Category Archives: Knit & Crochet in Public Week

Happy World Wide Knit in Public Day from Knit Picks!

Knit Picks would like to wish you a very happy World Wide Knit in Public Day! Like much of the world, we spent the past year working remotely. So it was great fun to host our own KIP (knit in public) at Knit Picks HQ and reconnect as colleagues with projects! We enjoyed the opportunity to gather safely and celebrate #wwkipday2021. We hope you get the chance to join other knitters and yarn crafters today ...

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Knit Picks Sparkles the Knitting Unicorn
We came. We saw. We knit.

Knit in Public Day 2018: Recap This past Saturday we loaded up our cars with yarn, books, and a giant unicorn and headed out to Overlook Park in north Portland to host our annual Knit Pick-nic.

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Knit in Public Day 2017

This past Saturday the Knit Picks staff celebrated World Wide Knit In Public Day 2017 with an event at Overlook Park in Portland, OR. We invited our local customers and their friends to join us for an afternoon of making friends and enjoying our favorite hobbies. We were delighted to welcome over 100 Knit Picks fans to our Knit Pick-nic!

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World Wide Crafting In Public

This Saturday, June 13th, is World Wide Knit in Public Day! How much do you knit in public? Whether it's in a coffee or bookshop, on public transportation or in the park, I always have my knitting with me, ready to be pulled out whenever I have a slow moment. I find that it's those couple of rows that I can get done here and there, that seem to make all the difference in keeping my projects on track. Suddenly, I'm done with them, and I've been less grumpy with train schedules and other annoyances in the process. Double win! We tend to open up the holiday a bit more than it's name suggests and refer it as World Wide Craft in Public Day! Whether you knit, crochet, or do anther craft, it's great to do it among others in a public place. You never know who you'll meet! This year, Knit Picks is holding what we're calling a "Knit Pick-nic" for Craft in Public Day. If you're in the Portland, Oregon area and want to join us for some outdoor crafting, we'll be in Sellwood Park (picnic area H). We'll have prize packs for the first 100 or so friends that join us, a meet and greet with local designers, and so much fun in general! You can find all of the details on the Knit Picks Facebook page HERE. If you're not in our area, we hope you'll craft in public where ever you might reside. Handmade items among members of your community - who can resist? (photo is from the Knit Picks Holiday Craft Party at West Elm, this past Winter)

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Craft in Public Contest!

  The World Wide Knit in Public Week is coming up in just a month!  While we knit (and crochet and spin) in public all the time, we thought we'd celebrate our crafting with a fun contest!

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Knit & Crochet in Public Week: Tinking in public

I've never been one to shy away from public crafting. In fact, if my hands aren't busy all the time, I basically just fuss and fidget and drive myself nuts. So, it's no surprise that many of the folks at the fine coffee and food establishments I frequent are well enough acquainted with me to ask much more specific questions than "Is that called yarning?" In fact, one barista was surprised when the sweater I'd been working on for some time wasn't with me for a few weeks, when she knew it wasn't finished. Well, there's a good reason for that, I explained, as I was busy crocheting a doily. I messed up!

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Knit & Crochet in Public Week: Finding the right project

I've knit in public quite a bit over the years - when I lived in Massachusetts, I knit about 2 pairs of socks a month just on my 2-3 hour daily train commute! Now most of my public crafting seems to be in dark places - bars, coffee shops and especially the movies. I can't seem to go to the movies without my project - if I don't, I spend most the film fidgeting, which doesn't seem to please my other half. It gets so annoying that I'll realize that I'm nearing the heel turn in a pair of socks that I'll have to cast on for something new before we head out to the movies! (Note: I have done a short row heel while watching a movie in the theater. I don't recommend it, unless you like ripping it out and redoing it when you get home.) So my craft in public projects tend to be small (so they fit in my bag!) and easy stockinette patterns - things I don't need to look at when working - which is why I don't crochet in public very often - I still need to look down at my project when I'm crocheting. My first choice is generally socks - I use the Two at Once, Toe Up, Magic Loop Socks Pattern all the time now (that way I don't drop my DPNs!).

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Knit & Crochet in Public Week: Knittin’ Out in the Open

Crafting started as something fun to do once in a while, like during a rainy day or on the odd vacation weekend. I have a few memories of making massive collages of tiny horses cut out of magazines, or sorting through a giant jar of buttons. That was all before I picked up a pair of knitting needles late in high school. From that moment on I needed to craft. It became a lifestyle. I knit in class, on the bus, during movies, on car rides to the store and especially in parks on nice days.

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Knit & Crochet in Public Week: Finishing What You Start

Ever since I committed to learning crochet, I've found myself trading in my needles for hooks more often than not. So for me, this year's Knit & Crochet in Public week has been all about returning to my first (and sadly unfinished!) crochet project. Say "Hello!" to my pile of 140+ crocheted circles; all waiting patiently to become the Hexagon How-To Blanket by Lucy of Attic24!

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Knit & Crochet in Public Week: Talking to Strangers

To begin, I’d like to share an exchange that occurred in a waiting room last year: Young boy: HEY! What are you doing? Me: Oh, hey there. You mean this? I’m crocheting a scarf. Young boy: CROW-saying? Me: Right, close! I’m crocheting. See, you use this hook to make loops with the yarn. Young boy: (yells across room) MOM, LOOK AT WHAT THIS GIRL IS SEWING. Young boy’s mother: Honey, that’s not sewing. She’s knitting. Public crafting—like anything you do that’s not “staring blankly at the ground”—opens you (and your work) up to an immediate and directed dialogue with strangers; as most of you have experienced, this is both good and bad! In honor of “Knit & Crochet in Public Week” (which kicked off last Saturday), I’d like to present the best stranger comments I’ve heard over the last couple of weeks (from parks to cafes), all in relation to the same in-progress Brava blanket pictured above

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