Store Raises Money to Help Injured Dog

I was just in Tulsa last week, though I didn’t manage to do any yarn shopping. If I had made it to Loops Knitting, I’m sure I would have heard the story of Purl, the lab puppy owned by the store’s owner, who was attacked by two pit bulls and badly injured.

Purl is the store mascot at Loops, and owner Shelley Brander is thrilled to report that she’s expected to make a full recovery. All the surgery, plates and reconstruction on her legs come with a huge vet bill of more than $7,000, and Shelley is hoping to raise some of that money through an Indiegogo campaign.

To sweeten the deal anyone who pledges $10 or more will receive 20 percent off an order at Loops (up to 1,000 donors). As of this writing the campaign has raised more than $3,000 and has 40 days to go.

Animal lovers and fiber lovers alike should get behind this story. I wish Purl all the best for a speedy recovery!

Looking for pet supplies, toys, food or gift ideas? Check these out.

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

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