Tubular knitted pencil pocket

Here is a little pattern for a pocket on a necklace for any other toddlers who, like my girl, love to cart pencils around the house with them.

It's made slightly more interesting for the knitter by being worked in tubular knitting, where both sides are worked at once on two needles...it's magic! Apparently you can even knit socks this way.

Anyway.

Cast on 22 sts (or any even number) on needles of an appropriate size. I used twilleys dk on 4mms. Now work as follows:

K1, yf, sl 1 pw, yb.
And just carry on like that to the end. Then turn and exactly the same, so you'll be knitting the slipped sts of the previous row and vice versa. Make sure to bring the yarn forward for each sl st or the sides will end up tethered.

After an inch or so you'll be able to do this






to make sure you haven't knitted a sl st or something. Worth checking every once in a while (guess how I know!)

When it is as long as you need it to be, it is of course time to cast off, which requires a spare needle.









Knit the first st. Sl the next st onto the spare needle, and knit the next st. Pass the 1st over the one just knitted as you usually would. Just carry on like this, putting the sts belonging to the other side onto the holder whilst casting off those facing you. It will look a bit like this:





Once you only have sts left on the holder, you can cast those off like usual. Then you're done! Just make a chain or cord so your little one can carry their pencil of choice hands free (obviously keep an eye out to make sure they don't strangle themselves).

I'm quite liking the way it looks inside out








And am tempted to knit a looser one and then felt it in the washing machine. Felting is an addiction, you see.

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