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]

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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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