The best knitting blogs out there are marvels of inspiration and wit.* Ditto the best crochet blogs of course, but today’s post is unashamedly needle-biased.
So whilst we sit here stitching beside the fire, I hope you don’t mind if I show you a few sites that you may or may not have seen before. If you’re a hooker and not a needler, do stick around because regardless of which side of the yarn fence you pitch your tent, there are some mightily inspiring knitting-related words and pictures out there. I’ll just sling another log on the fire to stave off the worst of the hypothermia whilst we talk.
Oh, and help yourself to a drink, my fine fibrous friend. You’ll have to try and ignore the banging noise: I think the twinnage have locked the Stoic Spouse in the cellar again.
And so, to the matter of knitting blogs. First, let us fly our imaginary aeroplane (whose yarn-bombed exterior somehow doesn’t impair its aerodynamic performance even one jot) to Toronto, home of long-term Canadian blogger, the Yarn Harlot. She knits fast and beautifully, she spins, and she’s a woman who, frankly, could write about doing the laundry on a wet Wednesday and still raise a smile with her understated, wry humour. There’s nary a hint of anything twee or cutesy on her blog, and I love her all the more for that, although I realize that others would disagree. Also, having stayed and worked** in Toronto for three months a couple of decades ago, I’m always happy to read about the place.
Where shall we go next?
How about Scotland? Scotland is good. And its Highlands are home to Kate Davies, academic who – following a stroke – turned knitting designer and yarn producer. Hers is a rare and precious talent for colour-work design, and her blog is also full of luscious photographs taken by her husband.
Whilst we’re in Scotland, take a look at jenacknitwear.co.uk: she loves to talk about knitting, and photograph knitting, and think about knitting, and read about knitting, (do you think there might be a bit of a theme in her life?) and, well, knit. If you feel the same, you’ll like her blog.
Zooming over the Atlantic once again, we land in Arkansas, USA, the home of knitthehellout, home of lots and lots of beautiful knitting that’ll make you sigh with happiness. Whilst we’re Stateside, let’s take a look at knittingnuances too, interesting for the technicalities of knitting and how to use those to your best yarny advantage.
Of course, there’s the marvellous techknitting.com, for when you need really clear instructions on how to do the clever stuff with your needles.
Handknittedthings offers beautifully photographed knits. And whilst we’re back in Britain, have you read thegeekyknitter?
And slightly cheaty, here, because they’ve been blogging about crochet a lot too, recently, but I can’t resist the wonderful Scandi creativity of Arne and Carlos. If you love stranded colour-work, you’ll adore their designs. I had a moment of feeling star-struck when I saw them at the Knitting And Stitching Show in London last year:-
Want some more? OK. There are so many lovely knitting blogs. Here are just some of them:-
The Woolly Adventures Of A Knitting Kitty (although she’s taking a break at the moment)
A Kingfisher Morning. Written by a knit/yarn/design industry insider: she’s fascinating and her photos are stunning.
The Snail Of Happiness. Knitting and environmental activism. I like.
Katie Writes Stuff, so you can read stuff.
I could go on, but the hour is late, the wine bottle is empty, and I’d better go and let the Stoic Spouse out of the cellar. Happy blog-reading, peoples!
∗ Gonna go out on a limb, here, and say that if you’re witty and articulate with a really dry sense of humour, and an aversion to clichés, and you knit, please start a blog.
** Demonstrating and selling optical illusions to the crowds in a shopping mall: it’s fair to say that I didn’t find my vocation that year. Toronto is awesome, though.
I cannot see where to subscribe to the Yarn Harlot on its’ website. Help, please.
Hmm, I can’t see it, either (but I’m probably missing something). If you use Bloglovin’, I think you can add her via that. I just tend to type in her web address every week or so to see what she’s been up to.
Ooh thank you for the mention… there seems to have been a lot of crochet in my life recently, but an accumulation of sock yarn means the needles will be out again soon… oh and I have a knitted hat pattern half done that I must finish and publish… so much yarn, so little time…
Or crocheted socks? But yes, if only if there were enough hours in the day to knit/hook ALL the yarn…
A friend spent a day teaching me to make crochet socks, but they are rather lumpy and I remain unconvinced… plus self-patterning yarn looks so much better when knitted
Thank you for all these treasures
You’re very welcome. There are so, so many fabulous and inspiring blogs out there. 🙂
Thanks very much for all the knitting blog recommends. I’ve added them to my Feedly app.
Apologies if you don’t get on with anything useful because you’re reading so many lovely blogs!
“Bleedin’ eck!” that’s a whole LOT of blogs to check out Ms T! I can see what I will be doing for the rest of the day. Cheers for the share. I find myself casually touching my spinning wheel in the spare room whenever I go in to get some spuds from the pantry…I keep eyeing off those knitted socks that every man and his dog seem to be producing these days and even though knit stitch in Tunisian is just about as close as you can get to real, actual, knitting, it’s not the same (and its VERY thick) so I am going to take a wander around the knitting section in Spotlight the next time I am in the city. I may, or may not, buy some circular needles (everything is better in a circle) and I may, or may not be manically stuffing every single one of these tasty blogs into my RSS Feed Reader as I try to type with one finger on my other hand.
Let’s face it: you’ll be a knitter one day soon. May as well stop fighting it…
Must…maintain…the…hooky…rage…
Thank you so much for the mention! I am so honoured to be on the same page with all these wonderful and talented people!! You just made my day 😀
You more than deserve it! 🙂
What a great list! Thought I’d found most of the good knitting blogs – but there’s a load more for me. Thankyou!
There are ALWAYS lots more. *Sigh.* It’s so hard to get anything done with all this bloggy loveliness out there…
Thanks for sharing this fantastic list! And thank-you for mentioning my blog – I certainly didn’t expect to encounter that familiar title as I was reading through. (it also explains why I’ve picked up a few new followers recently!) I’m looking forward to exploring some of these blogs and meeting some new knitterly friends.
You’re welcome – your blog is splendid. 🙂
Oh my, thank you so much for the mention. I am in very good company!
You’re very welcome. Your blog is lovely.
Thank you so much for including me. Feeling very humble.
You’re kidding, right?! You are WAY out of my league, knitting/photography/design-wise!
Thanks for sharing these links!
You’re very welcome. There’s so much inspirational yarny loveliness out there.
Thanks for the shout out! I just love to blog about new knitting ideas.
Thank you for this list! I found it from a google search for ‘blogs like yarn harlot’ and I’m now subscribed to some great knitting blogs! I wish I could blog as well as these clever people (and you!) but I’m terrible at it!
Thanks for such an informative blog. You can also check Creative Knits for hand- knitted item. Visit the link
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It was awesome to read. Thanks for sharing such great article! You can also visit http://creativeknits.net/ for hand-knitted items.
Oh my! This is a catch 22- these all inspire me to knit, but I don’t have time to knit because I’m reading these blogs! Lol Thank you:)
Thanks for this list! I’m a Yarn Harlot and Geeky Knitter fan, too. They inspired me to start writing about knitting and crochet myself – at https://www.knitasha.net/. I write about cool techniques, tutorials, and freehand work.