Knitting A Zoo!

"Woolen creatures are moving around in a little jungle gym of shelves and cubby holes. You watch, fascinated, as a roly-poly knitted panda looks up from his stick of bamboo and a lanky monkey swings past on a long yarn rope of a tail. A lion with a rambunctious mane is sitting across a chess board from a long-nosed elephant. An owl, glass-beaded eyes glinting, follows the game from a perch above their heads. The elephant nudges his pawn forward and, noticing you, waves a greeting with his trunk."

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New RenFest socks! Last year, I discovered the socks that worked the best with my Sandlar boots were the ones I knit myself. So I had to make another pair! These are in Court Reveler colors, featuring a stripe of the hand-died Court Reveler colorway by Goldfish Love Fibers.

[knittingazoo]

now that the melt the ice hats have entered the Discourse

I'm posting this article for anyone who may have missed the origin of the Fuck Ice Red Hat trend. It was started by my friend, Gilah Mashaal (I am the person in the white shirt and green overalls pictured in the article; Gilah is sitting next to me), and this article does a great job of telling the story.

Now that it has gone viral, many people are knitting the hat performatively. They're knitting and wearing the hats so they can feel like they're helping and so they can show social media that they're on the Right Side. If this is you--do better.

Do better. Call your congresspeople. Vote against MAGA whenever you get the opportunity. Donate to food shelves. Go grocery shopping for neighbors who can't leave the house. Donate to aid organizations. If you are wealthy enough to sustain knitting as a hobby, you are wealthy enough to do this.

Gilah published this pattern as a fundraiser for her city's mutual aid organization. She expected a few dozen downloads and maybe 10 people to show up for the knit-in. Those of us who are close to her never expected anyone to know what our red hats actually meant. This was about putting your money where your mouth is and protecting our community.

So if you're knitting a red hat but are not planning on doing anything else to resist, do better.

Do better.

‘Rage knitting’ against the machine: the hobbyists putting anti-ICE messages into crafts

Makers take a stand through ‘Melt the ICE’ red knit caps and sparkly nails – all while raising funds for those affected by immigration raids

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‘Weapons of mass construction’: the US ‘craftivists’ using yarn to fight back against Trump

Fiber artists across the US are using their craft to protest against everything from national guard deployments to rollbacks on abortion rig

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Here’s a link to my community’s efforts to resist by crafting. All proceeds go to organizations that are providing legal resources to people targeted by ICE.

needle & skein

needle & skein is your favorite local yarn shop. We carry curated yarns to suit every taste and budget, have classes taught by fabulous teac

[knittingazoo]

I’m racking up my experience with colorwork! These are my third set of stranded colorwork mittens, so it’s still a relatively new technique for me. It’s a lot of fun, though, so I will definitely be making more soon!

These were a Christmas gift for my husband, knit with stash yarn. Fingering weight, merino/nylon blend.

Pattern Credit: Dad’s Slebu Mittens by Hilde Rapstad on Ravelry.

Dad's Selbu Mittens pattern by Hilde Ropstad

These mittens are a reular men’s size, and they measure approx. 30 cm total length (22 cm hand and 8 cm cuff). Circumference is approx. 23

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Watch this story by Needle & Skein on Instagram before it disappears.

3,181 Followers, 1,657 Following, 703 Posts

Twin Cities Crafters—SEE YOU THERE!!

Needle and Skein, a local yarn store in St. Louis Park, MN, is hosting an anti-ICE crafting fundraiser Wednesday, Jan 21, 2026.

The owner is one of my good friends. I don’t know if I have anyone local here, but if I do—SHOW UP!

[knittingazoo]

Great Tits! No wait, they’re Blue Tits. But is that one at the end Great? I need an ornithologist.

These friends were inspired by my favorite flock of songbirds, The Court Revelers (huzzah!). I sang with them at our Renaissance Festival in August and September.

They are all made with a fingering weight Marino-nylon bland. Pattern credit: Blue Tit by Lesley Stanfield. Find it here: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/blue-tit

[knithacker]

Adorable, With Capital A! Knitters, This Baby Dragon Amigurumi Pattern Is For YOU! Get the pattern: 👉 https://buff.ly/2j6rjk0 designed by Anastasia of Cute Knit Toy 🐲

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I just cast on my first sweater.

