Knits That Make You Go Squee
Stitch London Review by Lauren O’Farrell
To me the world is divided into two kinds of knittingness. There’s the practical, fancy schmancy, yarn-over-riddled, cabled and complicated knitting that many people swoon over, all made in yarn so fancy you’re slightly afraid to wear it should it get besmirched. And then there’s my kind of knitting, knitting that makes you go squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Us squee knitters are the ambassadors of amigurumi and the needle-flicking ninjas of the kooky little knit. Not for us the jumpers, shawls and endless socks of normal knitting. We’re the stitchers of the silly but sweet, the purlers of the impractical, the adorers of wildly coloured acrylic and the proud crafters who grin wildly at the words, “I’m sorry, but you knit what?!?!”.
Plarchie
Squee knits fast became my go-to projects soon after I first picked up my needles. Highlights include a giant squid called Plarchie (knit from 160 plastic bags), part of a cosy for a London telephone box, and a tiny corset jumper for a week-old piglet called Pickles. After all this madness I put my needles, yarn and wild ideas together with my love of London and I knit a whole city. I then stuffed it into a book with so much squee knitting you can practically hear it squealing from the shelves if you pass it in a book shop, so that everyone could join in the squee knitting goodness.
Toerag the Tube Mouse
Toerag and his gang
In Stitch London I invite everyone to stitch their own squee. Revel in the fact that your knitting doesn’t always need to keep someone warm in the winter or hang prettily about your person. Set your kooky little knitting side free and squee! So here, for your squee knitting pleasure, is a free kooky little knit that has escaped from the pages of Stitch London exclusively for CRAFT (simply download the PDF below for the pattern). Introducing Toerag the Tube Mouse. Toerag is a feisty little geezer who lives on his woolly wits in the rumbly belly of London’s Underground, awaiting a dropped sandwich crust or an abandoned vinegar-covered chip. Stitch him, stuff him, pop on a pair of beady eyes and release him into the wild. May your knitting be full of splendiferous squee!
 |
Download the Toerag the Tube Mouse patten Right click to save the PDF to your desktop. Directions on downloading PDFs. |
About the Author
Image by Sarah McIntyre
Lauren O’Farrell is the author of Stitch London, published by F+W Media. She also runs the UK’s largest stitching community, also called Stitch London, is the Editor of Crafty Crafty, and is rumoured to be sneaky yarnstorming graffiti knitter Deadly Knitshade, founder of London’s Knit the City collective. You can follow her and her kooky little knits at Whodunnknit.
ADVERTISEMENT
