Monthly Archives: December 2010

New Year’s Resolutions

Now that Christmas and Hanukkah are over and New Year’s is just
around the corner, it’s that time of year when I always find myself
making lists of all the things I want to accomplish in the upcoming
year. Teaching myself to knit colorwork is at the top of my list for
2011, I’ve been inspired by all the beautiful colorwork patterns we see
from IDP designers
each week! I polled everyone else in the office to see what
fiber-related resolutions they’re making for 2011. Looks like we’re
going to have a busy year around here.

Our resolutions run the whole gamut from ambitious to basic to what some might even call wishful thinking!

“My
number one goal is learning to weave –  I’m taking a class at Madrona in
February! I also want to learn the different dying techniques – hand paint, kettle
dye, maybe play around with making natural dyes… And I also want to create
more patterns...” Kim, merchandising
manager

“Weave
a whole rug. Finish carding and spinning Cher the Sheep’s fleece – I bought it
at the Aurora Spinning Guild show over a year and a half ago! Shop more from my
stash, it’s starting to eat my entire house!” Alison, director of Knit
Picks

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Lucinda Guy’s Book Giveaway Winners!

It’s time to announce the three winners of our Knitting Motifs for Babies and Kids giveaway!  I used a random number generator to pick winners from the comments. 

#20 – Irene

#222 – Robin J

#92 – Diane Tetreault

Congratulations! 
We’ll be emailing the winners to get their addresses so we can mail
these out.  Thanks to everyone who participated.  You all had great
comments and ideas!

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Book Giveaway Contest – Knitting Motifs for Babies and Kids

This contest is now closed.  You can see who won by clicking here.

We know how much you all love our book giveaways so, we’re having another one!

Knitting Motifs for Babies and Kids is an absolutely adorable book featuring 50 great ideas by Lucinda Guy for decorating your kids’ knits.

We only have three copies of this fun-filled book to giveaway so if you
want it; you are going to need to tell me what children’s project you
would use it for.  Leave me a comment on THIS blog (comments on other
blog posts won’t be counted) and I will choose three winners on December
23rd.  Good luck! 

Rules: Only one entry per person. To be
considered, submit a comment describing what children’s project you
would use the book for. Contest ends at 8am PST on December 23rd. Must
have a US or Canada shipping address.  No purchase necessary.

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The story of Winter

Winter really is an amazing season. Maybe not as much here in the
Pacific Northwest (where the seasons are more like “Rain” and “Bridge
repair”), but memories of winters in the mid-Atlantic get me all
nostalgic this time of year. There’s something so amazing about the
stark opposites of winter: Blinding blizzards and ice storms, and the
absolute, stunning silence of snow. I’ve always been fascinated with
winter, and fondly remember my first taste of negative temperatures in
Syracuse. Somehow, in this bone-chilling season, life goes on. Spring is
more brilliant after a hard winter. There’s really some magic to it.

It was with all of those fond memories of winter that I designed the Woodland Winter Mittens kit. There are six pair of mittens, each pair telling the story of one of the colder months, from October to March.

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Rainbow Fishies!

Since my Beer Pint Mitts, I’ve been on a SpillyJane pattern kick.  I made these for my niece for Christmas:

Cupcakes for Kaitlyn 
Made in Stroll Tonal Blue Violet and a bunch of scraps

But honestly, they took me awhile – mainly because once I finished
with the bodies I had something like a billion ends to weave in. So I
threw them in a corner until I was ready to face them.  I mean I love
how cute the colorwork mittens turn out but…the ends…

Enter Chroma.

We got our early shipment in and all of us were instantly in love – I
had so many ideas of things I want to make!  But I ended up deciding on
another SpillyJane pattern…and this went much quicker

fishy 2 

Rainbow Fishies!

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The Season of Giving

This time of year, no matter what holiday you celebrate (or if you
celebrate one at all), I think it’s pretty natural to look back about
the past year and see your successes.  All of us at Knit Picks and Crafts Americana
had a great year here and are so happy to be be doing something that we
love …which makes us want to share our joy with our local community!

Angela, Alisha, and I have been going through our catalog samples over
the past month & finding local charities to donate them to.  We
found a bunch of charities – some of which members of Crafts Americana
volunteer their time at – and we are so excited to share them with you.

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Collect Quick Knit Patterns for the rest of the year.

Throughout October and November, patterns and ideas for quick Christmas knitting are flying through the air like owls on Mail Day at Hogwarts. I took advantage of the deluge to play with the leftovers from my Tic Tac Toes Socks. Each of my finished projects has a unique story.

These are Susie’s Reading Mitts knit with Gloss Fingering weight in Kenai. I was knitting on the second mitt while I was with a friend who is just learning to knit. She asked if she could buy them from me as a Christmas gift for her daughter. Right, like I am really going to charge her! Geez!

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