MetaChat - Knit Wit

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10 November 2008

Knit Wit On Saturday night, when I was at Value Village, I found a Knit Wit tool kit. By which I mean one of these. Have you ever seen the commercial for those? They used to be on TV when I was little, and I lusted after them. The commercials showed a woman and her little girl happily making afghans. Which, in retrospect, were freaking hideous. But the kit was $5, I thought the tool could be used to make something good, and I do have lots odd balls of yarn I’d like to use up. So once I got home and got some supper cooking in the oven, I went on the net to look for some design ideas. →[More:]

The official Knit Wit website made me laugh. Hard. The company obviously can’t be bothered to spend any money on design, either in terms of patterns or the web site. They use the same images they used in their commercials thirty years ago. Can you imagine them selling many of these patterns? These are pretty bad except for the child’s jacket. These are better. This woman shows a little more creativity.

...But even so I think I’m on my own as far as knit wit designs go.

post by: Orange Swan at: 10:54 | 25 comments

Well, this explains a lot. I have an aunt who I'm now SURE owned a Knit Wit in the 70s.

posted by BoringPostcards 10 November | 11:10

Did she have a Delicate Daisy afghan?

posted by Orange Swan 10 November | 11:14

OMG! PLEASE make me this

posted by rmless2 10 November | 11:17

NO. And I say that for your own good, rmless2.

posted by Orange Swan 10 November | 11:21

I remember those from TV. Is that really knitting? It looked like it just tied circular bows of some kind, then what? You stitch them together with needle and thread?

posted by StickyCarpet 10 November | 11:28

It's not knitting. It's more like weaving's stepchild.

posted by Orange Swan 10 November | 11:35

"designs limited ... by your imagination"

truth!

posted by mightshould 10 November | 11:52

I think the only inherent limit to this craft is that it would not be easy to shape garments in order to get a flattering fit and shape. But even then you could crochet a border on it to make it the desired shape. More of a problem is the very loose texture. Knit-Witted items would forever be catching on things.

posted by Orange Swan 10 November | 12:01

I swear I would wear it to work, though. It would be worth it!

posted by rmless2 10 November | 12:07

Um, what do you do for a living?

posted by Orange Swan 10 November | 12:09

There were some knockoff of this, if I recall. It was the "shell maker", or something like that, which seemed to make slightly more sophisticated circles than the ones seen here. THANK YOU SO MUCH for triggering these memories of my childhood. (sarcasm meter on)

posted by Melismata 10 November | 12:26

I hadn't thought of the Knit-Wits for YEARS myself. It was such a blast from the past to come across the kit. I literally thought, "Holy cow, a Knit-Wit!" There is something to be said for the gratification of childhood desires;-) I was also quite astounded that it was a new kit. I had never come across one before and would never have thought they were still around.

posted by Orange Swan 10 November | 12:40

Wow, I'd forgotten all about those. I'm currently struggling with my most difficult knitting project to date (and it's not even, like, a sweater) and those rosettes are lookin' pretty appealing.

posted by Specklet 10 November | 12:59

Around the same time there were commercials for some kind of automatic crochet machine that you zipped this handle back and forth on.

I still want to know, do you have to stitch the florets together, or does that happen when you weave them?

posted by StickyCarpet 10 November | 13:59

You have to fasten off the centre, and you have to stitch the rosettes together before you pop off the rosette.

posted by Orange Swan 10 November | 14:05

Around the same time there were commercials for some kind of automatic crochet machine that you zipped this handle back and forth on.

I think this was actually a knitting machine. My first boyfriend's mother had one, and she used it a lot for creepy acrylic sweaters.

posted by Stewriffic 10 November | 14:11

OMG, I have a KnitWit dress! I never knew until now. It was given to me by a fellow student back in college: I helped organize her portfolio so she could apply to the design program. Alas, she didn't get in and I felt really bad for her (she was a returning student, early 50s-something finding herself after her kids had headed out for college themselves) because she really wanted in. Anyway, as a thank you, she gave me a very short dress made of screaming bright red poly yarn and I always wondered about the distinctive little rosette pattern. I couldn't bring myself to wear the dress (waaay too short + see through + red poly yarn) but I also couldn't bring myself to throw it out because it was obviously hand made so it's probably still up in a box in the attic.

posted by jamaro 10 November | 14:31

I think I know why she didn't get into design school....

And wow, Orange Swan, can you please use your special 80's-infomercial-product revival skills in finding that little handheld sewing machine they sold back then? You could "hem pants while still wearing them" and "embroider your own designs" so easy - I want one. I keep asking at legit sewing machine shops and they laugh at me.

I just want to hem pants while I still wear them is that so bad?.

posted by dabitch 10 November | 15:44

BeDazzler, baby! I guess that's not it, dabitch, although you could sort of ratchet up the pants with studs while wearing them.

This discussion is killing me, and I'm not even crafty, never was. Orange Swan, you must use this product for Good!

posted by rainbaby 10 November | 15:52

I had managed to forget the BeDazzler. Must.Add.Rhinestones.To.Everything!

posted by dabitch 10 November | 16:16

OMG! I HAD one of those mini sewing-machines-in-the-form-of-a-staplers, dabitch! Actually, my stepmother had it and gave it to me. I just salvaged all the thread and bobbins. It didn't work very well...

posted by Stewriffic 10 November | 17:09

≡ Click to see image ≡

Thisa is the side of the box from the one my mother gave me with the rest of her sewing and knitting stuff. There was also a Knit Wit. And thanks to OS, now I know what it is!

The original Mini Singer cost my mom, with tax, $10.71. There are different kinds of Mini Singers, apparently. See them Here, here, here, and here - the kind you're looking for.

posted by MonkeyButter 10 November | 17:40

I used to see those mini-sewers advertised on daytime TV all the time, back in college when I had time to watch daytime TV.

dabitch - my roommate owned one but they really aren't durable enough to sew through two layers of denim.

posted by muddgirl 10 November | 17:54

dabitch: yeah. Unfortunately, the work in her portfolio was about the same quality but I gave her credit for asking for help.

I had one of those handheld sewing machines and ranted about it in askme. If you still must have one, BigLots often has them.

posted by jamaro 10 November | 19:06

Good lord, I have a Knit Wit in the bottom of my glory box, given to me years ago sans box or instructions, and never knew what it was. Thanks Orange Swan!

posted by goo 11 November | 14:16

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