Monthly Archives: February 2012

Tilde Cloche

I was looking for a quick but not mindless project to work on while I
wait for the oodles of yarn to arrive in the mail for my next BIG
project. I sat down to page through my knitting books for inspiration
when My Grandmother’s Knitting popped open to Jared Flood’s Tilden Baby Hat.
I loved the colors and simple but beautiful pattern. I definitely
wanted to knit this for myself, but the pattern was for a toddler sized
noggin.

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Three Color Stranding

One of my favorite parts about working with other knitters and crocheters is how much there is to learn! It seems that everyone has their own repetoire of tips and tricks that they have gathered from years of experience. That being said, this is exactly how this week’s technique of the week came together! Kerin is always working on something, whether it be charity hats, pullovers, or complex colorwork sweaters. While knitting on a hat she had been making up, the converstion turned to the techniques of stranded colorwork, which led (obviously) to how one handles stranding three colors across the row at once! As usual, Kerin was nice enough to indulge my excitement and we created a video tutorial to share this technique with other colorwork obsessed knitters!

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2012 Reader’s Choice Awards

Surely the Oscars made you hungry for more beauty and competition? Well, we’re pleased to announce that Knit Picks was nominated for “Best Needles” in the 2012 Reader’s Choice Awards on About.com! To become a finalist, we were ranked in the top five by dedicated About.com staffers, sifting through hundreds of nominations.

Harmony_Wood

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A sweater to dye for

I finally got some decent pictures of my Swish Bulky sweater! This is not only to show that I did make said sweater, but to immortalize its temporary whiteness.

You see, I’m really, really good at turning white clothes pink. I
don’t really have problems with any other color of clothing, but white
things just don’t stay white. So, in order to prevent my inevitable
disappointment, I’m planning on dyeing my sweater. But I can’t figure
out what color to dye it – or what dye to use.

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My Craft Corner

With Kerin & Hannah’s recent posts on organizing their stash, I decided to work on my craft corner last weekend!

When I lived in Massachusetts, my significant other & I had a 3 bedroom house, which was great!  I took the tiny room for my craft area, where I could keep all my yarny things, plus my sewing machine, books, a comfy chair and anything else I wanted in my own private sanctuary.  It was a very small dark room but I liked having a place of my own.

 Craft room

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Project planning with handspun yarn: baby vests

When I first started knitting with my handspun yarn, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished for a magical label marked with yarn weight, recommended needle size, yardage, and washing instructions.  Over time, I’ve gotten better about documenting my handspun as I create it; when I don’t take notes, though, I have to just wing it!

For a recent cross-country trip I decided to give myself a little challenge – I packed nothing but 4 skeins of handspun yarn and an assortment of needle tips and cables.  The four skeins I chose were finished more recently, so I hadn’t had time to measure the yardage, weigh them, or even match them up with other yarn for projects.  

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Larch Cardigan and the Great Sleeve Redo

I’ve been knitting for quite some time now (going on seven years! Phew!)
and I’ve only successfully knit two sweaters, both of which were
separated by years of socks, mittens and other smaller projects. It was
always so hard to take the plunge and invest in enough yarn for a full,
cozy sweater. This past summer I found the Larch Cardigan by Amy Christoffers and fell head over heels for it. The color and high collar really caught my eye! I fussed over which yellow and which yarn I would knit my new dream cardigan in and eventually settled on Stroll Sport in Mustard
to give it a nice, soft drape and so that I’d be able to machine wash
it. I set to work and finished all the pieces within two weeks! But…
then came the sleeves.

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Technique of the Week: How to Use Silk Hankies

This week’s technique of the week is all about silk hankies! Also known as mawata, each silk hankie is made
of silk from cocoons that are stretched and dried over a square loom that can
then be pulled apart, drafted and worked into yarn.
Best part of all is that you don’t need any special tools and you don’t even need to know how to spin in order to enjoy these lovely silk hankies. Simply peel off a light-as-air layer of silk and slowly pull it apart by beginning in the center, and you’ll be ready to knit or crochet with it.

These stunning Silk Hankies from Hanks in the Hood are available in so many beautiful colors, choosing your favorite just might be the hardest part! Another advantage for those unfamiliar to spinning techniques is that silk has very long fibers, which makes it easy to draft without accidentally pulling it completely apart. Although the process of turning your silk hankies into yarn is rather simple, it can be a bit intimidating at first and feel somewhat like you are venturing into unknown waters. And if you are anything like me, a little visual reference can go a long way when I am learning new techniques. Which is why we put together a video tutorial all about how to work with silk hankies. You’ll learn all about seperating and drafting each layer by layer, how to start working with your drafted fiber, along with other tips and trick for working with these beauties!

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Ribbon Yarn Shawlette

There’s a lot to be said for gift yarns. When my friend went walking along the knitting shop row in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she bought a lovely skein of hand-dyed, ribbon yarn. It took a long time for me to find something to make out of the precious skein. I wanted a scarf or shawlette that I could knit without worrying about the yardage. 

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