Support BIPOC Designers with a #RhineBIPOCSweater

July 26, 2019 by Sarah White Leave a Comment

There has been a lot of talk in the knitting community this year about diversity and the need to acknowledge, promote and support designers and knitters of color and others from traditionally marginalized communities.

All that talk is good, but it means very little without action.

Which is why I love the #RhineBIPOCSweater project. Rhinebeck is one of the biggest events of the knitting year, and the Rhinebeck sweater is an important garment for anyone attending the festival because it’s what you choose to show off to your fellow knitters.

So the dyer behind Lady Dye Yarns and Jasmin from Knitmore Girls came up with the idea to promote a Rhinebeck sweater knitalong and crochetalong that encourages people to make designs from BIPOC designers and using yarn from BIPOC makers. There’s a list of potential projects (not all sweaters) on Ravelry, curated by the Black Squirrel aided by the work Jeanette Sloan has done to highlight BIPOC makers.

Lady Dye has also posted about BIPOC indie dyers to make shopping for yarn easier. The colors in the above picture are the suggested colors for the project.

Even if you’re not going to Rhinebeck (I’ve never been; it’s a long way from here and it always falls around my husband’s birthday) this is a fantastic idea. We can say we support BIPOC makers all day long but until we are giving them our financial support it doesn’t mean anything. Check out the list; you’re sure to find something you want to make.

[Photo: Lady Dye Yarns via Instagram.]

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Christmas Sock Knitting Patterns

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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