Knitting News
Updated June 30 2005
Knitting their lives together
Chandigarh Newsline - June 23 2005
After the tangy homemade pickles and perfectly fitted lab coats, Punjab Engineering College has set up a knitting unit. Eight slum women have been employed to knit woolen caps and gloves under the expert guidance of the wife of PEC director Vijay Gupta, Kusum Gupta.
A professional in this field, Kusum has been designing clothes for the last 20 years. Her daughter has worked with the likes of Satya Paul.
Chicks with sticks knit close ties over a good yarn (quite similar to another article I posted yesterday)
The Age - June 27 2005
Dr Minahan suspects StitchnBitch is part of a social move away from isolated pursuits such as going to the gym or jogging alone to communal pursuits such as choirs.
Sharon Steer-Courtenay, 39, started Melbourne StitchnBitch in January 2003, partly because she wanted to make lacy cardigans in the style of designer Alannah Hill's and partly for "a sense of community".
Her StitchnBitch Yahoo group has 270 members and meets in Prahran, Caulfield, Flemington, North Carlton, Box Hill, Yarraville and Geelong.
Knitting his way to the top
Boston Globe - June 26 2005
The heart of his art is knitting. After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1998, Drain started using a friend's knitting machine and found the meditative repetition pleasant and the results oddly suited to what he wanted to say: hard messages couched in softness.
Knit 'n' natter the new way to click with pals
Sydney Morning Herald - June 27 2005
Young women's knitting and gasbagging groups have sprung up in a return to the supportive, crafty culture of the hippie era.
Unlike their mothers in the 1970s, who made contact through mothers' groups or library noticeboards, these women meet on the internet.
A business academic at Deakin University, Stella Minahan, has secured funding to study the relationship between craft, the internet and social connection - known as StitchnBitch - in town and country.
Dr Minahan will spend the winter "heading off into the pubs and clubs, armed with needles and yarn, in search of young women [under 40] who knit/stitch in groups", finding out how, when and why these "chicks with sticks" meet.
America Supports You: 'Tight-Knit' Group Supports Troops Worldwide
DefenseLINIK News Release - June 22 2005
Just a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Ellen Harpin sat in her Florida home and began to knit a pair of slippers for a sailor aboard the USS Bataan. The sailor had responded to an "any sailor" letter and had asked Harpin, an avid knitter, if she'd make her a pair of slippers.
Soon, others sharing the sailor's berthing were asking for slippers too, and Harpin found herself with a request for 60 pairs of slippers. Unable to fulfill the request by herself, she enlisted the help of her online friends, and soon she was able to fill the sailors' requests.
Prep school knits away for fame and charity
IOL - June 22 2005
Pupils, teachers, parents and even grandparents at a preparatory school in Johannesburg have conjured up a novel idea for helping charity.
They joined hands and knitted a giant multicoloured blanket as a prospective entry in The Guinness Book of Records.
The gigantic 15 300m2 hand-knitted blanket was made from small square patches of wool knitted by the participants - mothers, fathers, relatives here and abroad, pupils, security guards and other members of the Crawford Preparatory School community in Fourways.
USA : Make It Yourself With Wool Contest
fibre 2 fashion - June 22 2005
The Make It Yourself With Wool Contest is an exciting opportunity for anyone who likes to work with wool, sewing, felting, knitting or crocheting. The contest has proven to be fun and educational. Ribbons and prizes will be given to all contestants participating in the contest.
The Make It Yourself With Wool Contest will be held, Saturday October 15, 2005 from 10am to 2pm at the 33rd Annual Sheep & Wool Festival at the Dutchess County Fair Grounds Rhinebeck, New York. The festival is a two-day event October 15 & 16. There are many vendors selling wool products.
Knit one, knit two together
Holliston TAB - June 23 2005
We sat in a circle in the meeting room, about a dozen of us knitting and keeping up a relaxed conversation. In the middle of the circle, a candle flickered and next to it were a couple of shawls, one in deep blue thick wool and the other made of pastel colored mohair yarn. We were part of a new ministry at St. Michael's - a prayer shawl knitting circle.
