Facts about Knitting as Code and More

I’ve been seeing this old post from the Telegraph in my news feed over the past couple of days, and it is really interesting if you like knitting history.

We probably all know about Madame Defarge, the fictional knitter who stitched the names of victims at the guillotine during the French Revolution. While there’s no evidence such knitters actually existed, it’s a powerful symbol of the power of knitting.

There’s a lot of talk these days about knitting and other fiber arts being like computer code but, as this article points out, there was at least one time knitting actually was used to transmit secret messages. In World War II Belgium, knitters were stationed in apartments that overlooked the railyards and stitched a record of the kinds of trains that passed. (I looked for more about this online but couldn’t find anything, but I assume this is true.)

It’s also true that in the UK it was illegal to ship knitting patterns abroad during the war because it was feared they might contain hidden codes.

The article also looks at yarnbombing, extreme knitting (though the record for running a marathon while knitting is now held by David Babcock) and shares a bit more knitting history and lore. It’s a fun read.

Did you know there are actually knit islands? (Probably more woven than knit actually, but certainly a fun fact to share with anyone who thinks knitting isn’t useful!)

[Photo of Rosalie Crutchley as Madame Defarge from the Robert Grant archive, via the Telegraph.]

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns.

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn.

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options.

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners.

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set.

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn.

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers.

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.

Have you read?