Knitting in the Faroe Islands, and on Outlander

I found a couple of fun articles related to knitting this week that I thought you’d enjoy.

First up, a Guardian reporter traveled to the Faroe Islands (a collection of 18 islands about halfway between Norway and Iceland) to learn about their sweater knitting traditions. Their super warm sweaters made with native wool use simple repeating patterns and a straight, unshaped body. While knitting has ebbed in popularity even there through the years, many still knit traditional sweaters that can be found throughout the world and were made even more famous by the Danish crime drama The Killing.

They also have some pretty excellent knitting clubs there, the reporter found, which must be a good way to pass the time on those super cold, dark winter nights.

Speaking of knitwear on television, BuzzFeed strikes again with some fun knitting content, this time about all the great knits found in the Outlander series. I haven’t watched it so I can’t say — as the clickbaity headline does — that the knitwear is the best part of the show, but it does look like there are some great pieces, and some of the designs I’ve seen that were inspired by the show really are amazing.

So if you are looking for knitting patterns from the Outlander series then this is a great start to finding the Highland patterns.

{Photo by Bardur Eklund via the Guardian.}

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Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

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