Knitting News: New Jersey Knitter Wants Help with Yarn Bombing

A yarn bombing is not usually something you announce before the fact in the local newspaper, but Bridgeton, N.J., knitter Carol Moore says she wants help beautifying her city’s downtown with yarn.

She participated in a yarn bombing for International Yarn Bombing Day, which was back in June, and in the time since the tree in front of her shop has become increasingly covered with knit and crocheted pieces.

She says she things more fiber art around downtown would improve the look of the area and give it something unique and special that hopefully would drive more visitors and customers to the area.

Moore has the blessing of mayor Albert Kelly, who called is an easy way to beautify the town that isn’t permanent (he also says it does no damage to the tree, but it can if left on long-term).

[Photo by the News of Cumberland County.]

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Comments

Tracy says
July 14, 2012 at 11:21 pm
I personally do not find these “yarn bombing” projects to be beautiful at all! The colors do not co-ordinate, there is no regularity in the stitches or pattern stitches used, etc. It is a beautiful tree! I love trees, including their trunks. Don’t cover them!Cover something ugly, & use co-ordinating stitches & colors. Make sure you use excellent workmanship as others are stuck with looking at it. I have seen some lovely examples of “object covering” on the internet. It CAN be done well. So can Krazy Knitting & Crazy Crochet. It’s difficult, it’s an art, I discovered I am not good at either covering objects, nor Crazy Crochet, so I don’t do it.

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