Knit a Sweater for Kids that’s Covered in Fish

Sometimes the trends in the knitting/crafting world surprise me. Like the emotional support chicken. That was one I don’t think anyone expected to take off the way that it did, but it really resonated with people for some reason.

More recently I feel like I’ve been seeing a lot of fish motifs. I guess it hasn’t entirely been recent, since the first catalyst for this I can think of is Caitlin Hunter’s Halibut sweater (see on Ravelry), which came out in late 2021 and has nearly 3,000 projects as of this writing. It’s been big in knitting groups online that I am part of recently (there’s also a cardigan, hat, mittens and cowl if you’d like to wear your fish in some other way).

Then earlier this year I shared a fish-shaped bag, more specifically the Rybka bag, and that pattern garnered a lot of attention from you all. With good reason; it’s adorable.

I also write about cross stitch here at Craft Gossip and have noticed a lot of fish related patterns cropping up, particularly sardines.

The most recent evidence of this trend to come across my screen was the Fischers Fritz sweater pattern from Isabell Kraemer. Apparently the name comes from a tongue twister she helpfully shared on the Ravelry page:

Fischers Fritz fischt frische Fische, frische Fische fischt Fischers Fritz
[Fisherman Fritz fishes fresh fish, fresh fish fishes fisherman Fritz.]

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, the sweater is a super cute top down, circular yoke design worked from the top down with fingering weight yarn. The pattern includes two different fish charts so you can have the fish swimming up or down, or a combination. There’s also an option for working the ribbing at the neckline, cuffs and hem doubled for extra warmth and durability.

The design is for kids and comes in 5 sizes, for kids 2-4 years up to 10-12 years. One can only hope there might be an adult version soon for all those fishy knit lovers!

Check out the pattern and grab a copy on Ravelry.

[Photo: Isabell Kraemer]

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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