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

January 15, 2016 by Sarah White

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.]

Have you read?

Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.