Follow along and discover your next inspiration as we cast on for projects we love, explore new techniques, and dish about the latest and greatest from Knit Picks.
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Just a little shout-out to Ravelry user halesje (Ravelry link) who had a clever idea for organizing DPNs. She found a makeup brush organizer in clear acrylic that looks great with our Knit Picks interchangeable needle stand and filled it with her DPN collection. I liked the look of it so much I went ahead and ordered the same brush organizer for my own craft room. It’s now sitting on a shelf next to my three prototype needle stands, a coffee mug filled with crochet hooks, and a small bamboo steamer that organizes my cables into short, medium, and long.
Funny Alisha mentioned hats and charity in her last post – those two
things are near and dear to me! In fact, at the end of January, I
shipped off 25 little baby hats to a local medical charity.
All of these hats are made out of Swish Worsted (except for three – one in Stroll and two in Comfy). They are super simple, quick and cute,
and use only a little yarn. All of the yarn for these was scraps from
other projects that would have been destined for the garbage or a long,
lonely wait in some random scrap bin. But, I saw other potential in the
yarn. Even a few grams would be enough for a stripe in a hat this small!
Over the last few years, I’ve slowly amassed a pretty good collection of
these scraps, and have found that charity knitting is the perfect use
for them.
Got scraps? Keep reading for a free baby hat pattern!
I generally hold myself to a 12″ limit for the stacks of paper and piles of samples that clutter my desk, but this heap of spinning fiber pushed things over the top.
When I took this job at Knit Picks, I knew pretty instantly that
knitting was going to quickly become one of my new favorite hobbies.
Since completing my first hat a couple of weeks ago, I have already made
another one and started on a third. The first two were just my way of
testing my skills and trying out new stitches. Because they are a
little too big for my head, I have decided to donate them to charity in
hopes that they will keep someone else’s slightly larger head warm in
this winter weather. The one that I am working on now is the first one
that I am using a pattern on and I am really excited to see the end
result.
In case you didn’t see a picture of my first hat on our Facebook page, here’s what it looked like:
I unfortunately haven’t captured a good picture of my second hat yet but here is what it looked like in the process:
My third hat is a cloche pattern that I got from Ravelry. The pattern link is here: Cloche Hat
So far, I have just completed the brim section but I hope to get a good start on the body of it tonight.
My new-found love for knitting is starting to rub off on others in
the office and a couple of people have even stepped up and finished
projects that they were working on for quite some time now…
I know I am going out on a limb because each knitter has his or her own set of parameters. But, as I finished my Lace Ribbon Scarf I realized it was one of my absolutely perfect projects. Here is my checklist –
1) Easily obtainable instructions – right from Ravelry. I was able to use my Google Documents app to make the PDF file show up on my phone whenever I wanted to check the lace pattern
2) Memorizable pattern – it didn’t take long for me to be able to read my previously knit stitches to tell where I was in the pattern.
3) High quality yarn – our Chroma yarn is delightfully soft as it flows through your fingers, it makes a fabric that is decadently soft and the color play as the lace pattern travels back and forth was mesmerizing.
4) Quick to knit – don’t get me wrong, I love challenging projects like lace shawls or colorwork sweaters. But, those don’t fall under my category of “absolutely perfect”.
5) Easy to give away – that’s right! A friend was admiring this scarf as I was knitting it. I loved that I didn’t hesitate for a moment before I offered it to her as a gift. I enjoyed knitting it and I knew she would love it day after day after day.
6) My fingers are itching to cast on another potentially “absolutely perfect” project – and I think I’ve found it. Using my other ball of Chroma Fingering weight yarn in Sunrise. And, I will only need one ball because it has nearly 400 yards in the 100 gram ball. The pattern for this shawlette.
Kelley tells her story about how she first learned how to spin in college. Kelley also discusses drop spindles and the importance of having a wide variety of sizes and styles.
Alison interviews Jen from Hanks in the Hood about her exclusive batts for Knit Picks.
I was walzing through a yarn shop a few months ago, and I called my
mom to ask if there was anything I hadn’t knit for her yet. She reminded
me of the tams we used to wear all the time (I say ‘we’ but I really
mean ‘they were hers and I destroyed them’) and how she wished she had
one again. It had been a looooong time since she’d seen one in a store.
So, I said, “I’ll see what I can do.” I picked up some yarn and got to
thinking.
My mom’s favorite garden flowers are impatiens. So, I figured an
impatien-like design would be nice. Leaves make a pretty good crown –
yeah, that’ll work. And a few days later, I brought the result into the
office:
Immediately, I was descended upon by Chroma-bearing coworkers saying “THIS MUST BE A PATTERN!”
The Kromski family has been making spinning wheels for more than 100 years. In their local cultural museum, you can find a spinning wheel made by Daniel Kromski’s grandfather. It’s no surprise that Kromski wheels are not only well engineered but they have several designs to suit any style preference. Ranging from simple modern to wood-turned embellished, you will find a wheel worthy of the investment of money and creative energy.
There is a Kromski Spinning Wheel Owners group on Ravelry that is bursting with information on each Kromski from spinners who use and love them. Where better to get advice on which wheel to buy?
The Fantasia is the newest in the Kromski collection. Yes, thoroughly modern in every aspect, but the concept and design are obviously Kromski.
Our Knit Picks Drop Spindle is an affordable introduction to drop spindling. Notice how I didn’t say, ‘introduction to spinning’. Thanks to Abby Franquemont’s book, Respect the Spindle,
drop spindling is no longer considered to be a ‘training exercise’ or
‘a first step towards real spinning on a spinning wheel’. More about
spinning wheels later.
After you become comfortable spinning
yarn with your first drop spindle, you will want to collect more
spindles. Abby explains that there are practical, as well as esthetic,
reasons for expanding your spindle collection. Between the two, I can
justify nearly any spindle purchase.
Practical reasons usually
involve your wanting to spin different weights of yarns. My Golding is
perfect for DK/Worsted weight yarn. But, if I want to spin anything
lighter, I definitely need to use a smaller spindle.
Alison and Christina discuss the development procees for Chroma
colorways; Kerin and Stacey suggest patterns and designs that go well
with Chroma.
Chroma Yarn
Books Reviewed
Jenny reviews Knitting Noro by Jane Ellison
3 easy ways to listen…
