Brooklyn Tweed, in Portland

Jared Flood announced on his blog that, after 10 years in New York City — and four and a half years producing yarn — Brooklyn Tweed (Jared and the company) is moving back to the Pacific Northwest. He wrote:

Calling the NYC area home for BT’s first four years has brought unique joys and challenges. Living and working in the concrete jungle has been an inspiration on so many levels, and it’s taught us how to survive and thrive in a city where most would say nothing comes easy. As my vision for Brooklyn Tweed has come into crisper focus this year, I’ve continued to examine the question of whether our current East Coast home is still the best place for us to do what we do, in the best way we are able; and I’ve decided the time has come to embark on a new adventure once again.

He says the change in scenery will be good for the company as they become inspired by the new sights and different creative vibe in Portland.

The post is great for its thoughts on creative entrepreneurship and taking chances, and we wish Jared and the whole team the best with the move and whatever is next for Brooklyn Tweed. In the meantime, if you’re in Portland, the company will be hiring when it gets there.

{Photo via Brooklyn Tweed.}

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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