wearable, wrappable shawl on colder days.

Perfect for stashbusting and adapting to the yarn you have, each contrast stripe uses just under 10g yarn. You could use a single contrast colour for all the stripes, or mix and match with leftovers from your stash.

Women hold up half the sky

Women hold up half the sky -Cowl pattern available on Payhip

“Women hold up half the sky” is a quote famously attributed to Mao Zedong. I came across it recently online and it has really resonated with me in the aftermath of my dad’s sudden death.

This pattern is dedicated to all of the strong women in my family.

It's been a difficult time, to say the least but together with the women around me we've got through it with tears, with laughter and with a gentle but indomitable strength.

We’ve looked back through old photos, we’ve remembered happy times together and we have supported each other, unfailingly in our darker moments.

Women everywhere, do indeed hold us up.

This cowl is knit in some glorious yarn from Black Stag Yarn & Fibre in a colourway called ‘Hat full of sky’ - a wonderful Terry Pratchett reference.

As soon as I saw it I knew it had to be something sky/star related and I hit upon this star stitch pattern, which I think looks fantastic spaced out across the stocking stitch background - like stars in the night sky.

The cowl is knit flat from a provisional cast on and grafted closed at the end. As I like my cowls quite snug there was a generous 40g yarn leftover from this one - probably enough for a short pair of fingerless mitts - but if you prefer something with more drape simply keep knitting until you’ve achieved the circumference you are looking for.

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