Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

KnitPro Acquires Rights to Lantern Moon Brand

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Lantern Moon was a company founded in 2001 that produced knitting needles and other tools with the aim of supporting artisans in Southeast Asia. I’m not totally sure of the backstory on what happened with the company, but they stopped posting on their Facebook page in March 2019.

It was recently announced that KnitPro, the company behind Knitter’s Pride and KnitPro brands, had acquired the rights to the Lantern Moon brand and was producing needles under that name again.

According to a news release, Lantern Moon’s founders, Joel and Sharon Woodcock, will have “ongoing business and creative collaboration” in the company.

Joel said that, after visiting the company’s factory in India, “we came away confident that Lantern Moon products would benefit from KnitPro’s production expertise. We were especially pleased to see that the Ebony they will be using in the production of the knitting needles will stay true to the original design.”

While products are listed on their website it doesn’t look like it is possible to order needles or other products directly from them, but you can find information about shops that sell their products on their website.

[Photo via Lantern Moon.]

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Knits for the Table for Thanksgiving and Beyond

As we get into the part of the year with a lot of food-forward holidays, it might be time to start thinking about knitting some new things for your table. While a few of these are more fall/Thanksgiving focused, just changing up the colors would make others work for Christmas, or keep it neutral and use them all year long. 

What got me started thinking about this was the lovely and simple Fresh Bread Dishtowel, a free pattern from Purl Soho. Worked in a lovely cotton and linen blend, the towel is mostly stockinette stitch with a bit of texture on the borders. 

You could use this same kind of pattern to make anything from placemats to a table runner, but let’s look at some specific patterns for those kinds of projects as well. 

The easy moss stitch table runner from Glass Bird Knits is beginner friendly can can easily be modified to fit your table (or, again, to make placemats instead of or in addition to a runner). This version is worked in macrame cord, but you could also use bulky yarn. 

Emielle Design has a garter stitch runner pattern that’s made with braided cotton cord for a lot of texture without a lot of work. But be sure to take a lot of breaks when knitting with cord because it can be rough on your hands!

I also love the diamond pattern on the Hamilton Table Runner from Wyndlestraw Designs. It calls for a DK weight cotton and linen blend yarn and comes in three sizes with different widths and lengths. The pattern has both written and charted instructions. 

Amy Marie’s Table Pumpkins (on Ravelry) is a fun mosaic knitting pattern that would be great to use as a table runner through the fall and for Thanksgiving. It uses a worsted weight cotton yarn in two colors, and you can make it as long as you like for your table. 

The no cable knit placemats from Yarn Culture Studio have a fun faux cable look that would be great for the table through the fall and winter. 

Or here’s another pattern from Wyndlestraw Designs, this time for an easy knit and purl stitch placemat pattern that looks different but still good on both sides. It calls for worsted weight cotton and comes in two sizes for placemats, but also has instructions for coasters, a hot pad and a table pad all using the same stitch.