KnitBits: Knitting for the Birds, New Knitty and Stylish Shibori

There are a couple of projects in the news this week that allow knitters to help animals in need. The first is the Royal Voluntary Service’s Big Knit, which raises money to support services for the elderly. The charity collects knit penguins and sells them. The group is hoping to raise £3,000 with the adorable birds.

Speaking of adorable birds, Mashable picked up the story this week of Wildlife Rescue Nests, a group that knits bowl-like nests for birds and other animals that need warmth and protection. The group has patterns for knit and crochet “regular” nests, cave nests and hanging nests for various creatures, as well as a list of participating wildlife centers, accessible via this PDF.

A couple of quick updates to stories I’ve brought you recently. I told you about the Eddie the Eagle movie and the knitwear that was featured in the film. Yarn Stories, which produced the knits for the movie, has a free hat pattern and lettering chart so you can re-create the hats or sweaters seen in the movie. The copmany has teamed up with Mission to Seafarers, a charity that helps care for sailors around the world, to encourage people to donate a hat made with the pattern as they use it for themselves.

I also told you that Stylecraft Yarns was looking for help picking new colors for its Aran and Chunky lines; voting is now open on their Facebook page if you want to play favorites.

There’s a new Knitty out this week for spring and summer. I’m kind of in love with the cheerful yellow shawl that is the “cover” photo (from the Liquid Honey Shawl by Amy van de Laar). I also like the Eternal Spring socks from Verybusymonkey; Amy O’Neill Houck’s Mod Waterfall, a flowy vest combining knitting and crochet; and the super simple and lovely Dubrovnik cardigan by Katrine Birkenwasser. I’d love to hear what’s going on your queue!

Finally, I don’t know why Martha Stewart’s website says shibori is having a moment, citing only a years-old knitting book, but it is a lovely technique and worth paying attention to if you’ve never seen it before. Shibori is a traditional Japanese technique of folding or using resists to keep certain parts of a fabric from dyeing. In the case of felt, items are sometimes tied onto a piece of knitting before it is felted so that portions are left unfelted, or you can work with one yarn that felts and one that does not for unique results. Have you tried it? I’d love to hear what you thought. (Here’s a scarf I made using the technique; it’s really fun!)

[Photo via the Dorset Echo.]

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

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