Barbara G. Walker, designer and cataloger of knitting patterns, dies at 95

Barbara G. Walker, a self-taught knitter who cataloged stitch patterns from around the world and invented about 1,000 designs, died on Dec. 21 at a long-term care facility in Sarasota, Fla., the death announced on her website by her son, Alan Walker. She was 95; her son said the cause was metastatic abdominal cancer.

After rediscovering knitting in her 30s, Ms. Walker compiled hundreds of motifs into categories such as ribbings, lace and cables, and published seven foundational books that Schoolhouse Press says have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Her first book, A Treasury of Knitting Patterns (1968), and later guides, including the volumes she called Mosaic Knitting, were reissued beginning in the late 1990s.

She was credited with practical innovations: devising a clearer way to decrease stitches, creating concise chart symbols and vocabulary (for example, a forward slash to indicate knitting two stitches together and a forward slash with a dot to indicate purling two together), promoting slipped stitches as an alternative to bobbins, and advocating knitting garments from the top to take advantage of knitting’s flow (Knitting From the Top, 1972).

Colleagues and designers cited her influence on how knitters use stitch patterns to design garments. Born July 2, 1930, in Philadelphia, Ms.

Key Topics

Culture, Barbara G. Walker, Knitting Patterns, Mosaic Knitting, Slipped Stitches, Sarasota Florida