You read that title right, folks! I have a new knitting design coming out in the brand new, official Knitting with Disney book. Mine is just one among dozens of awesome Disney-inspired projects in the collection, all brought together by the book’s publisher, Insight Editions, and its author Tanis Gray.
With more than a dozen published knitting titles under her belt, I was excited to have the opportunity to work with Tanis on a project like this! This project came about when things were kind of crazy last year (as if all of 2020 wasn’t “kind of crazy” 
). When they reached out, the book was coming together, but they were looking for someone excited about designing an intarsia colorwork pattern, specifically a life-size take on the Magic Carpet from Aladdin. … Gulp, right?
But it turns out I’m a happy little weirdo when it comes to designing and working with intarsia, and I absolutely enjoyed brining this character to life. Every time you bind off a knitting project, there’s a little feeling of having created some magic (at least for me). But when I bound off a life-size take on the Magic Carpet, a sentient being y’all!, it really thought for a second I’d quite literally woven magic. It was a pretty rad feeling, even though this is actually how tired I looked after joining the final tassels to this project:
Like I said, I’m very proud to have been tasked with making the Magic Carpet into a usable, human-sized blanket, but I admit I was intimidated at the start. 🙂 I sort of said yes to this project because I didn’t have anything else to loose, other than my fear of taking intarsia colorwork design concepts to the next level. I’d started to play with some of these design ideas in my Intarsia Mountain blanket (2018) & Faded Flare Wrap (2019), specifically making a somewhat reversible fabric using intarsia colorwork. So, for me, that meant using garter stitch primarily with intarsia, rather than the stockinette that is so often encountered. The Magic Carpet Throw is probably the fullest expression of this idea while still being knittable, and I really enjoyed the process of interpreting a rug animated by computers and drawing in knitting.
Peep my Magic Carpet Throw in the Knitting with Disney book trailer:
How to get your hands on the book, plus a discount and a bonus pattern!
Preorders are now open for Knitting with Disney, which will be released November 9, 2021. If you preorder the title, you can submit proof of purchase to get a free pattern not included in the book, the Simba Mittens. Here’s how it works:
- You can buy Knitting with Disney from any retailer to get the free pattern, but you will get a 25% discount if you purchase at InsightEditions.com with the code DISNEYKNIT.
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1647221803/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i7
- Insight Editions’ website, use code DISNEYKNIT to get 25% off: https://insighteditions.com/pages/knittingwithdisney
- Getting the free pattern:
- After you’ve ordered the title, “register” it on this page to get the free pattern.
- Everyone who registers their pre-order will be sent the free pattern on November 9, when the book is released.
It’s funny that I designed a knitted take on a magic rug for Knitting with Disney, because I’m also a designer of actual rugs, specifically latch hook and punch needle. While you wait for your Knitting with Disney preorders to come in next month, you should check out my book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker. It turns one TODAY: https://bit.ly/latch-hook-book.
For either book, shipping could be bananas because the world continues to be complicated, so I encourage anyone who wants a physical copy of either title by, let’s say, December 25 to hop on the preorder (or just plain order) train!
//
And one last thing: Catch me on the Stockinette Zombies Podcast this Sunday as part of the Knitting with Disney virtual launch party!
To celebrate the release of Knitting with Disney, the Stockinette Zombies podcast will be hosting a launch party Zoom call this Sunday, Oct. 24 at 3PM CST! Tanis Gray, the hosts of Stockinette Zombies, and several of us contributing designers will be there live to talk about the book, discuss our patterns, and have a yarny good time.
Find all launch party Zoom details here.