The circle is a group of people who gather to knit for those in need or sorrow and for those celebrating life's joys. The knitter repeats a prayer or intention for the recipient each time the shawl is worked on, making it a contemplative and centering project. The person who receives the shawl is given a gift of love and warmth. The shawl also becomes a symbol of God's love present among us as we connect with each other in this simple way.
A traditionally feminine craft meets superhero energy
Get Out Arizona
Mark Newport began knitting life-sized superhero costumes after becoming a father for the second time, when he realized how the experience had thrust him into the role of protector.
“I was thinking about things or feeling things I hadn't felt before,” the Mesa fiber artist says. “In making the suits, I realized it's also about protecting yourself, because the costumes were meant to disguise the hero and protect him.”
Knitting for cancer
Merredin-Wheatbelt Mercury - June 23 2005
The ladies of Merredin have rallied to help sick cancer patients by knitting multitudes of brightly patterned beanies for charity.
Ann Lambert, the mover and shaker behind the idea, organised a Wednesday Craft Group.
Participants undertake a variety of activities to which they have now added making beanies for cancer patients.
The craft group started in 1997 and has now been going for nine years.
It started with only six members, but now as many as 17 to 20 ladies a week join in on the activities.
Crocheted Nudes Cause Brows to Knit
Washington Post - June 23 2005
Nude sculptures, done in crochet. Sound intriguing? Well, you're too late to see them -- at least not in the crocheted altogether.
The 15-artist exhibition "Not the Knitting You Know" opened last week downtown at Eleven Eleven Sculpture Space. But within two days, the crocheted breasts and genitals of the large, colorful figures in two of the four works created by Ming-Yi Sung were covered by crocheted fig leaves -- plus one crocheted codpiece that actually looks like a cod.
The Teen Scene - Start Knitting! It's Cool!
The View - June 22 2005
I have recently joined the ranks of Julia Roberts, Goldie Hawn, Madeleine Albright, Vanna White, Madonna, Hilary Swank and Iman. Yes, that’s right, I have started to knit.
It all began one night as I tried to avoid my homework. I was perusing the contents of one of my favorite crafting forums, craftster.org, when I realized one of the only crafts I hadn’t tried was, in fact, knitting. I had tried crocheting on several occasions, and I must say my results were far from satisfactory. After several lumpy, uneven attempts at scarves, I gave it up. The things people had knitted looked so nice, and besides, it looked far easier than crocheting.
The Diagonal Garter-Stitch Square
Mother Earth News
Many people learn the basic knitting stitch—called the garter stitch—in school, or from friends or relatives . . . but, once having mastered that maneuver, never go on to further develop their skill. Sometimes this happens for lack of a satisfying project, one that's really good-looking as well as practical. Well, if you can handle the basic knitting stitch and know how to increase and decrease, I think you'll find that the diagonal garter-stitch square is reason enough to get those needles out of storage.
Not your grandma’s sweater
Detroit Metro Times - June 22 2005
Julie Patra pulls out a handful of yarn the shade of ’70s shag-green carpet. It was left over from her grandmother’s collection of yarns, and Patra plans to turn it into a half-sweater that ends above the navel — a stylish creation topped with puffy, three-quarters sleeves.
Last Christmas, the Wayne State University student knit her grandmother a rainbow mohair scarf.
“She was very happy. She cried,” says Patra, 21, at a recent Royal Oak “stitch ’n’ bitch” — a term to describe the younger generation’s knitting circles. She and her grandmother bond through knitting.
For the past few years, young women have been picking up needles — and not the piercing variety. Knitting is now a hip hobby, a movement that’s lasted longer than your average MTV fad. Around metro Detroit, casually organized knitting groups have become increasingly popular; some are advertised online and welcome new members; others are simple affairs among a close circle of friends.
