Inspired by the recent resurgence of knitting, the U.S. Postal Service has commissioned illustrator Nancy Stahl to create four designs in the “Holiday Knits” stamp collection for the 2007 holiday season.

Stahl was inspired by traditional Norwegian sweaters and knitted Christmas stockings and used computer software to draw her original designs. She then converted them to stitches and rows and downloaded the information to an electronic knitting machine, which she used to actually knit the illustrations. How very crafty!

You can purchase the Holiday Knits stamps at your local post office or on the USPS website.

image from the U.S. Postal Service