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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Knitwear designers can get inspiration from almost anything when it comes to re-creating a color scheme, an image or a texture in stitches. Sometimes the inspiration isn’t always obvious in the finished project, but sometimes it’s more literal.

That’s the way it is with the Tin Ceiling Blanket from Purl Soho. Not just because the inspiration is in the name, but if you’ve ever seen one of these old ceilings you can see that the design of the blanket is quite similar to the pattern of the tin tiles.

This is also a good example of the idea that you don’t have to use fancy stitch patterns or lots of color to make a big impact with your knits. This single-color blanket (designed by Gianna Mueller and inspired by a washcloth and towel set designed by Sandi Rosner) is made completely with knits and purls, other than slipped stitches at the beginning of rows to make neater edges.

The pattern is written out row by row, but there’s also a chart, which means this project is a great opportunity to practice reading a chart where you can check your work against the written pattern if you need to.

It comes in two sizes, a crib blanket and a throw. The yarn used in the sample is an organic cotton sold by the cone, which is a great way to get a large quantity of yarn and have fewer ends to weave in. In fact, you can knit either size of the blanket with just one cone of yarn, which isn’t inexpensive but makes you a great, sturdy, heirloom quality but still washable blanket you’ll use for years to come. (Of course you can use any sport weight yarn you like to make this blanket.)

Check out all the details and grab the free pattern from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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