Celebrate the Offbeat Side of Yarncraft with Yarn

Have you heard about the documentary Yarn by Una Lorenzen? Maybe you’ve been lucky enough to see it already. I don’t live anywhere near any of the places where the film is being screened in the United States, but I was lucky enough to get a screener from the filmmaker and I really enjoyed it.

Now I am going to say up front that this movie is not about knitting. There’s actually not really any knitting in it at all, though there are people wearing handknits. The story it tells is more about the playful and political side of yarn craft rather than the purely practical, and I guess it’s easier to find crocheters in that world rather than knitters.

The movie profiles Olek, the Polish crochet artist who is known for covering people in crochet (as seen above); Tilde Björfors, the artistic director of Cirkus Cirkör, which has done a performance called Knitting Peace (yes, it involves knitting, and acrobatics on strings, and is really cool); Tinna Pórudóttir, an Icelandic yarn graffiti artist who takes her talents to Spain and Cuba in the film; and Toshiko Horiuchi MacAdam, the designer and crocheter behind Net Play Works, which makes those awesome crocheted playgrounds.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC10LplOF0M]

Even without knitting, this is a film that knitters, and indeed anyone who likes yarn for any reason, will enjoy. The narration, if you can call it that, is by Barbara Kingsolver, reading a piece called “Where it Begins,” which is lovely.

I had a lot of fun watching it while doing a little crochet and knitting. It would be fun to take your knitting and head out to a screening if there’s one near you (it’s not currently available on DVD or for digital download, but maybe someday!).

Have you seen or heard about this movie? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Adding a bit of knitting to your fall decor is a lot of fun, whether it’s knit pumpkins or a bunch of adorable knit ghosts like these.

Knit ghosts can be super simple like this free ghost knitting pattern from Trixie Zynch on Ravelry. Using about 50 yards of worsted weight yarn, they’re worked from the bottom up and are super cute as a pair.

This fuzzy little ghost from Forest Knitting Toys is holding a pumpkin and wearing a witch hat, though of course the accessories are optional, as is the fuzzy yarn. The main yarn is chunky and the ghost measures about 10 cm/4 inches tall. It’s worked in the round.

Another fuzzy ghost in more of a Pacman style is this ghost plushie form South Stitch Girls. It’s worked in the round with bulky yarn and includes a sweet little bow you can make in whatever color you like.

The ghost doll from Edith Grace Designs has little arms and a curl at the top of its head. The body is worked flat using DK weight yarn and you could also work it in glow in the dark yarn for extra fun. The body and head are worked in one piece with the arms knit separately.

The Grim Grinning Ghosts from Susan Claudino are super cute and you can knit them in any yarn and gauge you like to make ghosts of different sizes. These are worked in the round with the body done in one piece and the arms are knit separately. The ghosts shown were knit in sock yarn, DK and worsted weight yarn. You can find the pattern on Ravelry.

Make a ghost with funny striped legs with this ghost shelf sitter design from Claire Fairall Designs. It’s worked in three colors of DK weight yarn, and the letters spelling out boo are made with strips of garter stitch sewn into shape.

Have you read?