I swore I would never knit a sweater. It takes the time of a blanket but has stakes so it’s not a “relax” project.

But here we are.

[knittingazoo]

Here’s our latest shoulder familiar! I’m not sure I placed the magnet quite right. I may have to add another in the tail or pin him in place to wear. But he turned out cute!

Pattern: Manolito the Parakeet by HandMadeAwards

Yarn: Fingering weight merino and nylon blends. The knitpicks yarn is much lighter than the hand-dyed yarn, so I held it double.

Light green and orange: hand dyed by Goldfishlove (www.goldfishlove.com)

Dark green and brown: Stroll sock yarn by Knitpicks

[knittingazoo]

This 7-year project is finally finished!

In my final year of undergrad, I went on a study abroad to England. While in York, I found the pattern for this fierce dragon in the gift shop of York Minster. The printed pattern noted that the local yarn shop had another dragon by the same designer on display, so I decided to use my “free day” in the city to track down the yarn shop. Alas, when I found it, I realized it was Sunday and the shop was closed! But since I was out, I decided to explore the historic areas of the city, and it ended up being may favorite day of the trip.

I casted on the dragon immediately when I got home (January 2017) and just finished it in July 2024. It’s been in and out of storage for those seven years. If you scroll down on this blog, you’ll find WIP updates going back years. But he’s finally complete! He’s my very good derpy boy.

Pattern: Clarence the Dragon by Georgina Manvell. Can be found at OldToyKnittingShop on Etsy.

[knittingazoo]

I completed this little hobbit friend over a decade ago, but never got around to making his Fellowship cloak. Finally, here it is!

Unfortunately, I have lost the pattern information for this one. But many thanks to the brilliant designer who made this pattern free for a little high school student just starting her knitting journey.

[knittingazoo]

Froggy friend! He was originally intended to be another shoulder familiar, but he is too large and unwieldy. So now I just have a cute friend! I may make him a log to sit on eventually. We’ll see.

Pattern from Amigurumi Animal Friends by Michele Wilcox.

[knittingazoo]

A family close to me recently lost their beloved kitty, Scratchy. I made them a Scratchy plushie to remember him by.

He meant a lot to me too. I didn’t have pets growing up—he was the closest I’ve ever had. He was the most friendly and cuddly boy, and we all miss him.

[knittingazoo]

Another in the shoulder familiar experiments! For this one, I took my go to badger pattern, Brompton Badger by Amanda Berry, and knit it with fingering yarn on size 000 needles to make him teeny-tiny.

As with the dragon and the owl (see previous posts), he has a boutonniere magnet in his base so he can sit on your shoulder.

Experiment successes: He’s small enough and the fabric is thin enough that he’s secure on your shoulder. I “wore” him as part of a Helga Hufflepuff cosplay and he did great all day.

To-be-improved: The microscopic knitting is a pain, tbh.

[knittingazoo]

Summer Knitting Dump Coming!

I've scheduled my summer projects to be posted over the next couple weeks. Maybe someday I'll learn to post as I go, but today is not that day. Enjoy!

[knittingazoo]

Experiment time! Since I made Irina Latukhina’s Sleeping Dragon, I’ve been thinking about what other shoulder familiars I can make. Here’s a witchy classic, an owl!

He’s improvised, inspired by the owl from Amigurumi Animal Friends by Michele Wilcox. 100% worsted acrylic yarn. He has boutonnière magnets in his feet and tail so he can sit on your shoulder.

Experiment successes: He’s super cute and a good shoulder size. The heavier yarn weight and larger needles made knitting him up easier and faster.

To-be-improved: The heavier yarn weight makes a fabric that is just barely thin enough for the magnets I used. With the shirt layer, he’ll sit on your shoulder but would be knocked off by a stiff breeze.

[knittingazoo]

Countdown to “Frankenstein’s Footsteps”: 23 hours and 40 minutes. Before I leave, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me in preparation for this trip. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your help, whether you adopted an animal from the shop or simply poured out encouragement. Thank you!

[knittingazoo]

Reblogging in honor of Mary Shelley’s birthday! Happy birthday to the mother of science fiction!