Knitting in the News and on the Internet

January 22, 2015 by Sarah White

It’s been a while since I shared any knitting news, and quite a bit has piled up, so let’s get to it.

Over the holidays you might have missed BuzzFeed’s take on 22 things that happen when you get into knitting. it’s actually a pretty accurate summary of how it goes, from the difficulty of getting started to wanting to knit all the things for everyone all the time to realizing yarn isn’t cheap to becoming a crafty zealot.

In other fun knitting-related roundups, Bored Panda collected a bunch of fun winter scarves, knit, crocheted and sewn. You’ll want to check these out for their sheer creativity, there are foxes, cockatoos, a knit USB cable scarf and the most amazing Hobbit-inspired scarf you’ve ever seen (shown above, you can also check it out on Ravelry).

The Toast has a list (it’s probably just as well they don’t all show pictures) of things you can actually find knitting patterns for that includes such silly things as broccoli, a sweater for a rat (which doesn’t seem silly if you’re the rat, I suppose), an alien autopsy and a couple of projects dealing with parts of the male anatomy. And Mashable has a photographic collection of 15 great achievements in knitting, ranging from spectacular yarn bombs to an anatomically correct knit skeleton with organs and a knit periodic table (some of these, of course, are actually crochet).

A company in the Netherlands knit a giant cozy for an Eames chair. Just because it was there. And a writer from Maine shares the story of how knitting brought her back from anxiety and depression.

Bulky knits are still going to be hot (see what I did there?) next fall and winter, according to the fashion shows in Italy, so keep out that big yarn and needles! And don’t miss the display from Spinrite at the Craft and Hobby Association: a knit celebration of Narnia called Yarnia. Too cool.

If you ever see knitting in the news and what to share, submit a link!

[Photo via Bored Panda.]

Have you read?

Knit a Classic Aran Cardigan with this Free Knitting Pattern

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]