I’m always happy when knitting pops up in a book I’m reading with the boys; this time, it appeared via a magical grandmother-type in Kiki’s Delivery Service. Don’t look for her in the movie – she’s not there!

At any rate, this grandmother knits bellybands for everyone and everything – her lamps and teapots and other household objects have bellybands, too! She knits healing magic in with every stitch, and keeps people healthy and warm. Her son thinks she’s a bit nutty, but he and the crew on his ship wear the bands to humor her – and, when they take them off due to plot twist, they do get a little ill. It amuses me that granny was right – respect your magical knitting elders! Granny ends up knitting a bellyband for the smokestack on her son’s ship (it sounds like it’s feeling poorly to her) and it’s Kiki’s job to deliver it. In payment, Kiki gets… yup, a bellyband.

The boys giggled and wiggled, and wanted bellybands. Luckily, they asked for bands for their stuffed animals, not themselves. It started with Jane, who happens to look like Kiki’s little black cat, Jiji. Jiji complains bitterly about his bellyband, but soon refuses to take it off. Jane’s owner got to pick from the sock yarn stash, and this is what we ended up with.

Snower’s owner had very specific ideas about what color his bellyband should be. Luckily, I had the colors in stock. May all your knitting be magical and healing.