Category Archives: Inspiration

World Premiere!

Well, there was popcorn…that makes it a premiere, right? I just finished our first set of video tutorials, and we had a little viewing party before putting them up on the website. Each video has been embedded in its related tutorial, including two new introductory tutorials for new knitters (“How to Knit a Scarf” and “How to Knit a Hat“). You can view all of our new tutorial videos in one place right here. We have a YouTube channel set up, too. If you’d like to get a notification each time we add a new video to our channel, all you have to do is get yourself a YouTube account and then, in the upper left of our Channel page, click on the big yellow “Subscribe” button. Here’s our intro scarf video: And here’s the hat video: ...

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Finally finished

This has been a week for finishing things. It’s not every day that I get to prop my feet up on my desk, take a photo of them and call it work! Pattern: Two at Once, Toe Up, Magic Loop Socks Yarn: superwash Merino/nylon Sock Blank Dye: turquoise Jacquard Acid dye Needles: US size 0 40″ nickel plated fixed circular Pattern: Apres Surf Hoodie from Interweave Knits Summer 2008 Yarn: Shine Sport Sand (discontinued color from my stash) Needles: Knit Picks US 1 (2.50mm) 32″ nickel plated fixed circular for the body and two 24″ nickel plated fixed circulars for the sleeves <

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I fell in love with Shamrock

The very first knitting project I started was the seed stitch scarf out of Shamrock in Fitzpatrick. A lot of people commented that seed stitch was a little much for a very first project. I loved it. I told Kelley I wanted to learn to purl, so the seed stitch scarf was her idea. I LOVE how the seed stitch works with the color variations in Shamrock, it’s like the two were meant for each other. Well then I thought I needed a hat to coordinate, so I got some Shamrock in Reilly and made the ribbed hat. It was my first ribbed anything and it also was really fun to do. It’s so satisfying to watch the ribs form right before your eyes. Shamrock is a very friendly yarn to knit with for a beginner. It’s just the right ...

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Greetings from Europe!

Great title, huh? I wish those were my words… but alas they aren’t… I got an email yesterday from Kim, one of the KP test knitters. Kim is lucky enough to be traveling in Ireland & UK. So as I’m wading through piles of projects, stacks of paper and dozens of emails, I’m wistfully wishing to be there… Kim sent a picture that I needed to share with you all… Here is Kim standing in front of the Canterbury Cathedral in the UK. And what a dedicated test knitter! she’s got her project that will be featured in the October flyer right along side her. This gives new meaning to “traveling the world”… We now have a globe-trotting test knit project. Thanks Kim for sharing! <

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New colors of Palette!

Our fall collection is on its way, so expect to see lots of sneak peeks here the next couple of weeks! I thought I would kick off the fall yarn love fest with a photo of new Palette colors. Sure, the weather is just heating up, so wool colorwork is not on the top of most of our lists, but I find it’s best to plan early for colorwork projects. Palette has become one of my favorite yarns, since I knit Eunny Jang’s Autumn Rose Pullover. Remember this post a while back where you voted for Autumn Rose swatches? Well, when the yarn came in, I got to knit up all those swatches to make sure that my color choices were working out. It was a blast! I’m going to save those photos for Christy’s September catalog, but I did want to show ...

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My hoodie looks like an alien

I am sooo close to being done with the regular knitting. I still have to cut the steeks, do the neck/hood ribbing, sew up the hem, weave in ends, etc. The deep v-neck steek makes the neck look so much smaller than it will be after I cut it open. It certainly doesn’t look like it could fit an adult human right now, but maybe an alien..? My alien says hello. Pattern: Apres Surf Hoodie from Interweave Knits Summer 2008 Yarn: Shine Sport Sand (discontinued color from my stash) Needles: Knit Picks US 1 (2.50mm) 32″ nickel plated fixed circular for the body and two 24″ nickel plated fixed circulars for the sleeves And, here are my meeting socks. Getting close too. I only knit on them during work meetings – maybe two more staff meetings worth of knitting – or one staff meeting and two podcasts. What ...

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The Slipper Saga continues…

If you’re a regular here, you might remember my post about my ill-fated watersock mary jane slippers… After the first slipper disaster, I took a break from slippers altogether, made some baby booties and hats to get my confidence back up, and then I attacked the Twinkle Toe pattern Kristine recommended from Ravelry. The photos on Ravelry are so cute, and I’m using Comfy which is so soft and lovely, what could go wrong? Kelley (and Xena) helped me cast on at craft night last week (I’d never done a provisional cast on before, in fact, until just now I thought it was called a provincial cast on and therefore must be some fancy French way of doing things!), and she showed me how to wrap and turn. She was slightly suspicious of the pattern’s recommendation for size 6 needles, but I printed it out and ...

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It’s starting to look like a sweater

I realized last night that I DO have to steek the v-neck because, since I am knitting it in the round, I started my rounds under the left arm. But, if I were to knit to the beginning of the neckline, then turn and knit back, I would end up on different pattern rows in that next row – the front left would be one pattern row ahead of the rest of the sweater. Aaargh! I prefer steeking anyway, but I’m a little worried about the cotton/Modal yarn – I’ll have to sew the steeks really well before I cut. Oh, and I’m doing half raglan, half saddle shoulder shaping. I’m doing raglan decreases until I’ve decreased out two pattern repeats; then I’ll knit even until it’s at the point to take the remaining sleeve repeats across the top of the shoulder as a saddle ...

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Comfy Weekend Project

I had been looking for an excuse to try out Comfy ever since I knit up the buttons-and-closures swatches for the cover of the April catalog. It was so soft in my hands, and I loved the resulting fabric (even though I had to do even *more* dreaded seed stitch for the swatches). While I was editing Kelley’s podcast interview with Joan McGowan-Michael, I got to listen to them talking about Joan’s Shaped Lace Tee pattern in Knitting Lingerie Style. Apparently I’m an easily impressionable lady, and their discussion was enough to make me pull out my needles and get to work. I had purchased 9 balls of Comfy in Blackberry when it came out, thinking that I’d make some kind of short-sleeved sweater. The amazing part to me is that I only ended up using just under 5 ...

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Tuesday Afternoon

That rather sounds like a song! It’s raining outside (thought it was May showers – this is June!!!) and the creative juices are flying high inside… Here’s Kerin in her “design” mode… Kerin is our in-house designer. She is busily working on projects for an upcoming kit and knit-a-long… What an amazing job to be able to sit back and knit!!! Everywhere you turn around here the creativity is rampant as we work on your future knitting enticements! <

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