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.]

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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