Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Are You Knitting in Public?

by

craftsy knitting in publicWorld Wide Knitting in Public Day has expanded through the years from a couple of days to now more than a week. This year’s event celebrating knitting outside the home is taking place from June 8 through the 16 with all sorts of events happening all over the world.

Click on the website linked above to search for events in your area or to start one of your own. You’ll have to create a free account and jump through a couple of hoops to do so, so if you already know of events happening where you live you might want to skip it. You can also check the Craftsy meetup page to find yarn-related meetups in your area or to start one.

I participated in a local event once a few years ago — as well as a yarn bombing a different year for International Yarn Bombing Day, which happens around the same time — and both were a lot of fun. It’s nice to get to know other knitters in your area, but it’s also just nice to take your knitting out and let people see you knitting.

I knit in public a lot, so this isn’t too strange to me, but if you don’t I want to encourage you to give it a go. Be warned that people will react to you, but it’s mostly positive, and it’s a great way to spread the word about this awesome craft that we love.

Comments

  1. I’ve been knitting in public for a while and it always generates a conversation – living in London, I love that it gets people chatting on the tube. It’s also a great way to bring knitting to a wider audience. Like getting children to understand that vegetables grow in the ground, they always react with excitement when they see a sock on the needles. To those who haven’t knit in public before, I say grab those sticks and get out there; knit al fresco!

  3. I have tried to knit the Sunburst Sling Bag and end up taking it out several times and finally putting it away for later, Can some one put a tutorial on this project, I can’t seem to master it and it is frustrating. Thank you Katie Wells

  4. I bring my project bag everywhere – I really enjoy it when young kids show interest in knitting and I encourage them to learn.

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.