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85-Year-Old Vet Shows Craftiness Knows No Age, Gender

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Vet loom knits hats, to take part in ManCraft show in Colorado.If you need a feel-good story to start of your week, check out this one from the Denver Post about Orville “Mark” Skattum, an 85-year-old National Guard veteran (he served during the Korean Conflict) who has taken up loom knitting hats for vets and others and is participating in the Holiday ManCraft show in Denver and Boulder this weekend.

Skattum said he started the hobby when he saw a woman loom knitting hats while watching a football game, and he said he likes to be doing something while he’s watching TV. He can knit a hat in three hours or so and aims to finish five a week.

After giving hats to everyone in his family he started making more hats and donating them in bunches of 50 to his church and the Denver Veterans’ Administration (tagged “Made By a Vet for a Vet”).

After attending the ManCraft show last year, his daughter joked that he should get involved. He took her seriously and has amassed more than 150 hats to sell at the events. He intends to donate whatever he earns to charity.

The event takes place Dec. 5 at the VFW Post 2461 in Denver and Dec. 6 at American Legion Post 10 in Boulder.

[Photo by Kathryn Scott Osler for the Denver Post.]

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Knit a Sweet Striped Vest for Kids

I’m trying to include more knits for kids in my posts because I know a lot of people do a lot of their knitting for the little ones in their lives. 

This child’s striped vest from Lion Brand Yarn is not only cute and great for kids who might find a full sweater too hot, it’s also an easy project if you’ve never knit a garment before. 

Lion Brand rates it as level 2 easy/beginner +, probably just because there’s a little shaping and seaming invovled, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. 

The pattern comes in three sizes that are meant to be for ages 6, 8 and 10. The finished chest measurement is 30, 31.5 or 33 inches, which is 76, 80 and 84 cm respectively. This makes the vest a little roomy and makes it easy to slip on over a T-shirt or other top. 

It’s worked in two pieces from the bottom up, with the neckband and armhole bands worked in the round after the body pieces are sewn together. One benefit of knitting stripes on a project like this is that it’s easier to make sure your pieces are the same length because you can just count the stripes (it’s also a little easier to seam because you’re always lining up the stripes). 

If you’re knitting the smallest size, you only need one skein each of the two colors you choose, and for the larger sizes you will only need two, making this project a pretty good value. The suggested yarn is Color Theory, a worsted weight acrylic yarn that comes in 18 relatively muted colors. Of course you can use any worsted weight yarn you like. Keep it acrylic for easy washing or use wool to make this a warmer garment for kids who live in cooler climates. 

You can grab the pattern for free from the Lion Brand website, or get a kit that includes the yarn you need (and needles if you don’t have them already). I think this would be a great basic to knit a kid for back to school in their school colors, or make it holiday with red and green, or whatever colors the child likes. 

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]