Not Your Grandma's Knitting Tattoo. Unless it is.

I keep running across a lot of knitting tattoos on the net, and even though I'm not considering getting any ink done (I've never even been able to tolerate a stick-on tattoo for more than a day), and would of course be getting an orange swan if I did, they are interesting and fun to look at. Here are some that I've come across.

The most common kind of knitting tattoo is the ball of yarn with a pair of knitting needles thrust through it, and there are loads of variations on this theme, like the one above.

Here we have the needles, the ball of yarn, and a cat. Cats seem to be a common addition to knitting tattoos. I suppose it's easier to add a cat than it is to add all the members of your book club.

The use of the "Keep Calm" meme is so going to date this person.

For a minute there, I thought "alpaca" was missing its "l". You definitely do not want your tramp stamp to have a spelling mistake in it. It gives off the wrong impression.

This one is a little more knitterrrr girrrrrrlllllll.

This is really quite the piece of artistry, but the idea of having an unfinished project permanently tattooed on my body makes me feel twitchy and OCD.

This one is actually Tunisian crochet (note the hooks on the ends of the needles), but could easily be altered to be knitting. It's another unfinished project, but one gets the sense that progress is being made.

Here's a knitted tattoo that's all finished.

The hands at work here have a few too many knuckles, but otherwise I love this one, which is a beautiful expression of the love of knitting and the love that goes into one's knitting.

I'd be afraid this one would cause my cat to attack my foot.

I don't think I can possibly can get knitting-themed ink when this woman has done it so definitively.

If you want to see some more knitting tattoos, there are some on Tumblr. Or you could just image google "knitting tattoos".