Jezebel: knitting

Smittens: Adorable Or Obnoxious?

Margaret — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 12:45:00 EST

Boing Boing has a knitting pattern for "Smittens," mittens to hold hands in. While theoretically they'd make a cute Valentine's Day gift (they are heart shaped) would anyone actually wear them in public? [Boing Boing]

She's Crafty

Dodai — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:45:00 EST

"I decided on making cozies for empowering objects which happened to be very hard, masculine, recognizable objects. The covers kind of softened them up and changed their determined roles," explains extreme knitter Teresa Honeywell. She was, of course, inspired by a toilet-paper cozy at a flea market. "It kind of made me a little sad to see someone's handmade craft discarded and being sold for pennies, but it mostly saddened me because it was such a bizarre and useless object. I pictured a sad housewife with nothing better to do then knit up a cozy for a roll of toilet paper. I knew then that I wanted to use that same lonely technique, and meaningless process, to cover up an object that I wouldn't ever need or have the opportunity to use again in my new role as a housewife." [Andew Sullivan]

Nudie Text Censored At Texas High; Barbie Jumps On The Green Bandwagon

Jessica — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:30:00 EDT

Officials at a Texas high school have their panties in a twist about nude pictures of women in the background of a German textbook. They will either ban the book or put a sticker over the naughty bits. • More banning! This time across the globe in India, some Hindu groups want to ban the Mike Meyers/ Jessica Alba film The Love Guru. • Starting next year, rape victims will be allowed to undergo anonymous ER forensic rape examinations if they do not want to go to police. According to Breitbart, "The new federal requirement that states pay for 'Jane Doe rape kits' is aimed at removing one of the biggest obstacles to prosecuting rape cases: Some women are so traumatized they don't come forward until it is too late to collect hair, semen or other samples." • Is Barbie getting eco-friendly with her new accessory line made from repurposed fabric? Not really. • Nina Simone's daughter, Singer...is a singer! She's releasing an album of Nina covers called Simone on Simone.

• A new study shows that most female child molesters were victims of sexual abuse themselves. • Jordan has charged a man who allegedly killed his sister for having an extramarital affair. • Stephanie Pearl-McPhee calls herself the "yarn harlot" and keeps an eponymous blog about knitting. • Some conservative British politicians want to bar lesbians from receiving IVF treatment unless the potential child would have a "male role model" involved. • In the U.S., paid maternity leave is a luxury, not a right. "The United States provides the fewest maternity leave benefits in both length of leave and paid time off," when compared to nineteen equally rich countries, according to Time. • Overheard at the gay rodeo: "This is an all-American sport, and we are all-American people." • Queen Elizabeth tops the list of Live Science's 10 Most Powerful Modern Women Leaders. Also included: Indira Gandhi, Golda Meir, Angela Merkel, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

KnitWit

Dodai — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:30:00 EDT

Calling all knitters! Check out the ultimate in crafty chic: A Wonder Woman sweater. According to its creator, Kaby, it took "14 months to make, using 4ply wool, 3mm needles, a plain jumper pattern from the seventies, a ton of graph paper and pictures of Wonder Woman, and about a million bobbins for the intarsia." Raise your hand if you want one like, NOW. [BoingBoing]

Riot Purrrls

Jessica — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:45:00 EST

No really, why? There's this review of a show called "Pricked: Extreme Embroidery" (part of a series of exhibitions that included "Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting") at the Museum of Arts and Design in today's New York Times, and the first line of the piece is: "In the '70s, artists who swapped their paintbrushes for a needle and thread were making a feminist statement." Is it because embroidery and knitting were considered housewifely arts and the feminist movement was reclaiming them by making samplers of penises or something? Is this why Bust is always bombarding us with craft projects? Please explain!! Related: holy shit there's an entire magazine devoted to the crossroads of feminism and knitting. [NY Times]

Competitive Knitters Battle To The Death In "Sock Wars"

Slut Machine — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:30:00 EST

Ever heard of Sock Wars? It's a knitting competition the Wall Street Journal describes as "the bloodiest extreme knitting tournament ever". Here's how it works: Players knit a pair of socks and mail them to their assigned "targets"; if a player happens to receive a pair of socks in the mail before he/she finishes, she is considered "killed," and has to send the pair of socks she was knitting to her assassin. (The last player left wins a pair of socks.) The first Sock Wars involved over 800 participants from around the world and, judging from an interview with Sock Wars II victor Leann Nassartook, people get really into it. Clip above.

Sock It to Me: Competitive Knitters Get Deadly Serious [WSJ]

A group of women have decided to cash in...

Tracie — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 15:45:00 EDT

A group of women have decided to cash in on their hobby and others' kinks by selling custom-made fetish knitwear that include garter belts, face masks, and full body suits. The women are based in Germany (which for some reason, makes so much sense to us), and the oldest of the group is 86. Her specialty? "Willie warmers." [Daily Telegraph via Sexblo.gs]

But we probably draw the line at crochet.

eurotrash — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:10:21 EST

We've been known to slip the odd stitch in our time, so we were thoroughly heartened to discover this gem on Youtube:

And for the record, we'd hit at least two of those dudes.