Knit your own iPod sock
The Unofficial Apple Weblog - June 20 2005
Everyone and their queen has an iPod. All of those naked iPods out there are just horrifying! Luckily, one intrepid knitter is trying to get people to cover up their iPods.
Knitting is big business - again
ABC Western Australia - June 20 2005
Knit one, purl one, Jo Sharp now has a business which supplies yarn and patterns around the world.
One day back in the early 90s, Jo Sharp stumbled over a basket of knitting yarns placed outside a store somewhere in downtown Albany, a regional city on the south coast of Western Australia. Apart from being a port and a very pretty city, Albany also possessed a woollen mill. Since that day, Jo has gone on to develop an export business for her yarns and knitting patterns.
Knitting Fever hauls Coats to court
fibre 2 fashion - June 21 2005
A distributor of yarns and hand-knitting products, Knitting Fever has announced that it has taken legal action against the textile giant Coats Holdings Ltd., for various reason which, includes violation of a decade-long distributorship agreement.
According to the papers filed in federal district court in Central Islip, Knitting Fever has complained that Coats has ventured in a plan to keep Knitting Fever out of its progressively more rewarding US hand-knitting market.
Ask the pilot - The global knitting community irritatedly waves its needles at the pilot. (via Knitters' Forum)
Salon (a subscription site, but if you aren't a member you can watch an ad to get a free day pass) - June 17 2005
What if I told you that a shockingly high number of Ask the Pilot's readers are, of all things, knitters and crocheters? I knew this column had its share of devotees -- frequent fliers, aerophiles, sentimental fans of forgotten '80s alt rock -- but I wouldn't have expected much attention from the yarn-and-needle set. They're out there, apparently, based on the volume of letters I received in response to a gaffe in last week's column. Before the mistake was fixed, the original June 10 Ask the Pilot -- another trenchant diatribe on matters of airport security -- erroneously maintained that knitting needles were still prohibited on airliners. Well, no shortage of annoyed hobbyists were on to me, pointing out that the rules have been revised. TSA has buckled to the knitting lobby and now allows onboard stitchery with no restriction.
Wool Market draws crowds
The Daily Reporter-Herald - June 19 2005
People came from all over — Denver, Fort Lupton and Fort Collins — to see the llamas, alpacas, sheep and goats and watch demonstrations of shearing, spinning, weaving.
Hannah and Joel Lefever from Fort Lupton visited with one of Brenda Vance’s llamas, Tender is the Night, as Vance brushed the animal outside its stall. Vance raises llamas with her husband Jim, at their ranch in Florissant. The Vances currently have 34 llamas. Brenda Vance is a fiber artist and uses the animal’s fiber, spinning it into yarn that she sells on eBay.
Teenagers in stitches
The Times - June 18 2005
Bobbi Sanders was a teenage gang member when his attention deficit disorder was diagnosed — he was unable to focus on anything. He, too, took up knitting and he hasn’t been in detention for over a year. Carol Grimaldy suffered post-traumatic stress after her Manhattan school was evacuated during the September 11 attacks. She joined a knitting club and the nightmares began to stop, and the panic attacks.
For knitting — hitherto the preserve of grannies, the occasional vicar and ladies of leisure — has become hip among teenagers in the US. And as its popularity has grown, so have the tales of its extraordinary health benefits. So convinced are they of its power as an aid to concentration that many US schools are encouraging children to knit during class. “The general perception is that if a kid is knitting, they’re not paying attention, but they are listening,” says Devorah Zamansky, the assistant principal at the Manhattan Centre for Science and Mathematics, where pupils are allowed to knit and purl while attending lessons. “The kids will sit with a pen and paper by their side, and will put down their knitting to write a note or to raise their hand. You can really see it helping them to focus, particularly the hyper kids.”
New wool doesn't itch or shrink
MSNBC - June 13 2005
The days of pulling your favorite sweater from the wash, only to find it more suitable for a Chihuahua, may be over. Newly developed processes for wool production promise not only an unshrinkable sweater, but one that is silky smooth and shinier to boot.
