A few weeks ago, I bought my Partner a little knitted Sloth. He loves Sloths and was absolutely over the moon. ( Said Sloth has even been named ). We recently saw a programme about Pangolins, which are Scaly Anteaters and really cute creatures which we both fell in love with. Out of curiosity I went online to see if there was a knitting pattern for these lovely creatures. To my complete and utter amazement, I found several knitted Pangolins ! It got me thinking ? What is the strangest item that you have seen, or perhaps even created either by knitting or crochet ?
Any knitted item I manage to finish is a bit strange. I've just completed a voluminous Nanna blanket and a chunky scarf and hat for our local Oxfam shop, that pass muster if you squint at them under a bad light. The manager was very encouraging when I told her what a basic knitter I was - they'll be put into the shop if they're saleable and if not out they'll go into the Blessings box in their yard (free warm clothes for anyone who needs them). I know exactly where my efforts are heading!
I'm also helping out the local yarn bombers (sorry, Jalima ) by knitting poppies for this year's Remembrance Day parade. They're hoping to cover the town in them over that weekend. As they want a safety pin on the back of each I'm assuming they'll sell them later to raise money for the Poppy Appeal (but maybe not mine).
Years ago I had a dd ask me whether I could please knit a lemon (!) for a school friend, 'because her mum can't knit!'
Friend was knitting a basket of assorted fruit and veg for Home Economics GCSE - including a cauliflower! - and her deadline was looming. Yes, I did knit the lemon.
I dare say the exercise was useful in showing different stitches and techniques, but wouldn't you think they could have found something a bit more useful for them to spend all that time and yarn on?
Years ago a friend and I made a fortune in the run up to Christmas by knitting and selling these. We couldn't make enough of them.
Although ours weren 't so large, which puzzles me We persuaded the lovely ladies at the local wool shops to put them discreetly on display (three shops in just my road back then). They sold like hot cakes. In a very respectable area, the wives thought it an ideal little (?) stocking filler for hubby.
I didn't mind the knitting but could not bring myself to go in and deliver them to these lovely wool shop ladies in their twinsets and face powder and red lipstick. My rather bolder friend did that bit.
We were both 13yrs old!! Thirteen! Had they known, my Grandparents would have died of shame. I blame my friend
There is an alternative to Lisalou's booby scarves - www.knittedknockers.org/ an organisation knitting soft prostheses for woment who have had mastectomies. They are always looking for volunteer knitters and provide patterns.
I hope you don't mind me pasting this bit from your link AlieOxon: The Crochet Reef project resides at the intersection of mathematics, marine biology, handicraft and community art practice, and also responds to the environmental crisis of global warming and the escalating problem of oceanic plastic trash
which all sounds wonderful and we need to raise awareness of the environmental crisis and oceanic plastic - but it never ceases to amaze me how much energy and yarn is expended by people on these projects when children are freezing in the winter in refugee camps.
Sent me from Queensland by my oldest friend = I shall send her the yarn bombing link, she wants some more ideas and will be in hospital needing occupational knitting/crocheting soon....
Yarn bombing drives me crackers, it is my bête noire!
All that lovely yarn, all that effort, going into decorating things like telephone boxes, cars etc - when there are little refugee children freezing in cold winters needing clothes, blankets etc.
Spot on cookie. They always make me smile too. I saw a wonderful one in a local car park once - a Smart car completely covered in knitting. Absolutely brilliant, and hilarious!
I think knitted and crocheted decoration of city centres is wonderful. Unfortunately not heard of any locally, and anyway I can't crochet and need a pattern to knit anything shaped. yarn bombing