Watch This Sweet Short Film on the Value of Knitting

When animator Samantha Moore’s mother lost the ability to follow knitting patterns because of dementia, Moore taught herself to knit through YouTube tutorials and was able to find comfort in knitting as her mother’s health declined.

She began to interview knitters about what knitting means to them and how it gets them through hard times and made the animated short film, “Visible Mending,” which you can view at The New York Times’ website.

The video includes several British knitters and is illustrated with knit characters that either they or Moore designed. The video is full of knit and crochet and stories about how knitting gives us a place to explore and be comforted, to know that mistakes don’t really matter, and to share our love and creativity with other people.

This time of year seems perfect for thinking about what knitting (and crochet if you do that too) means to you, what value you get from it and how you can share that with others in the new year.

Knitting may seem like a simple act of making things, and it is, but it is or can also be stress relief, self expression, a way of connecting with other people, a way to learn new things, hold on to traditions of the past and so much more. It gives us ways to use our talents to be charitable, to make gifts, to teach others.

I know I want more of all of that in the year to come. I’ve been using this in between time to work on some knitting projects to donate to a local warming center, and hatching plans to continue to do more of that in the new year.

I hope you’ll watch the film and think about what knitting means to you, and come back and share it with the rest of us!

[Photo via The New York Times]

Next Pattern:

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.

Next Pattern:

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