How a Knit Nativity Helps a Hospice

Here’s your heartwarming Christmas knitting story of the year.

The Knutty Knitters is a group of women in Bristol who all used to work together at the same school. They started a knitting group in 2011 and try to meet once a month to chat, knit and eat chocolate cake.

When one of their members, Christine, died, the remaining members decided they wanted to do something for St. Peter’s Hospice, which had cared for her at the end of her life.

They ended up knitting a life-sized nativity, complete with Mary holding the baby, Joseph, shepherds, wise men and animals. In 2012 they took the nativity on tour and raised £8,000.

The next year they had Christmas cards printed (you can see one above) and the card sales alone cleared £25,000.

Learn more about the women behind this amazing piece in the video at the link above, or visit them on Facebook to see where the nativity has been this year. You can also donate to the cause on Just Giving.

Merry Christmas to all!

Looking for more Christmas themed Knitting patterns? Check out some of our favorite Knitting patterns on Etsy and

These Christmas Knitting Pattern Books on Amazon

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The other day I saw a post from Pinterest about trends for summer and it said one of them was “cultivating whimsy.”

Well, I don’t know where Pinterest has been all this time, but we’ve been cultivating whimsy here at Craft Gossip for a long time. I love sharing projects that are a little different, things that make you smile when you see them, and will make you smile when you knit them and wear them or use them.

Such it is with the Tutti Frutti tee knitting pattern from Bea Creative Knits.

This cute little baby tee is worked top down in the round with contiguous shoulder construction to shape the sleeve caps. There are short rows for the neckline and folded hems with picot edging at the hemline, neckline and edges of the sleeves.

All of this would be great on its own, but then there’s the addition of a super cute fruit icon, which is added with duplicate stitch. There are a lot of options, including strawberry, banana, orange, cherries, watermelon, lemon, blueberries, kiwi, peach, dragon fruit, apple and pear, so it’s likely you can add on your favorite fruit.

It is offered in eight sizes, to fit a bust measurement ranging from 28-30 inches (71-76 cm) to 56-58 inches (142-147 cm). The design is meant to be worn with around 6.3 inches/16 cm of negative ease, but you can choose the fit you prefer. There’s also optional bust and waist shaping included in the pattern if you want to make it even curvier.

This is considered an advanced beginner or intermediate project because of all the skills involved, but it’s sure to be a lot of fun even if some of these techniques are new to you.

Grab a copy of the pattern for yourself form Bea Creative Knits on Etsy.

[Photo: Bea Creative Knits]

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