Friday Fun: Hospice Yarn Bombing, Mr. Rogers’ Sweaters and More

It seems like I have a bunch of little things to talk about that have piled up from my vacation last week, so let’s do a bit of a lightning round, shall we?

The First Fall Knitty is out, which seems a little crazy when it’s not even officially summer yet, but I know we knitters need time to work on projects before the season hits. Lost of fun shawls and cowls, a knit tie, a really pretty hat and some sweaters and other good stuff, too. I like Bosco, and Romi’s gorgeous knit rainbow earrings. I might be making some today, even though I hardly ever wear earrings.

A tree and the lawn around Sue Ryder Leckhampton Court hospice in Gloucestershire were secretly decorated with knitting and crochet, apparently by someone who had used the hospice’s services. The tree was yarn bombed with flowers and little stitched people were set out beneath the tree having a tea party. What a lovely gesture of whimsy that brought lots of smiles to people’s faces.

All of us of a certain age probably love Mister Rogers, and as knitters we should love him even more for his cardigans (which his mom knit for him; cue the “awww”s). Owen Phillips at the Awl recently shared that Tim Lybarger at Neighborhood Archive has charted the colors of the cardigans worn by Mister Rogers in every episode of his show from 1979 to 2001. There were just three episodes in that time when he didn’t wear a sweater. His favorite colors? Green and red. I don’t know why we needed this information, but I’m still glad it’s available. Check it out!

[Photo: Gloucestershire Live.]

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for Yarn online? Check out Lionbrand our preferred source for purchasing yarn online.

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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