Knitting Book Review: Leave Me Alone!

November 24, 2016 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

I know, this doesn’t sound like a knitting book. Bear with me.

I was looking through the Publishers Weekly best books of the year lists and this one caught my eye in the children’s book list. I was a little ashamed I hadn’t heard of it earlier, because it combines two of my family’s favorite passions: fiber arts and science fiction. And reading, for that matter.

Leave Me Alone! by Vera Brogsol is a story I think we can all relate to this time of year.

Winter is coming, and grandma has a lot of knitting to do. Her gaggle of grandkids need new sweaters for the season, but she just can’t seem to get any knitting done.

Her grandchildren were curious about her knitting.
Were you supposed to hit the ball with a stick?
Could you eat it?
Could you make your brother eat it?
Why did the ball get smaller as you chased it?

She tries to find some more privacy by going out into the woods and climbing the mountain, but animals turn out to be as curious as grandchildren.

So she walks to the top of the mountain and onto the moon, which is no help, but finally finds the peace she’s looking for in the void on the other side of a wormhole.

This book is really cute, both the story and the illustrations, and if you knit for kids who are picture book aged they’re sure to love it. Or gift it to a friend who is always knitting for other people.

Have you read this book? I’d love to know what you thought of it!

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Christmas Sock Knitting Patterns

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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