Join or Support the Knit for Food Knitathon

The Knit for Food Knitathon will take place this year on Feb. 12 from 10 am to 10 pm (I assume Eastern time, it’s not totally clear).

The event brings knitters together virtually to raise money for a variety of food aid organizations, including Meals on Wheels, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and Feeding America.

It’s the brainchild of Laura Nelkin, who says she learned about food insecurity in her area from her daughter, who was working at a food bank with Americorps. The original knitathon raised more than $265,000.

This year’s version will feature speakers, music, yoga, ergonomic discussions and more all through Zoom, and people who raise $100 or more will be sent the link (of course you can donate, raise money or participate without taking part in the online component).

As I write this more than $13,000 has been pledged. It’s always fun to see knitters and other crafters come together for a cause and I look forward to seeing how this year’s event goes!

Next Pattern:

Linen stitch is one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns that, every time I use it in a project, I think about how I don’t use it often enough.

It’s an easy stitch to make, with slip stitches done with the yarn held to the front of the work on the right/front side and to the back on the wrong/back side, which makes the strand of yarn a visible part of the pattern.

It also makes a fabric that is thick and looks kind of like a woven fabric.

I recently used linen stitch to make a double-thick pot holder, which I worked in a kind of interesting way. I didn’t want to have to do any sewing on the project, so I started it from a crochet cast on and picked up stitches from the side of the cast on to make the hot pad all in one piece in the round with the edge sealed.

This requires working on two circular needles, which is another technique I don’t use that often and am always reminded how much I like it when I do.

The combination of double thickness and the stitch pattern makes for a hot pad that’s already pretty thick, but I also added a bit of old towel to the inside before I closed up the end to make it super thick and extra protective for your surfaces.

I found the engineering challenge of this construction method to be a lot of fun, but you could also just knit it as a tube (casting on twice as many stitches as I did) and sew up the ends by hand when the knitting is done. Either way you’ve got a useful and pretty addition to your kitchen, whether you work it in a solid color, stripes or as a stash busting project will all your cotton odd balls.

You can grab the pattern over at Our Daily Craft, or check it out on Ravelry.

40+ Hot Pads You Can Sew For The Kitchen [Sewing]

A Cozy Knit to Calm Your Mind

Double Knit an Infinity Scarf

Next Pattern:

Have you read?