Have You Met Sam Barsky? If Not, You Should

I was introduced to Sam Barsky, in the virtual sense, through a knitting group on Facebook.

Like many of us, Sam has a knitting-related obsession. His is sweater knitting.

In particular, knitting pictoral sweaters of landmarks or with a particular theme, which he often coordinates with visits to the landmarks or places depicted on his garments.

An imgur gallery posted by somebody called DesmondthePotato is making the rounds, which collects some of Sam’s pictures of himself in sweaters related to the places he is visiting. There’s Sam in a New York City sweater at Times Square, wearing a polar bear sweater at the zoo, and a Stonehenge-inspired number in front of that monument.

Sam is amazingly creative and his sweaters are amazing wearable postcards full of memories. He’s been featured in art shows and recently knit a commemorative sweater featuring tiny versions of his sweaters in commemoration of his 100th sweater. Unbelievable! Check him out on Facebook to see a lot more of his fantastic designs.

[Photo via Facebook.]

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It felt like it had been a while since I’d done a roundup of knitting patterns involving sheep, and if search is any indication, that is true. I found a roundup of patterns for knit sheep from a few years ago, but the only one with v I could find is from 2015. So it’s definitely time to revisit this fun genre of knitting patterns.

This all started with a headband. Alyssa Kaat’s Icelandic Sheep Headband (free on Ravelry) to be specific. Ravelry showed it to me as a pattern highlight and I couldn’t resist taking a closer look. It’s worked with two colors of worsted weight yarn and alternates sheep with stars around your head.

Another great sheepy headband is this one from Loch Fyne Crafts on Etsy. These sweet little sheep are worked in bulky yarn and you can make the background look like field and sky or work it in a solid color.

Or make a headband (or a hat, cowl, or all three) covered with a flock of sheep with this set of patterns from New Age Knitting CA. These pieces also use the field/sky coloring, but you can use whatever colors of worsted weight yarn you like.

Speaking of hats, there’s also the sheep hat from Lynann Knits Designs. The sample was worked in Icelandic wool to make the sheep and the hat extra fuzzy and warm, but any worsted weight yarn will work.

There’s also the Wandering Sheep hat from Kat Hudon (on Ravelry), which features a fun collection of speckled sheep that can be worked in different yarn weights to make different sizes of hats for kids and adults.

And lest you think sheep need to be knit in traditional stranded colorwork, check out the Rebel Sheep Mob blanket by Deborah Moore. This one is worked in mosaic knitting using fingering weight yarn. In mosaic knitting you’re only working with one color per row so it’s pretty easy. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

I can’t possibly share sheep knitting patterns without mentioning the amazing Black Sheep Shadow Shawl by Mark Jamieson. Shadow knitting is a technique I want to do more of, but it involves working two rows alternating in two different colors and the pattern emerges when you look at the design from an angle. It’s so cool and the sheep on this one are amazing! It’s not a beginner project but well worth the work. You can find it on Ravelry or at the designer’s website.

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