Knitting News: Knitting More than Your Bit, Knitting for Pets and More

With the celebration of ANZAC Day, the Southland Times uncovered the story of Janet Bowie, a knitter who completed 736 pairs of socks for men fighting in Gallipoli and throughout Europe during World War I. In 1919 she was awarded a Member of the British Empire for her feat, which was considered a record for New Zealand and, perhaps, the world. She arrived in New Zealand in 1876 and lived there until her death in 1926. Her medal can be found in the Otago Early Settlers’ Museum.

To support the Australian wool industry and local knitters, a company in New South Wales has formed to sell woollen jumpers around the world. Wool With Love was founded by Annabel Scott, a sheep farmer who was frustrated at the lack of good quality wool clothes for her children. She enlisted the help of about 20 local women to knit sweaters, and the knitters say they love the social aspect as well as the knitting itself.

And finally I’ve got to say I’m a little disappointed I didn’t receive a review copy of Cats in Hats: 30 Knit and Crochet Projects for Your Kitty by Sara Thomas. I like humiliating my cat as much as the next person, and apparently, the book has really taken off, whether among knitters or lovers of cat humor it’s hard to say. Thomas never really set out to become a famous creator of feline chapeaus, but one year she sold 300 on her etsy shop. She says she hopes the success of the book will allow her time to create other things. If you don’t feel the need for a full book of cat hats, check out her Happy Birthday cat hat on her blog.

[Photo by Skye Manson via ABC.net.]

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I feel like I haven’t shared many knitting machine patterns lately, probably because I haven’t been using my knitting machines much lately. (I finally made space for them to live on the bookshelf in my office, and now that they have a “place” it’s almost like I forgot they existed for a while.)

But I did recently make a little cat bed, that surely would work for a small dog, too.

This one uses two different sizes of knitting machine: a larger one (it could be any in the 40-48 needle range) and a 22 pin.

The larger machine is used in flat panel mode to make the bottom pillow like part of the bed, while the smaller machine makes a long tube that is used around the edges as the sort of walls of the cat bed.

For stuffing I used a bit of leftover quilt batting for the pillow, and some cut up old T-shirts for the tube.

You can use any worsted weight yarn you like (I used two colors of Big Twist Pound+, which comes in huge skeins that weigh more than a pound). Acrylic or cotton yarn is nice for washablity, but you’ll be cranking for a while so make sure you use a yarn your machine likes so it’s not too much of a struggle.

You can grab the pattern for this cat bed over at Our Daily Craft. I’m sorry to report the pictured is as close as a cat has gotten to it so far, but maybe your cats like to be cozy more than mine do?

If you’re looking for more options for cute handmade places for your cats and little dogs to rest, check out this roundup of knit pet beds. I still want to knit one by hand but the machine version was definitely a faster option (especially good since my cats are ungrateful).

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