Race to Wrapped – How to Choose Buttons

Buttons can be one of the last finishing details that you put on a sweater or cardigan, and it is just as important to choose the right buttons for your project as it is to find the right yarn. And if you have recently checked out our selection of buttons, you know just how many options, styles, materials, and shapes of buttons there are to choose from. So in the spirit of all the holiday knitting I’m sure everyone is busy with, we put together a handy tutorial on how to go about choosing a button style that works best for your project and yarn so you can put the finishing touches on all of those WIPs with confidence.

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Win a copy of Knits That Fit!

I love a contest and I’m pretty sure you do too.  Well we have another one for you. Are you tired of putting so much work into a project that just doesn’t fit right? Knits That Fit
is a wonderful guide to making garments that are tailored to suite your
body style and size. I found two extra copies that are looking for a
new home. So the solution is to have a blog giveaway!

Knits that Fit

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Baja Travel Journal – A rough start to Catavina

It’s a good thing that we had a nice rest in the wine country because
you can see we had a bit of an adventure as we began the Baja half of
our journey. 

Another bit of serendipity was that our tire monitor showed low
pressure as we were driving through Ensenada. Just across the street was
a transport truck repair shop. We parked at the curb and asked for
help. We before we knew it, everything was handled. A gentleman at the
truck shop called a friend who had a tow truck. The tow truck friend
whipped off our tire and patched it right there in the street! The whole
process from monitor notification to being back on the road took about
an hour.

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Introducing Full Circle!

Some of you might have noticed a new yarn at Knit Picks today. You can call it happenstance, a coincidence, or simply a happy twist of fate – no matter how you look at it, I think it is a wonderful sign that our newest addition to the special reserve line up, Full Circle, was launched on America Recycles Day! This yummy, single ply yarn is made from a blend of Merino and Highland wool fibers that would have otherwise been discarded. This allows the mill to reduce waste and conserve our valuable resources, while you get to enjoy an amazing blend of fibers that help the Earth!

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Pom Pom Bunny

Pom Pom Rabbit

Back in my very first post here I mentioned that I wanted to make a mini Linus. When Linus’ fur is completely grown out he very much resembles a giant
pile of roving with the addition of two very long ears and two very pink
eyes. So, my first try at making my very own pocket sized Linus had me
reaching for that silky, glossy Bare Gloss Roving. The silk and merino in this particular roving mimics Linus’ beautiful shimmery fur so well!

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Baja Travel Journal – Wine Country

By our third day of rather hard driving down from Vancouver, Bob and I
were more than ready for the indulgent part of the trip. Ensenada is a
large wine region just south of the U.S. border. We planned two days at a
winery bed and breakfast with winery tours for Bob. Since the rest of
our lodgings on the trip were going to cost very little, we felt
comfortable with a little splurge.

A
word of creative warning. While sitting in the car as Bob drove, I
chose to amuse myself with a new photo editor on my Galaxy Tab. Then I
couldn’t figure out how to remove my little experiments. That is why all
but one photo has a “cool” frame around it.

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Playing with Color… and Math!

Ever since we introduced Chroma,
I’ve been enjoying its versatility for patterns. The subtle color
changes turn simple stranded knitting into complicated-looking
colorwork, and even plain stockinette into works of art. So how about
some stripes?

One of my favorite things in Astronomy class in college was examining
emission and absorption spectra of various elements and then looking
for them in stars. Not only was the science fascinating, but it was
beautiful as well. When we were tossing around ideas for a new sweater
in Chroma, my thoughts turned immediately to those lovely spectra.

Obviously there would be quite a problem working a full spectrum
line-by-line into a sweater. There’s just too many rows, and the colors
wouldn’t line up with their correct nanometer values! Not to mention it
would need to look nice in colors other than just the bright spectral
rainbow. So, I decided that the Fibbonacci sequence would deliver the
perfect result. And the Chromatic Pullover is the end product!

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Podcast Episode 172: Interview with Hannah Fettig & Alana Dakos

This week, Kelley catches up with Hannah Fettig of Knitbot and Alana
Dakos of Never Not Knitting, authors of the new book Coastal Knits! A
collaboration between two good friends who just happen to live on
opposite sides of the country, Hannah and Alana created a collection of
patterns that are inspired by the coasts that they reside on. Hear all
about the long-distance teamwork of these two designers and how they
made Coastal Knits a reality in just under one years time.
Books mentioned:
Coastal Knits by Hannah Fettig & Alana Dakos
 
3 easy ways to listen…
Subscribe in iTunes Episode 172: Interview with Hannah Fettig & Alana Dakos RSS feed

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Baja Travel Journal – Knitting

Remember how I have been wanting to return to the mantra simplicity
of sock knitting? A pattern with enough interest to engage my mind but
simple enough to knit whenever I had even a little bit of time.

Cindy’s Socks – they have now been officially named — are exactly
what I needed. They are so perfectly matched to my knitting needs that I
finished Cindy’s pair in record time.

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