There are things you just shouldn’t do

And one of them, believe it or not, is knit every waking moment. Oh, sure, you can knit while riding in the car (back of a bike is difficult, especially if you drop your yarn… don’t ask me how I know), you can knit during meetings, lunch hours, or odd bits here and there. You really shouldn’t knit while driving. I’ve been guilty of this, on a really nice day, on a back road, going slowly, and knitting stockinette stitch. Scuba diving and knitting aren’t really compatible. But you know what else?

Knitting while exercising is totally doable! Unless you happen to be totally uncoordinated like I am, and keep falling off of the treadmill and eliptical. It’s just such a waste of time, walking or elipticalling, thinking about everything you could be doing, so I tried it. Not so good, but I’m getting the hang of it. Keeping it simple, it’s just a scarf for my granddaughter, but I fear the exercising part of it is falling by the wayside. Especially when I have to keep stopping to pick up my yarn. I’ll get there, took me awhile to get to where I could knit and walk at the same time too. And, yes, I do have one of those awesome Port-a-Pocket pouches, that helps.

And Podcasts! Who thought up that little time waster? My palm/phone/camera/portable brain has a large sd card and while it’s not an ipod, I can download podcasts and listen to them while I’m doing just about anything (again, the port-a-pocket pouch is great!). So now we have 3 things we’re doing. Elipticalling, knitting and listening to podcasts!

Check out podcasts, you can download and listen to them right on your computer. I’m not going to recommend any in particular, they’re all great, and most of these folks are just plain zany. Go to itunes and search for knitting podcasts. You’ll be hooked! Or needled. Or whatever!

So where do you knit? And what is the craziest thing you’ve ever been doing while knitting? Keep it clean folks.

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

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