Celebrating 10 Years in Yarn

Clara Parkes at Knitter’s Review has been looking back at the year that was in knitting for 10 years now, and her look back at the past decade in knitting shows how truly far we’ve come in a relatively short time.

Ten years ago was when Knitty got started. It was before Ravelry (and before I took over at About.com Knitting, which sadly didn’t make her highlight reel).

It was before Stitch ‘n Bitch. Before Mason-Dixon Knitting. Before we all knew the Yarn Harlot and wanted to knit a Clapotis (which I still haven’t done).

Back then there was lots and lots of novelty yarn produced by big manufacturers. Now: indie spinners and dyers abound, and tons of patterns are available from independent designers, self-published books, even yarn companies started by knitters. We can chat about them all on Ravelry and build our skills on Craftsy. We are more connected and have more options than even.

I for one am excited to see what the next few years bring and hope it’s more of the same.What do you think about how far we’ve come in the past decade?

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.

Have you read?