Friday Reads: Yarnbombing, Cryptic Knitting Notes and More

If you find yourself in San Francisco any time in the next year, you might want to pay a visit to the area around the Civic Center, where knitted octopuses and colorful garments have taken to the trees. The nonprofit Trust for Public Land teamed up with the knitters at Knits for Life to add sweaters to the trees and help tie together a three-block section of the city. Officials expect the exhibit to be up for 6 to 18 months, depending on how it fares in the weather.

In other wooly art, don’t miss the wool sewing machine made by Jessica Dance for John Lewis. The project is knit and felted, with details on the dials embroidered in, and is complete with spools of thread and tiny woolen scissors. Check out her website to see more of her amazing work.

Knit Like Granny recently made up a list of its top 100 knitting blogs. We’re not on it, but there’s lots of opportunities for great reading and inspiration there anyway. 😉

And finally, you’ll want to read this sweet knitting story from the Boston Globe, from a knitter who tried to decipher a knitting note her mother left behind. It’ll make you feel good about the legacy of crafting.

[Photo: Jessica Dance.]

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

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