KNITTER MAMA: It's that time again...back to school!!!

Summer is coming to a close and school will be back in session in just a few days! I'm so glad school is starting back up - I won't have to hear about how bored my son is anymore. He'll have plenty to keep him busy once those assignments start coming due. I can't believe my son is already a junior in high school - one more year and then its college time. There is so much for him to do before then, PSAT's, SAT's, college applications, Senior project, and the list goes on and on. I think I need to make him some fun back-to-school items, maybe a hat in his school colors. I need some ideas so I'm hitting the web to see what I can find.

Have you noticed probably about a month ago, that the summer supplies were being replaced with school supplies? Where did summer go? It seems that summer was here for only a couple of days, here in the Puget Sound - we barely had any real summer days to speak of and we are already getting ready for school. I am a little behind on my back-to-school shopping this year, but luckily Aiden can wear quite a bit of his clothes from last year and we will go shopping in a couple of weeks. What I've found over the last few years is that when I shop for school supplies before school, I always have to do it again after school starts, because of course, the teachers want their students to have very specific items and what I already bought won't do.

The other thing I've noticed in my LYS are the lovely fall colors that are gracing the shelves. Yep, back to school also means fall knitting and after hitting the web, I found some cool ideas for some back-to-school projects, like from this article on Knitting Daily by Kathleen Cubley on Back-to-School Knitting where she talks about a couple of great patterns for the kids going back to school and I really liked the Isobel Skirt (Rav link) by Cia Abbott Bullemer (Rav link).

Photo courtesy of Knitting Daily - Back-to-School Knitting

Wouldn't your daugher look fabulous in this adorable skirt? Its such a great looking pattern, I might just give it a try for one of my nieces.

Some more back-to-school ideas I found are from Sarah E. White at About.com Guide. Her Knit Pencil Bag is easy to knit accessory for kids of all ages, and on Lion Brand's website there are some cute ideas for your favorite teacher at 4 Back to School Teacher Gifts to Craft, Knit, and Crochet. These four gifts are a great way to say thank you to your favorite teacher or a nice welcome back to your new teacher in the coming year. Or how about the giant pencil pencil-case shown here, which the pattern can be bought on Ravelry or as part of an e-book purchase with 13 other great knitting projects at Duo Fiberworks:

Photo courtesy of Ravelry
Pencil case (Rav link) by Katie Startzman

Or how about a new machine washable Yummy Lunch (Rav link) bag, designed by Nora J. Bellows (Rav link) ...designed with the environment in mind and are the perfect solution to unworkable lunch bags that are hard to clean and way too small for a complete lunch with a full-sized drink.

Its still a little warm for sweaters, but its not too warm for a nice short-sleeved sweater for him and her in their school colors. Maybe a v-neck vest for him and a pull-over for her. There are plenty of patterns out there to choose from, so go out there and get knitting.

Here are some links to some more Back-to-School knitting project ideas:
The Schoolkid Jacket by Amy Polcyn
Robot Backpacks by Brenda Anderson
Adjustable Strap Backpack by Yvonne Boucher
Crochet Laptop Cover by Sarah Blalock
Back-to-School Pouch by Barbara Venishnick
School Colors Hat from Lion Brand
School Colors Felted Laptop Sleeve from Lion Brand
Back to School Pullover by Melissa Leapman

All of the above are really great back-to-school knitting projects, so why not make a run to your favorite LYS and check out all the wonderful fall colors that have come in already and get started on those fall projects you've been thinking about or maybe a back-to-school project for your returning to school student.

P.S. Some projects I finished this weekend: