British Knitter Finishes Her Husband’s Sweater, 33 Years Later

I have ignored some unfinished projects for a long time, but Brenda Gilbert may well hold the record for the longest time to complete a knitting project. She started a sweater for her husband John in 1979 while working nights at a hospital, but she said she couldn’t do much knitting at once because of the small stitches on the blue Jim Curtis jumper.

Then there were eight moves in 20 years, and kids, and work, but when Brenda retired she joined the Knit and Natter group at a local library and decided to take the project out of storage. She finally finished it during the Queen’s Jubilee.

John says the sweater fits him surprisingly well given that she didn’t know how much his stomach would grow over the years.

Have you ever finished one of those epics WIPs? Or is there something lingering in your closet that’s been there too many years to mention? Spill it!

[Photo from This is Cornwall.]

Next Pattern:

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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