Knit Picking (this should actually go under crocheting in the news)
The Indian Express - June 16 2005
Dig out some of grandma’s musty old crochet pattern books—for the antiquated art is all set to stage a comeback of sorts.
Lafayette community helps children a half world away (reg. required - try bugmenot.com)
Contra Costa Times - June 16 2005)
While in Zimbabwe last year, Susan and Arden met a security guard, bored at her job because nobody came through her gate. To pass the time, she would knit. Susan says knitting is a large part of Zimbabwe culture and that the women are incredibly talented and creative knitters.
Susan saw the guard knitting with old crooked needles and asked if the guard would knit a sweater for her daughter. Three days later, Susan received the beautiful sweater and an idea was born. What if the need for toys at the preschool was married with the untapped knitting skills of the local women? If the Strassers could generate seed money and knitting supplies, the Kapnek Trust agreed to help get the Knit Together program going.
Debbie Stoller shares her purls of wisdom.
The Pitch - June 16 2005
Flipping through Debbie Stoller's Stitch 'n Bitch Nation is like looking at a really cool catalog. There's a teeny cardigan for babies with mini-tattoo motifs, a sassily striped dog sweater and a Joan Jett doll. But you don't have to shell out loads of cash or order any of these goods by phone. You can knit them all yourself. Before you start with the "But I don't know how to knit" whining, do yourself a favor and find Stoller's first book, Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook -- along with some needles and a skein of yarn.
"I'm writing for someone sitting there going, 'What the f*** do I do?'" says Stoller, who puts extra effort into clear, easy-to-follow instructions for young knitters. But Stoller, the editor and co-publisher of Bust magazine, wasn't a young knitter herself. Her Dutch mother's extended family was well-versed in knitting, crocheting and tatting, so Stoller grew up surrounded by needlecrafts. "But I just never quite got the hang of knitting," she says. Several years later, with a three-day train trip ahead of her, Stoller decided to give it another go. "Something clicked, and then I was completely obsessed."
Marcia's Lack Of Knitting Skills Show Her Up On Desperate Housewives
Contactmusic.com - June 15 2005
Actress MARCIA CROSS feels awkward when she's hanging out with her female castmates on the set of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES - because she can't cook or knit.
Cross might play domestic diva BREE VAN DE KAMP on the show, but in real life she's nothing like her particular character - and that means she feels left out when her castmates start knitting.
She says, "I'm the least domesticated of all the girls; they all knit and cook.
"I'm sitting there playing Bree, who's so domestic, and I can't do a thing."
Tillman, Whittington open Natchez Needle Arts
The Natchez Democrat - June 11 2005
Longtime friends Ann Tillman and Cynthia Whittington followed a dream in opening the new shop, Natchez Needle Arts: a Fiber Arts Studio.
Both have talents in needle arts and other creative endeavors, and the two decided to act on what they knew was a need in Natchez and the surrounding area.
USA : Four knitting & yarn stores announce not to buy Australian merino wool
Fibre 2 Fashion - June 10 2005
After reviewing video footage showing the stunningly cruel treatment of sheep at the hands of the Australian wool industry, four New York-area knitting and yarn stores have announced that they will no longer buy Australian merino wool.
The stores are Downtown Yarns in Manhattan’s East Village, Knit Knacks in Wantaugh, Knitting Nation in Nyack, and Plainview-based Yarn Garden, which told PETA, "We have always carried Australian merino wool in the past. We, the owners of the shop, will not purchase this product from any of our companies until the practice of ‘mulesing’ and live exports has ended."
Knot your usual knits
This is London - June 6 2005
Knit one purl one was taken to new heights on the opening day of Graduate Fashion Week.
The four-day event, bringing together the best student talent from across the country, started with the usual headturning outfits, outrageous hair and lots of attitude - oh, and some unusual sights on the catwalk, too.
...Louise Crawford's outsize sweater dresses incorporated craftily knotted thick rope and balls of yarn; Lindsay Cullen ran up eye-popping, graphic patterned cardigans in black and white and Sarah Ulyett took the softest mohair in coffee and cream and turned it into dreamy cowl-neck sweaters and loose cardigans.
