The Twice Loved Sweater (And Yes! You Can Knit That)

Editor’s Note: We wish you a great and fulfilling New Year. Enjoy reading this wonderful, and heart warming, yet entertaining and informative, piece.

KNITTING CORNER

Rag Rug by Rose (Photo – Rick&Brenda Beerhorst, flickr).

My mother was recovering from a heart attack and was cold. I brought home every imaginable throw I could find, but Mom found *something* wrong with every one. This one was too scratchy. That one wasn’t warm enough. That one is just ugly and it must leave the house THIS MINUTE. It felt like Mom had morphed into Goldilocks. I returned so many throws, Target and WalMart wouldn’t let me return things anymore. I was finally driven to do the unthinkable: I walked into a big box craft store, bought three skeins of pastel colored acrylic yarn, a teach-yourself-to-knit kit, and knit Mom a 4’x7′ throw. She loved it. It was pretty, soft, warm, and was large enough to use in a variety of different settings. That I also made it with my own two hands didn’t hurt…

By Robin Southworth

We always seem to think that there are some things we just can’t knit. I got into knitting as an adult by knitting something that seemingly didn’t exist.

Here are a few things that you think can’t be knit, but can.

Knitted curtain (Photo – Robin Southworth).

Curtain

Why not knit a curtain? You get to decide the color, the opaque-ness, the size. I had issues finding a curtain for my bath (which has opaque glass). When my grandparents first purchased the house, the window was filled with hanging wooden beads (how very ’70’s). In the early ’90’s, Grandma put blinds in. I hate blinds, so when I saw this pattern, I jumped at the chance to customize the window. I think the curtain turned out very nice, don’t you?

Knitted Boxes (Photo – Robin Southworth).

Boxes

I know. Boxes? Really? Yes, really. I keep small balls of scrap yarn in them as a decorative item. I’ve knit tiny boxes as opening night gifts for actors (and filled them with a large chocolate truffle). The delighted surprise from the cast made knitting more a future project.

Knitted bath mat (Photo by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne, aka the ladies from Mason-Dixon Knitting).

Bath Mat

If you’re going to knit a bath mat, knit one in the color of your choice and in a material (cotton, anyone?) that will soak up gallons of water.

Also, Regular Rugs

Knitting a rug allows you to go wild! Color work! Felting! Shapes! As a knitter, you can do color work, as in this rug, then felt it for a durable floor piece.

Yoga Socks

Yoga socks, leg warmers for dancers, leg warmers for the rest of us. Wear them with flip-flops, high heels, or while lounging on the sofa with a good book. I find them helpful to sleep in. My toes don’t like being confined to socks while I sleep, but yoga socks keep the toes free and the rest of my feet warm. These hybrid socks are easily knit and bring a spot of color to your world.

Laptop cover (Photo – David Borad).

Laptop Cover

Sometimes you just want something beautiful as well has functional to protect your laptop. This was knit in wool, felted, and decorated with a rather expensive button (but made by a local artist; that makes it okay).

Amigurumi bear (Photo – en.wikipedia.org).

Tiny Pets

These are also called amigurumi, a Japanese art form of small knit or crocheted animals. Sometimes, people knit/crochet food instead. Just thinking about knitting things this tiny give me a gigantic headache.

Teddy bear (Photo – David Borad).

Stuffed Animals

A friend of mine knit this. He found a 100-year old pattern for a teddy bear and decided to knit it as a Christmas gift for a teddy bear-loving friend. It took a while, as he had to translate the pattern into something modern knitters could understand, but the results are adorable.

Abstract frog tea cozy (Photo – David Borad).

Abstract Tea Cozies

This really did happen. A friend who makes theatre props posted a desperate plea for “an abstract frog-shaped tea cozy”. It seems the script specifically called for one and he couldn’t find one. At almost the same time, my teddy bear-knitting friend and I separately replied to the post that our knitting group could knit one. He knit it (he was quicker finding yarn). The result? A happy props person and a delightfully abstract (and very weird) tea cozy.

The twice loved sweater (Photo – Robin Southworth).

What happened to Mom’s throw after Mom passed away (back in ’08)?

Two weeks before Mom passed, the throw unraveled in the wash. After things settled down, I unraveled the mess of yarn and waited for the right pattern to show itself to me. Last Halloween that pattern showed up and I knit this new-to-me sweater (I was at the library when I took the photo).

It is soft, warm, and the yarn has been loved by two people, Mom and I.

Now get out there and knit something unexpected.

Check out Robin’s other knitting (and non-knitting) articles here.