KnitBits: Amazing Knitting, and Some Too Good to Believe (April Fool’s Edition)

I know I’ve seen this one before, but the Wonder Woman sweater was recently featured on Boing Boing, so it’s worth mentioning again. Designed and knit by Natalie Bursztyn, it’s a free pattern on Ravelry, and it’s amazing.

While this story is about manufactured socks, it’s still a great story for textile lovers. Once there were 120 sock mills in Fort Payne, Ala., but cheap labor elsewhere has closed most of them. Gina Locklear wanted to keep her family’s mill open, and she’s doing it by producing organic cotton socks made entirely in the United States. Pretty cool.

I’m sad to share that knitting handbag maker Jordana Paige is closing up shop. She has a few bags left and will be officially closed once they are gone. She hasn’t announced what her next adventure is, but we wish her well.

This is an old post and a longish read, but the post on Infotropism about the relationship between knitting and programming is a good one. It’s not just about reading and writing code, but the technical, engineering and math skills that are involved in making a project your own. Good stuff.

And because it’s April Fool’s Day, we also have news of a gorilla caught knitting at the National Zoo and the Mason-Dixon Knitters are opening a side business selling subscription boxes for empty-nest moms to make their houses more like homes (including incomplete decks of playing cards and Doritos to grind into the carpet).

[Photo via Top Crochet Patterns.]

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If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.

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