Knitting in the News: Knitting for Protest, Awareness and Knitting the City

The Knitting Nanas are a group in Australia that has been protesting mining operations by staging knit-ins at various locations, most recently at a bank that funds such operations. The group has been staging protest for two years, and this time were sitting in support of 350 org, which has staged protests at banks across Australia because of their funding of gas mining.

A different kind of public knitting has been happening in Bury and Bolton (that’s in the UK), where a woman has been knitting sheep and leaving them around town and beyond in the hope people will find them and be encouraged to learn more about organ donation. Joyce Herdson came up with the idea when she was recovering from a double lung transplant that saved her life after she was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. People who find the sheep can share their finds on Facebook, and knitters can learn how they can spread the word, too.

Finally, an Irish knitting group has stitched up a 3D model of their hometown of Rialto, which is a southside suburb of Dublin. About 20 knitters took a year to complete the project, which features apartment buildings, the movie theater and more iconic buildings. It’s on display at the Mansion House, where they presented a wooly version of the home to the mayor.

[Photo by Damien Eagers, via the Independent.]

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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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