Knitting in the News: Tech, Art and Business

November 3, 2015 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

It’s been a while since I’ve done a roundup of knitting news, so there’s a good amount today.

If you think about it, a knitting machine may just be the original 3-D printer. And a business in London called Unmade is connecting current technologies with old-school knitting machines to allow customers to create (or print, if you will) one-of-a kind garments. This story also talks about Wool and the Gang, a British company that sells both ready-to-wear knits and knitting kits, which recently did a round of fundraising to bring production to the United States.

Of course we know knitting is artistic, and at times it is actually art, too. Learn more about how large-scale fiber artist Jacqui Fink got started knitting giant blankets out of unspun merino roving (her Instagram account is amazing, too), and though you may have seen it before, go ahead and look again at Carol Milne’s gorgeous knit glass sculptures. Awesome.

You’ll also want to check out the delicious looking knit food by British artist Jessica Dance (via the Jealous Curator). Or just knit yourself a boyfriend. (Another olide but a goodie that popped back up recently.)

British wool prices are incredibly low, but some are working hard to promote finer British wools (many are only good for carpets) by producing British rare-breed knitting yarn.

Apparently knitting and other handcrafts are big in Indonesian cities right now.

And finally, don’t miss the story of Blind Girl Knitting, aka Sarah Wilkinson, a 21-year-old from Illinois who has a genetic disorder that causes tumors to develop throughout her body, including her eyes, which has caused almost total vision loss. She’s learned how to do things without being able to see and now runs and handcraft business. She and her business partner hope their business sends the message that vision-impaired people can do anything (other than drive a car).

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Stitch a Scarf with Dreamy Waves

As I write this, it’s probably time to start thinking about winter knitting if you haven’t already. And it’s definitely time to think about gift knitting if you have any of that you plan to do for the holidays.

The Dreamy Waves Scarf from Knit Picks, designed by Stacey Winklepleck, would be a great project to go in either category.

It uses two different multicolored yarns and a simple repeating wave pattern to make a project that looks a lot more complicated and dramatic than it is. The gradient look happens naturally just by switching which yarn you’re knitting with.

This pattern uses worsted weight yarn so it’s a pretty quick project even though a scarf is large and this one is pretty wide. It measures 8.5 inches (21.5 cm) wide and 63 inches or 120 cm long. Of course you can make it longer or shorter as you like. As written it takes one ball of each color so it’s a pretty economical project, too.

It’s rated for intermediate knitters but if you know how to do various increases and decreases you’ll be all set. The pattern uses knit 2 together, make 1 left and right, centered double decrease and slip slip knit. All of the stitches are explained in a glossary in the pattern so even if you haven’t done all of them it shouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

The pattern also includes tons of options for different colorways in yarn that Knit Picks sells, so you can see how different combinations knit up before you buy the yarn. That’s such a great idea!

Of course if you already have two multicolored yarns with long color runs on hand, you can absolutely use them, too. It might also be fun, but would give you a totally different look, to use a solid color and a bunch of scraps or one multicolored yarn to see how the different colors play together. So many options!

You can grab this free pattern and check out all the color options at Knit Picks.

[Photo: Knit Picks]

Summer Shawl and Scarf Knitting Patterns

Take It Easy with the Bessie Scarf

Sweater Scarf Knitting Patterns

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply