Knitting News

Knit-orious | Sun Journal

Knit-orious
Sun Journal - November 29 2006

Three years ago, Jennifer Bayliss busted her knee. She then went on a family trip to Yosemite. It didn't seem to her like she was going to have much fun.

She decided to learn to knit. And no, she's not a grandma in her 50s.

Bayliss, now 31, got her mother-in-law to teach her to knit. "Then I taught my mom to knit, and that was sweet," she said. By February 2004, she formed Long Beach, Calif., Stitch 'n Bitch, an e-mail list that now has more than 150 subscribers.

Every Wednesday, 10 to 20 Long Beach SNB members meet at either a coffee shop or Banana Berry, a local yarn store (that's "LYS" in knit-speak).

In the past five years, knitting and crocheting has enjoyed a surge in popularity in North America and the United Kingdom. According to surveys commissioned by the Craft Yarn Council of America, a trade group whose members sell 85 percent of materials in the knitting industry, the number of knitters and crocheters in the 25-34 age category jumped 150 percent from 2002 to 2004, to hit 5.7 million women. [more]

Moved by need, woman knits caps for children | Daily Press

Moved by need, woman knits caps for children
Daily Press - November 28 2006

Cindi Snead is helping to keep poor city kids warm, one hat at a time.

Over the last year, the Harrisonburg woman has knitted 70 caps for students at Spotswood Elementary School and 50 for those at Stone Spring Elementary School.

In about three days, Snead can crank out one hat while she soaks in her evening dose of "CSI," "Alias" or "Grey's Anatomy." Her gift comes at a time when the number of students enrolled in the division's free or reduced-priced lunch program is increasing. Enrollment in the program is based on financial need.

"These kids needed hats," Snead said, "and my hands itch if I don't do something to keep them busy. It was something small, but it worked." [more]

Knitting in Circles | The Albert Lea Tribune

Knitting in Circles
The Albert Lea Tribune - November 28 2006

Autumn Peterson visited her grandmother Norma Jones Friday to learn a tradition that Jones has been practicing for 40 years.

Since 1966, Jones has been knitting infant caps for Albert Lea Medical Center’s Naeve Hospital.

“Today I’m going to learn how to make a baby cap,” said Peterson, who learned how to knit scarfs and mittens from her grandmother. “It’s something eventually I’ll probably try to take on.”

Jones knits about 200 infant caps for Naeve Hospital each year, sometimes more. At 200 per year, Jones’ infant caps have adorned the heads of at least 8,000 infants born in Albert Lea.
[more]

The emperor's new clothes | Guardian Unlimited

The emperor's new clothes
Guardian Unlimited - November 27 2006

A knitting pattern for a penguin's jumper is a rubbish Christmas present - and it fails to address the real problems facing these birds.

I know you're not supposed to admit this kind of thing, but if I were to get given a goat for Christmas, especially one that wasn't really for me, I would be a bit peeved. But what would get my goat more than, erm, a goat, would be this gift from the Good Gifts Catalogue, a knitting pattern from which you can knit a jacket for a penguin to keep them warm after an oil spillage.

Don't get me wrong; I've liked penguins ever since I had an Athena poster of a small fluffy one before I graduated onto that strange poster of the hairless man holding a baby (also much in need of a jumper). And what's more, in the case of an oil spill I wouldn't want them to be cold. I cried when watching March of the Penguins, so I really mean it. And I cried when I was in Australia visiting the little penguins at Phillip Island, where I stayed so long that I nearly missed my bus back. [more]

Knitty Gritty | AskMen.com

Knitty Gritty
AskMen.com - November 2006

A key ensemble this season that found its way back onto the runway is the cardigan, in both a chunky and light-knit form. The selection is vast, yet still very accommodating to all other trends. The most popular in terms of print or pattern has been striped, whilst colors have been gray or bright red. Their best attribute is their function-meets-fashion angle and they bond in harmony to create great style, while keeping you warm in the winter months.

London high-fashion and high-street stores have revalued the cardigan's worth and made them the merchandising focal points as they are currently the craze that everyone wants to work with. Styling is a breeze with these knits: for the mod fan, the thin cardigans look great over a pair of skinny jeans and with a bowler hat, and for fans of the granddad-look, a chunky gray cardigan over a bright, long-sleeve vest and plaid trousers can easily make this look work. [more]

Norway: a winter wonderland | Guardian Unlimited

Norway: a winter wonderland
Guardian Unlimited

[...]Go into any souvenir shop in Norway and the quality of what's on offer will surprise you. Arts and crafts have always been big here; "making things" is more than just a pastime, it's a cottage industry. The various folk arts - crafting, painting, carving, and knitting - have been passed down through the generations and are still much in evidence. There's a lot more to take home than the odd menacing-looking troll.

In a cold country that has a lot of sheep, it's not surprising they do a lot of knitting. Very popular is the classic Norwegian sweater with its distinctive patterns evolved from natural designs such as snowflakes and reindeer. Socks, mittens and gloves carrying a similar pattern are also easy to find and guaranteed to keep whoever is wearing them very warm indeed. Also very good for keeping feet warm are sealskin slippers or boots - the apres ski wear of choice for many Norwegians. [more]

Knitting for a cause | Black Hills Pioneer

Knitting for a cause
Black Hills Pioneer - November 27 2006

Mrs. Laurene Strickland, a teacher's aide at, East said the project wasn't mandatory for the students, but almost everyone of of her students have taken well to the idea.

"I know there are a few who will never knit again, but others are so excited about it they are knitting scarves for their entire family for Christmas," Strickland said.

Students started planning for the whole-hearted donation in October. While some students take time in class to knit, others bring their scarves home to add a few additional inches.

Sam Hintgen, 11, said he wasn't too excited about knitting at first. "I thought it was going to be too hard but now I don't it is as bad as I thought it was going to be." [more]

Inmates knit to help children worldwide | Salt Lake Tribune

Inmates knit to help children worldwide
Salt Lake Tribune - November 27 2006

Cache County inmates have found themselves bound in a work of the heart.

These hardened, tattooed men are spending their hours with yarn unraveling at their feet, knitting stocking caps, blankets and booties for children in need.

Some will go to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' humanitarian efforts. Others will supply an independent organization known as Save the Children.

Peg-over-peg, an inmate knitted a lavender cap with purple-pompom stockings. Another crafted a cap in bumble-bee fashion with black and yellow yarn.

[...]While jail administrators admitted some trepidation at first with a project that would require knitting needles - a potential weapon - they reported no incidents since hat-making began almost two years ago.

Officials said all knitting materials are collected and counted before the men return to their cells. [more]

Top It Off With Love | Tyler Morning Telegraph

Top It Off With Love
Tyler Morning Telegraph - November 26 2006

Scores of needy orphans in the Ukraine will soon be unwrapping one-of-a-kind, warm, fuzzy caps crafted right here in East Texas.

Thanks to the dexterous fingers of the Friday Knitters, 140 winter hats, in all colors of the rainbow, are on their way across the Atlantic to The Way Home, an orphanage in Odessa, the largest seaport of Ukraine.

When the knitters first got together in the Barnes and Noble café several years ago, they just wanted to swap stories and spend time with other yarn-wielding hobbyists. Lately, though, the group has put off personal projects and taken up others in the name of charity. [more]

Alpaca herds increasingly finding homes in the county | Santa Cruz Sentinel

Alpaca herds increasingly finding homes in the county
Santa Cruz Sentinel - November 27 2006

They look a little like camels, a little like sheep, and the hills are alive with the sound of their humming. They are alpacas, a South American import, and the livestock of choice for several people in Santa Cruz County.

"People have sheep and goats, but these are so unusual," said Brenda Volberg, keeper of 22 mop-topped alpacas in the hills surrounding Watsonville.

Volberg, a first-grade teacher at Radcliffe Elementary, started her operation nearly three years ago with three animals from Corralitos. Since then, she has weathered the loss of three in her herd, two to feeding problems and one to dogs. Every weekday after school she spends about an hour and a half with them, feeding, shoveling manure, then tucking them in for the night.

[...]They look a little like camels, a little like sheep, and the hills are alive with the sound of their humming. They are alpacas, a South American import, and the livestock of choice for several people in Santa Cruz County.

"People have sheep and goats, but these are so unusual," said Brenda Volberg, keeper of 22 mop-topped alpacas in the hills surrounding Watsonville.

Volberg, a first-grade teacher at Radcliffe Elementary, started her operation nearly three years ago with three animals from Corralitos. Since then, she has weathered the loss of three in her herd, two to feeding problems and one to dogs. Every weekday after school she spends about an hour and a half with them, feeding, shoveling manure, then tucking them in for the night.

"When I come home from work, and we have all this pressure with the state tests, and stress, it's a release. It's no pressure," she said.

Even though the animals are a business, they've also become family, she said, which makes selling her best animals for breeding stock harder and harder each year.[more]