Minimum degree condition for a graph to be knitted

For a positive integer $k$, a graph is $k$-knitted if for each subset $S$ of $k$ vertices, and every partition of $S$ into (disjoint) parts $S_1,\dots ,S_t$ for some $t\ge 1$, one can find disjoint connected subgraphs $C_1,\dots ,C_t$ such that $C_i$ contains $S_i$ for each $i\in t]?\{1,2,\dots ,t\}$. In this article, we show that if the minimum degree of an $n$-vertex graph $G$ is at least $n∕2+k∕2?1$ when $n\ge 2k+3$, then $G$ is $k$-knitted. The minimum degree is sharp. As a corollary, we obtain that $k$-contraction-critical graphs are $?\frac{k}{8}?$-connected.