Flip through Knit The Sky too quickly, and you just might miss Knitting on Pins and Needles. That'd be a shame, because it's one of my favorite patterns in the book. Have you ever thought to try knitting with sewing pins? Or sewing needles? With sewing thread? Of course you haven't. It's absurd. What's the gauge on that anyway?
The thing is, it can be done. It's not only possible, but recommended. For me, knitting on pins and needles with sewing thread is a great way to practice patience and fine motor skills. It's one way to ask yourself to slow down and make time to absorb all the little details around you. It's knitting for the sake of knitting, with less at stake and no pressure to produce a perfect final product. Simply said, knitting on pins and needles is a wonderful way to reconnect with your craft as a knitter.
The Healing Process
Lea loves to play with scale, in both directions! She once sent her 4-year-old nephew a handmade letter that was bigger than its recipient. And of course, she loves all things miniature. So it makes perfect sense that she would think to pick up two petite needles and cast on with the smallest of stitches. Besides, she couldn't really ask her readers to try something as preposterous as tiny knitting without first trying it herself.
But what do you knit when you're dealing in millimeters instead of inches? One day Lea had a friend who cut his finger. Ah-ha! How about a knit band-aid? Lea even had the perfect shade of pink thread on hand. What a wonderful way to show that she cares.
But who knew that knitting a band-aid with thread would be so incredibly slow? By the time it was long enough to cover the incision, the finger was already healed. Good thing it's the thought that counts, right? Here's what it was like to knit this delicately crafted (and never used) band-aid:
How Small Can You Go?
After warming up with needles, Lea figured she would try going even smaller by using sewing pins. For this further exercise in absurdity, Lea attempted to knit a tiny ring for her finger. Three hours in, and the ring still isn't ready to be worn! Lea says, "It’s slow because it’s so tiny, and you have to be so careful not to drop stitches." Tiny knitting requires quite a bit of time and patience. Do you have what it takes?
One (Tiny) Stitch at a Time
Given the time it took Lea to make significant progress on each of these tiny knitting projects, she emerged with a renewed appreciation for the art of knitting one stitch at a time. Lea says that, "the absurdity of knitting something tiny is delightful," and that the “dexterity challenge is fun." Accomplishing something that is both delicate and strenuous at once is surely a physical feat worth attempting. And it must make knitting at normal scale something of a breeze!
Are you ready to practice patience and cast on your own tiny stitches? If you do, take photos and post them to Instagram with #knitthesky! Let us know how your minuscule projects turn out in the comments too. We would love to hear about your adventures with scale!
In Knit The Sky, Lea Redmond offers 32 wildly creative knitting projects that will inspire you to create beautiful finished pieces full of personal meaning and memories. These are knitting projects like no other! Instructions, tips, techniques and patterns are all included.
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