Easy knitting patterns for hipsters

I got the spark to create my knitting lens from these two lenses from a very cool woman in Vancouver. You can knit little dolls (they are very easy) that go to comfort African children harmed by AIDS—either orphans or children with HIV.

This is simple enough that you can do it as your very first project. The first few I've made have taken me 2 or 3 hours apiece. If you're a novice knitter, you can double that, but it's still a pretty modest commitment.

This lens will give you more details about the project. You'll be inspired! You can take a couple of hours and some yarn scraps and create something that gives real comfort and joy to a child who is hurting. There's nothing else you'll do this weekend that makes you feel this great.

This is the link to click when you're ready to start knitting. The pattern is there (for both knit and crochet) and also the address to send the dolls.

Part of my holiday plan this year is to knit up as many of these as I can and send them as "a donation has been made in your name" gifts to some of my bleeding-heart family and friends. I'm also going to create simple kits for my knitting friends, so they can knit their own. If you have more comfort doll holiday ideas, let me know in the guestbook!

(I made one for my three-year-old, too. He loves her, he calls her "Ivy." All kids dig dolls!)

Check out the expression on this kid's face. A doll seems like a little thing to you or me, but it makes a giant difference to him. Send him some love for the holidays! ♥

How great is this scarf? It's got toasty fingerless mittens at each end. Great for chilly spring days, or for freezing cold offices like mine.

This pattern (and the image at the left) come from always-great knitty.com. The pattern, like any pattern you'll find on the 'net, is copyrighted. Don't try to resell it, but do use it to make a great and easy scarf! It's perfect for even a beginner because it's all garter stitch with no shaping, plus it's a rectangle (the knitter's friend). And it's not a potholder!

Knitting hint: make sure you make this scarf long enough. Otherwise your arm movements will be constrained and you'll be waving your hands around like little flippers. That makes your friends make fun of you. Not that I have any experience along these lines, mind you.

I'm going to try making the fingerless gloves without the scarf, just because. I'll let you know how it works out.

Get the "Entwined" easy knitting pattern

Normally I really don't recommend cheap yarn. Usually it's nasty to knit, no fun to wear, and a waste of your time. So I was pretty surprised to realize that the great fingerless mitten combo "Entwined" (in the picture) from Knitty was knit with a yarn I could find at Joann.com.

I bought a skein to check it out for myself, and lo and behold, this is actually a very high-quality, pure wool yarn for the delightfully cheap price of about $4.00 (depending on sales). It's springy and soft, not scratchy or cheap-feeling in any way.

Patons Merino is a great yarn for comfort dolls, any kind of knitted toy, simple scarves (not as quick as novelty yarn, but a lot cheaper, and all kinds of other uses. It comes in a lot of good colors, both plain and stripy. (The scarf/mitten was knit in the "Wedgwood" color.) Great yarn for cheap, who knew?

Patons Classic Merino Wool Yarn - 100% Wool

Just three to get you started--I'm collecting these, so let me know your faves in the guestbook.

Knitty.com
Everybody loves Knitty--It has style, it has panache, it has nosewarmers.

Tips for the beginning knitter
I wrote this for ezine articles to get into some of the nitty-gritty stuff for beginners, like what kinds of yarn to start with and what the basic tools are. Check it out for more than I can stuff into a Squidoo lens!

The Sock Pr0n blog
"Sock porn for knitting voyeurs." Good articles, tons of pictures. Most of what she blogs about is a little more advanced, but inspiration is always good.

I'm a writer, marketer, and editor based in Denver. I love to help small businesses make better connections with customers by creating fantastic newsletters, Web sites, blogs, and other cool things.

You can find me at www.remarkable-communication.com. Swing by if you want to read more about writing, making stronger connections, the best hot dog stand on the World Wide Web, and other good stuff.

I'm also an Associate Editor on the Technorati Top-100 blog Copyblogger. Find me there at www.copyblogger.com.

How cute is this funky little kitty? Someone in your life wants this for a present this year.

And just imagine, he'll never judge your fashion or dating choices.

He's also very simple to knit--Here's the pattern.

I've got a bunch of audio I've been listening to on exciting topics like internet marketing and search engine optimization. (Hoo ya.) I always remember these things better when I'm doing something with my hands, so I cast on 100 stitches of my mom's handspun, space dyed in cool stormy colors, and just started a simple shawl for when my office turns the A/C down to 40. Not sure how long the yarn I have will last, so I need to think about filling in the beautiful stormy colors with a plain stripe, I think. Lots of fun.

If you aren't lucky enough to have a mom who spins, bop on over to Etsy (http://www.etsy.com) and search for "yarn." There's some awesome, awesome stuff over there. It's ever changing, because it's all handmade, so a little hard for me to feature here on Squidoo, but if you know of some particularly great Etsy yarn vendors (or pattern vendors) let me know and I can at least highlight their shop.

I've bought some gorgeous stuff from Blonde Chicken. You can find her at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=127. The banana yarn is especially cool--shiny and funky and knits up really nice.

Tell us what you're working on in the guest book, k?