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.]

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The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.”

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them.

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits.

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves.

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit.

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy.

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]

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