KnitBits: Trudeau’s Socks, New Twist Collective and Tons More

Did you hear about the 92-year-old woman who knit Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau a pair of socks? Well, he sent a hand written note back thanking her. Lillie Stewart has been knitting socks for 60-some years, and keeps her MP’s feet warm, which is how her socks got to the PM. The note said he looks forward to wearing the socks with pride. Aww…

A cliche of a lady has been winning hearts through her appearance on “Jeopardy!” Margaret Miles is a librarian who racked up more than $40,000 in winnings on the show, and when asked by Alex Trebek what she likes to do in her spare time, she said, I kid you not, “knit and pet cats.” She went on to say she is “hopelessly stereotypical.” Sounds like our kind of lady.

The new spring/summer issue of Twist Collective is out. It’s the magazine’s 25th issue, and they’re celebrating by offering remixes of a dozen patterns in different yarn than they were originally knit in. There are plenty of new projects, too, plus articles on tatting, swatching, shaping in cables and more.

Speaking of swatches, knitting pros talk all the time about the need to check your gauge before embarking on a project that needs to fit. You might not think it’s that important, or that one knitter’s stitches can’t be that different from another. If you’re in the “I never swatch” camp, you need to read this article from YarnSub. The author had 12 knitters knit up swatches with the same number of rows and stitches, and the variations are stunning. The tightest gauge was 20 percent smaller than suggested (which would make a garment three dress sizes smaller than intended) and just one knitter hit gauge exactly.

It’s good to have goals in life and in knitting, but I don’t think I’d ever try to knit a million stitches in a month. Julie Bruce did it, with a full 18 minutes to spare, with the aim of knitting blankets for hospitals and raising money for a local hospice.

If you need more evidence that knitting makes you happy, this survey of more than 3,500 knitters found stitching has important “psychological and social benefits.” And this post talks about how knitting can help you sleep better, so maybe turn off the iPad and knit a few rows before lights out tonight.

Finally, the knitter at roving crafters thinks we need to tell people knitting is hard. She explores all the skills, from concentration to determination, that we exhibit as knitters and says we should sell it as being hard so people will appreciate it more. What do you think?

[Photo via CTV.]

Looking for more knitted socks designs and patterns to keep you warm this winter? Check out these knitted sock patterns Etsy. And these Knitting Pattern books on Amazon.

Looking to buy your Yarn online? Check out these online yarn specials.

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.

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