Walthamstow Resident Shows Her Olympic Love in Knitting

I love knit displays of all sorts, but this is pretty epic. There’s a woman who lives on Howard Street in Walthamstow (that’s in London) who apparently honors all sorts of special events by knitting up a bunch of characters and making her front garden into a knit diorama.

Her display honoring the upcoming Olympic Games first got notice on Facebook, and a British writer for the Atlantic shared the story in its online section Atlantic Cities.

The captions on some of the photos are a little mean-spirited, but in all the write appreciates this as a yarny act of love. And it’s quite diverse, too, with swimming, diving, track and field events and beach volleyball represented, among other events, as well as athletes from Spain, Jamaica, America, Australia and Kenya, as well as a British athlete on the medal podium.

It’s always wonderful to see the ways creativity, passion, time and yarn can combine into really excellent stuff.

[Photo by Feargu O’Sullivan/the Atlantic Cities.]

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I know that my posts can be read at different times of year and in different years by different people, but as I write this we’re on teh cusp of summer. And I know a lot of people don’t knit as much, and certainly don’t wear a lot of knits in the summer, but I want to encourage you to make and to wear your makes no matter the temperature.

To introduce you to the joys of summer garment knitting, I offer the Tied Vest from Lion Brand Yarn.

This easy project is great to make and wear throughout the year but it’s especially good for summer. It’s worked flat in one piece from the bottom up, mostly in stockinette stitch with a seed stitch edging. The I-cord ties are worked directly onto the garment so you don’t have to sew them on.

The project uses worsted weight yarn, and calls for a blend of cotton and hemp that’s great for warm weather.

There are eight size options, ranging from a finished chest measurement of 35 to 62.5 inches, or 89 to 159 cm. That makes it sound like it should be worn with at least a few inches of positive ease, but the pattern doesn’t specify.

The ties at the front give it a casual look and make it great to wear over a tank top or T-shirt when the weather is warm.

I also think this one would be good to knit in wool or a warmer fiber, too, to make a version you could wear more comfortably in the winter months, too. Though of course you could layer the summer version over a long-sleeved shirt and wear it throughout the year, too.

The tied vest is a free pattern available from Lion Brand. You can also purchase a kit that includes the yarn and optional needles and stitch markers if you need them.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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