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.]

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long.

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders.

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well.

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn.

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions.

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table.

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter.

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.

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