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The Knitting Grandma You’ll Wish Was Your Grandma

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Showing cancer who's boss by knitting a bright orange wig!This may be the best grandma knitting story ever.

Rosemary Capitolo is a 71-year-old grandma going through cancer treatment, a Giants fan and a volunteer for First Tee and LPGA’s Girls’ Golf.

She’s also a knitter, and when she came across a pattern for a knit wig, she decided to make herself one.

When her granddaughter tweeted a picture of her in her orange wig and Giants hat, it received more than 12,000 likes and spawned a series of online news articles.

Rosemary told BuzzFeed:

I have chemo on 29 October and I am planning on wearing it and passing out candy in the infusion ward. Cancer is a real bitch, but I just live with this unwanted guest and live each day fully. I have great family and friends.

I want to have her spirit when I’m 71, for sure.

I’m pretty sure the wig is the Hallowig by Megan Reardon from Knitty. It’s awesome, regardless.

[Photo via BuzzFeed.]

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Knitting Patterns for Pride

It seems like every year there are more rainbow colored (and other flag hued) knitting projects out there to celebrate Pride. Whether you celebrate at a local event or just want to add some more color to your wardrobe, these Pride knitting patterns are a great place to start.

See also these Pride knitting patterns, tiny Pride flags, and more rainbow projects if you need more inspiration.

These Pride socks from Birger Berge are a free pattern on Ravelry. They feature a rainbow flag on the heel and toe, plus stripes on the cuff with the word Pride and a heart worked in. 

Or you can Put Some Pride in Your Step with these allover colorful socks from Oriahna WhimsyStitch. Using a self-striping fingering weight yarn, they have a spiral rib on the legs and come in three sizes. The pattern has suggestions for if you don’t have self-striping yarn to use. You can find it on Ravelry.

Amy Snell’s Pride Like the Wind is a triangular shawl that uses slipped stitches to add texture to the multicolored stripes. The pattern was made with a large skein of rainbow colored yarn and mini skeins in rainbow colors, but you can use stash or whatever you can find in theose colors for a different look. You can find this pattern on Ravelry.

Pride and Elegance is a pretty pair of rainbow striped arm warmers made by martaschmarta. They call for fingering weight yarn and have sparkly beads incorporated at each end for extra flair. This pattern is also on Ravelry. 

Pride in Parallelograms by Treena Evans is a mobius knit cowl worked in a multicolored ombre yarn. It calls for DK weight yarn and is a free pattern on Ravelry.

Stephen G. Krueger has designed a lovely kippah/yarmulke pattern that can be worked in the colors of any Pride flag you like. The pattern is free on Ravelry and uses fingering weight yarn.

And if you want to make a full progress flag in knitting, you’ll need the modular progressive Pride flag pattern from Kim Smith for Alterknit Universe. The pattern comes in two sizes using different weights of yarn to suit your needs, and the modular style of the project makes it seamless. You can purchase this pattern on Ravelry.

If you want to add a touch of Pride to a sweater, wall hanging or other project, the abstract waves chart from Hits Knit Patterns is a great place to start. It uses the colors of the lesbian flag, but you could change it to whatever colors you like (there are six colors used and the chart is 49 stitches by 80 rows).