Knitting is sexy... and green!

OK, so I'm a little slow to adopt new technology... but I finally broke down and got an iPod. I find that I don't use it in public as much as most people seem to, probably because I work alone so much that I relish human contact when I'm out and about. Social isolation = bad. I also have a healthy fear of getting plowed down by oncoming traffic while walking around with earphones or cell phone on my head: how can people jog or bike like this?? But anyway, I figured I should still get some sort of case to protect this little gem when I do take it out.

So I went online, dutifully searching for a proper carrying case. Somewhere between noticing the pricetags of iPod socks on the Apple website and realizing how many centuries the plastics therein would take to decompose, I decided I’d be better off knitting my own.

Free knitting resources abound on the internet! But personally, I owe 99% of what I’ve learned about knitting to my friends Carrie, Frog, Ajax, and that nice lady who sat next to me on a cross-country flight last month (surprisingly, the FAA will let you carry knitting needles on a plane even with today's stringent airport security).

Remember how knitting suddenly became trendy a few years back when young celebrities like Julia Roberts and Madonna were caught in the act? No longer are knitters compared to the creepy Madame Defarge of Dickensian times! It seems that knitting and other crafty tendencies have become more widespread as the green movement has taken off. Check out these websites for cool crafty stuff and ideas:

http://www.threadbanger.com/blog

http://www.buyhandmade.org/

http://www.etsy.com/

And here is a cool blog written by a fellow green, crafty Baltimoron, also full of good ideas.

...But back to the knitting. There are plenty of websites out there that will give you advice on knitting in general.

http://www.lionbrand.com/

http://www.learntoknit.com/instructions_kn.php3

http://www.knittinghelp.com/

Here are a few patterns that inspired me to knit for my own iPod…

http://chocnvodka.blogware.com/blog/_archives/2005/8/26/1172247.html

http://www.wikihow.com/Knit-an-iPod-Cozy

And here’s the “pattern” I used to knit my own little iPod sock:

1. Cast on about 30 stitches (compare stitch size to your iPod size, I don’t know how to measure this, or what size needles to recommend. Use your best judgement here.)

2. Knit in stockingette stitch (alternate knit and purl rows) a piece long enough to wrap around your iPod comfortably.

3. Cast off about half of the stitches.

4. Continue knitting the rest of the piece long enough to wrap around the iPod again to form a pouch that can hold your earphones.

5. Cast off and stitch up bottom and sides.

Good luck, and happy knitting!