totally fun and bright addition to your kitchen – sweater trivet – tutorial at craftypod

Comfort wool has a gorgeous kids short sleeve sweater pattern – I love the long line and wide comfortable 3/4 sleeves – sort of a jacket / sweater.

Pints and Purls: Portable Projects for the Social Knitter by Karida Collins and Libby Bruce. North Light Books (April 8, 2009).

A bit of groovy knitting book for the social young things. A fun premise – portable projects for the social knitter – not just to take to your ’stitch + bitch’ knitting club, but to take along to any social gathering – the pub for instance!

If knitting at the pub is not quite your scene – there are projects in here that you can use before, during or after your social event – ‘hangover lap blanket’ has a very nice ‘red cross’ motif, dancing socks have a lovely lacy design, the ‘drunken’ sweater is really quite fun – an unusual asymmetrical design and the ‘barfly’ pullover has a very flattering neckline.

If you can get past the alcohol / drunken pub references in the project titles then this is a great little knitting book with some really attractive, fun and practical designs to knit on the go.

available as a free ravelry download here The Fog Sweater by Tiennie.

Mad meg has a tutorial for making her truffle sweater

super simple tutorial from the NewNew for a hot water bottle cosy using an old felted sweater and jazzed up with a bit of hand stitching.

love this funky reconstructed knitwear design from outsapop trashion here is the link to the picture tutorial at flickr - you can download the full size version.

Check out this sweater reconstruction project at Redux designs.

This hat is so simple to make, that I almost feel silly writing a tutorial for it. They look adorable though, and it is a nice way to use up smaller sweater scraps.

Cut a rectangle from a cotton ribbed sweater, using the finished hem of the sweater as one of the short ends of the rectangle. I usually eyeball the size or use another hat as a pattern.

Stitch the hat together on three sides, with the finished side remaining unstitched. You can use a tight zig zag stitch or a serger, and as you stitch the top side, pull the sweater taut as you sew, spreading the sweater ribs out. Don’t do this on the side seams though!

Turn hat right side out. Poke out the corners with a chopstick and enjoy the stripey monster-ey cuteness!

About the designer: Amy likes to make stuff. She believes in thrifting, improvising, recycling and making it up as you go along. She also believes that creating connects people and makes life so much sweeter. One-of-a-kind is her favorite kind and handmade is where it’s at. Currently, she spends a lot of time sewing handbags and accessories, aprons, baby and toddler clothing and some other random things as the spirit moves her. Website :: blog :: etsy store

One of my favourite clothing items to recycle is a cotton, ribbed, striped sweater. This works out well for me, since they seem to be very plentiful in the second hand circuit.

To make a toddler or child’s skirt, cut a wedge shape from the body of a cotton ribbed sweater, using the finished hem of the sweater as the narrow edge of the wedge (top of the skirt). I usually eyeball the size, but you could take a waist measurement or use another skirt as a pattern. Add 3 – 4″ at the top if you want to make a fold-over style waist.

Sew the skirt wrong sides together at the side seams, trim seams close to the stitching. Turn skirt inside out and stitch along the side seams approximately 1″ from the edge, enclosing the rough edges. (You could also serge it if you have one.)

Set your machine to a small, tight zig zag stitch. Fold the bottom edge of the skirt over approximately 1″ to the wrong side, and zig zag along the hem, pulling the sweater taut as you stitch. This creates a ruffle effect along the bottom.

Voila! You have a skirt that is very cozy and super cute. My daughter loves hers and they look really great over leggings or skinny jeans, especially for the colder weather. Good luck with your projects!

About the designer: Amy likes to make stuff. She believes in thrifting, improvising, recycling and making it up as you go along. She also believes that creating connects people and makes life so much sweeter. One-of-a-kind is her favorite kind and handmade is where it’s at. Currently, she spends a lot of time sewing handbags and accessories, aprons, baby and toddler clothing and some other random things as the spirit moves her. Website :: blog :: etsy store