Knitting pair make costumes for film
Shropshire Star - June 8 2005
Costumes made at a south Shropshire wool shop will be making an appearance on the silver screen later this year in the remake of the classic film Lassie.
The Wool Shop, in Ludlow's Broad Street, has been commissioned to produce a number of costumes for the film, including a pair of Argyle socks to be worn by legendary actor Peter O'Toole.
Knitters at the shop have also made a number of 1930s style jumpers and cardigans for children in the film.
Help knit world's largest Christmas tree
North Devon Gazette - June 8 2005
If you know your plain stitch from your purl stitch, or perhaps you would like to learn, then Atlantic Village is calling on you to help knit the world's largest Christmas tree, which will be entered into the Guinness Book of Records.
Mainers celebrate return of moose with Knittin' Mittin' Contest
Bangor Daily News - May 30 2005
Visitors to Moosehead Traders on Saturday did a double take at a small group of people clustered near the entryway who were chitchatting as their hands feverishly worked yarn over and under pairs of knitting needles.
Appearing quite comfortable sitting in rocking and wicker chairs, a young boy, two girls and two women talked about their techniques and other matters as they hurried to knit the longest square in the Knittin’ Mittin’ Contest, one of several events held to conclude Moose-Mainea.
York family opens farm store to sell fiber products
Foster's Online - June 6 2005
It usually takes no more than a few seconds to catch the alpaca bug. Most people manage to shake it off and walk away. But for some, the sight of the odd, woolly and very cute animals becomes a life-altering experience.
The Houdes in York, Maine, "all fell in love." Now, eight years after the family of four acquired their first alpacas, they are all involved in the operation although father and son, Richard and Brian, mostly step in when it is time to shear the animals.
The mother-daughter team, Patricia and Lisa, takes care of the fiber, turning it into knitted sweaters, hats and scarves.
"I like it all," said Patricia Houde, standing in the barn with a dozen alpacas peeking at her from behind the fence. "We bring the chairs out in the pasture and knit all day. I even like the cleanup."
Knitting up a storm to keep Mongolians warm
Arizona Daily Sun - June 5 2005
Since reading several articles in the Daily Sun over the past few months about local efforts to collect warm clothing for those in need in Mongolia, teacher Julie Giguere's third-grade class at Mountain Charter School has been knitting at every opportunity.
Ramsden boosted by knitting craze
Yorkshire Post - June 1 2005
Fashion has also played a part in the popularity of knitting amongst a younger generation as teenagers take up the hobby to make their clothing more individual: "Suddenly we've given consumers the chance to make something individual for just a few pounds and without a great deal of effort which can turn their mass market clothing into something unique."
Children knit away stress
The Journal News - May 31 2005
"A lot of people think knitting is just for girls, but boys can do it, too," the 9-year-old said positively, as he held up the square he was knitting for a class project. "Boys can do it, too."
For the better part of three months, nearly 60 fourth-graders at Viola have plied their needles and crochet hooks in the name of charity. Every day at 11:30 a.m., the knitters and crocheters put away their books and papers, sit on their desks or on the floor beside teacher Loretta Constance and pull out skeins in colors from vibrant blues to fluorescent orange.
Birmingham kids knit caps for cancer patients
The Detroit News - June 2 2005
After taking a lesson in knitting, second- and third-graders at the Roeper School have weaved their way into making more than 100 caps that will be donated to children in the Hematology Clinic of Children's Hospital.
The hats will go to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, which can cause hair loss.
Photos from the South West Knit In
ABC Southwest WA - June 1 2005
After last year's Knit In, people kept dropping in squares which Barbara joined together to get a head start for this year.
'Knit Nurse' is on duty at The Art of Knitting
The Flint Journal - June 1 2005
No need to get in a tangle over the finer points of knitting your own fashionable poncho. Just ask the "Knit Nurse."
