Whether you’ve been knitting or crocheting for decades or you’re just starting to refine your craft, having new projects that keep you challenged and result in beautiful textiles that you’re proud to share with friends, family, or customers is essential. And with the summer months upon us, many knitters are excited to take on something big in their spare time.
If you are looking for new ideas and fresh inspiration for your summer textile project, here are four unique ideas that can help you create something stunning.
1.Try Your Hand at a Cotton Shawl
Summer is a time for lighter fabrics, and if you’ve mostly built your knitting or crochet practice around simpler items like hats or afghans that use a heavier weight of wool, working on something a little finer can be a great way to develop your craft.
Cotton can be a little harder to work with, so make sure you purchase a high-quality product like Bernat cotton yarn. The rewards of making a beautiful embroidered shawl are well worth the extra effort.
2. Sew a Face Mask
The pandemic may be winding down in some countries, but it’s still far from over. And it’s likely that after a year and a half of wearing protective face masks, they are going to be a feature of every flu season moving forward.
Creating your own face masks is a rewarding way to create personalized accessories for you and your loved ones, and if you want to make masks that will be as functional as they are beautiful, you can find instructions and tips for how to sew a face mask here.
3.Create a Macramé Wall Hanging
We tend to think of knitting and crochet as being about creating unique, wearable items. But textiles have long been prized as art objects as well, especially in the Victorian period.
Putting your own spin on a classic macramé wall hanging is a great challenge, and a fun way to flex your creative muscles while making a piece that you’ll be proud to display in your home. Choosing the right yarn is essential for good macramé, so consider ordering some Patons lace yarn.
4. Start Working on a Blanket
For more ambitious knitters or crochet artists, a blanket represents a great opportunity to use those long, restful summer nights to get started on a big project that will keep you busy for months.
Not only do blankets provide comfort and warmth, a hand-made blanket also tells a story. Every stitch is a labor of love, and when the work is done, you’ll have a decorative and functional item you can treasure for many years to come.
Ask anyone who knits why they got into it, and you’ll probably get dozens of different answers. But there are a couple of things everyone who engages in this craft has in common: an appreciation for the meditative process, and a joy in the satisfaction of creating something beautiful and useful by hand.
If you want to improve your skills while trying your hand at something new, any of these four projects is sure to delight.
