Centenarian Credits Knitting for Longevity

Dody Patterson is 104 years old and lives in Eugene, Ore. She learned to knit when she was 7, during World War I.

“I just love it, because it keeps my hands and arms and shoulders exercised,” she told the Eugene Register-Guard, and she keeps herself busy knitting hats for a local chapter of Caps for Kids.

The hats are distributed to churches and the local Head Start, and her hats come with tags that say “Dody’s Caps — Knitted locally by 100-year-old hands,” though the number has been crossed out and upgraded to reflect more recent birthdays.

Patterson says knitting is one thing that keeps her going; another is her diet. She gave up beef, pork and most dairy products about 20 years ago, she says.

“I think my diet and my knitting are responsible for my longevity,” she said. Sounds pretty good to me.

[Photo by Brian Davies, the Register-Guard / Associated Press]

Next Pattern:

It might sound weird to you, but one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns is ribbing. I find it kind of fun to knit, because it feels mechanical after a while and I don’t really have to think about it, but it makes a texture that’s more interesting than stockinette stitch.

Over at Our Daily Craft I recently wrote a giant post all about knitting ribbing that includes most of what I know on the subject. There’s a fun variation on the cable cast on that is perfect for using with ribbing, tips on how to follow the stitch pattern, binding off in pattern and more.

I even talk about everyone’s least favorite part of knitting ribbing, which is what to do when you have to increase or decrease in ribbing (short answer: it’s going to mess up your pattern but it will also be OK).

I also share a few of my favorite ribbing patterns, because of course it doesn’t have to be knit 1, purl 1 or knit 2, purl 2 all the time. (In fact my favorite is probably 3×3. I find it super fun and love the texture of the fabric.)

You can check out the post all about ribbing here.

And if you’re ready to try an allover ribbed project yourself, check out my ribbed cowl knitting pattern. This one is fun because it starts out being knit flat and ends up in the round, so it opens up over your shoulder for easy wearing but is snuggly as a turtleneck at the top.

This one uses worsted weight yarn and is pretty quick and easy to knit. It’s a good one to try if you’ve never done a project in the round because you don’t have to worry about twisting the cast on since you’ll have already knit flat for several inches before you join. (Of course you could work the whole thing flat and make a seam where you want it to be closed, but knitting in the round is easier.)

Do you have a favorite rib stitch? I’d love to hear about it!

Practice Ribbing with this Hat and Mitt Set

Have You Tried This? Ribbing with No Purling

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

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