KnitBits: Mum Knits Her Son, Jessica Jones Knits, Charities for Knitters and More

It’s hard for parents when their kids get past the cuddling and talking to us stage, so one mom of a tween boy took the matter into her own hands and knit a suit that looks like her son.

She says she and her son worked on it together, and it actually has attributes of both her sons, though it’s sized such that only the younger one can wear it. The suit consists of a knit head with cap, a sweater with hands, knit pants with sneakers and a knit iPod.

She said they decided to take pictures of the project in action, and said it would also be fun to knit one for mothers whose kids don’t want to cuddle anymore.

The world lost several greats this week, and Ravelry celebrated the life of David Bowie with a roundup of Bowie-inspired knit and crochet projects. I love the Labyrinth mitts!

Krysten Ritter, the actress who plays Jessica Jones, recently talked about her knitting obsession with Vulture. She says she’s been “knitting like crazy” because with all the travel she’s been doing she needs something that’s just for her. She says she learned to knit from her grandmother and picked it up again on the set of Mona Lisa Smile, where “everybody” was knitting, including, of course, Julia Roberts.

If you’re into charity knitting or would like to start, Mental Floss recently published a list of 10 places looking for donations of yarn craft. From blankets for babies to bowl-nests for baby birds, knitted knockers to afghans for Afghans, it’s a great list.

And finally, in a move I would have thought happened a long time ago, yarn craft pro Vickie Howell has launched a YouTube channel. As of this writing there are seven videos covering some of the basics of knitting, including a couple of cast ons, knitting, purling, a couple of decrease methods, how to join a new ball of yarn and binding off. It’s a great go-to if you or someone you know is in need of instruction in the basics.

[Photo via Club Geluk.]

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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