Category Archives: Fun

We’ve got our winners!

Before we announce our winners, we first would just like to say thank you to everyone who commented on the Teeny Tiny Mochimochi giveaway post!  We got a total of 2491 comments, wow! I guess a lot of us really want to learn how to make those adorable little chickens!  🙂 Using a random number generator, we have selected our winners! The grand prize winner who will receive a copy of the book and a rainbow assortment of Palette is: Amber Y.  Amber’s comment was: Winning this would be a dream come true for my four year old! She has Asperger’s Syndrome and her special interest is Mochis. I’ve knitted a couple for her so far, but she’d be delighted if we had a whole book of possibilities and so would I. The runner up winners were: BeverlyThose little things are just really cute! Misty BoydHaving ...

Read more »

Podcast Episode 167: Interview with Anna Hrachovec

Everyone at the Knit Picks office has officially caught mochimochi mania! This week, Alison interviews Anna Hrachovec, author of the books Knitting Mochimochi and Teeny-Tiny Mochimochi. Both of these books are filled with fun, brilliantly imaginative and innovative toys to knit, with the second book focusing on super-small scale toys that can be knit in only an hour or two! These teeny-tiny toys are often only an inch tall and use only a few yards of yarn. Anna chats about how she began knitting, what her creative process is for coming up with ideas, how she translates her ideas into a finished toy and why she is so drawn to knitted toys. She also runs the website and blog, mochimochiland, where you can find more of her designs and read about her weekly design challenge in which she comes up with new and clever tiny toys.   3 easy ways to listen…

Read more »

IDP Photoshoots

As the IDP Coordinator, one of the more fun parts of my job is doing photo shoots.  Some designers aren't able to take photos that work on our website so every 6 weeks or so, we schdedule an IDP photo shoot where we photograph the projects on one of our models.  Usually, when I do the shoots, there's about 20-30 projects that need to be photographed all in one day! My favorites shoots are the ones we can do outside - often times (especially from October - March) we aren't able to because it's too cold (or in most cases rainy!).  But in the milder months, it's a lot more fun. While most of the photos you see in the catalog are shot in different locations, all the IDP shoots are done right around our office.  Luckily, our offices are surrounded by nature rather than buliding so we have lots of options for backgrounds! Like we have pretty trees...  

Read more »

Sock Summit Recap

It was just over a week ago that sock knitters took over Portland, Oregon for the second ever Sock Summit! I was lucky enough to have gone to the first Sock Summit, and was just as excited about being able to attend this year as well. First of all, I have to point out the obvious - knitters are pretty awesome people! No matter where I found myself or which table I sat down at, I was quickly immersed in conversation with other knitters. It sure is a wonderful feeling to have an instant point of connection to everyone around you, all connected by our simple love of all things fiber.

Read more »

Sock Summit Excitement & Sock Knitting Master Class Giveaway!

This contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated! To find out who won, click here: WINNERS After months of waiting and nervously registering for classes, the second Sock Summit is finally here! Everyone at the office has been reminiscing about the last Sock Summit, all the fun that was had, and of course - all the sock yarn that was aquired. Funny enough, I catch myself saying "Last year at Sock Summit..." but it was actually two whole years ago! And we are lucky enough to have Sock Summit here in Portland again this summer.

Read more »

My day at Sock Summit!

Yes, I know, that is really thick yarn! It is a photo of two irresistable braids of 80% Merino/20% from Wonderland Dye Works that were my first purchase of the day. After sorting through my stash a couple of weeks ago, I realized that I still had fingering weight sock yarns from the first Sock Summit! The good news is that I was still completely in love with those yarns. That got me to thinking about the first Sock Summit and what I say to people when they ask me about it. I always explain it as being like visiting a large art museum. Each independent dyer has her, or his, color sensibility. Seeing booth after booth made that clear in a way I couldn't resist. Sort of like Monet and Picasso and Degas.

Read more »

Winners of the Sock Summit Excitement & Sock Knitting Master Class Giveaway!

We’ve selected our winners for the Sock Summit Excitement & Sock Knitting Master Class Giveaway.  Thank you to everyone who participated!  Using a random number generator, we selected: #151 – Laurie Lamoureux and#27 – Karen Reinhart Our winners have each been emailed and once we hear back, we will send their prizes out right away.  If you didn’t win but would still like to have Sock Knitting Master Class, you can purchase it on sale for just $16.17 right now.  To learn more, click here: Sock Knitting Master Class. Thanks again to everyone who commented, we hope you had a great weekend!

Read more »

Three Weekend Baby Blanket

This is the baby blanket I started on our road trip to Seattle. As usual, I was a "bit" optimistic thinking I would finish the whole thing over the weekend. One, I forgot how easily I fall asleep riding in a car. Two, I was completely unprepared for a stunningly beautiful day on Saturday. Bob, his son Adam and I walked and walked and walked the city. Then, we went out to dinner with Adam and a couple of his friends. Yummy, yummy Vietnamese food!

Read more »

My MA yarn crawl

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen that I spent last week in one of my very favorite places in the world - Massachusetts!   I lived in MA for a couple of years and Boston (go Sox!) feels like my 2nd home. So when an idea of a trip to visit yarn stores came up, I jumped right on it.  See my old friends and drink massive amounts of Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee while going to a bunch of yarn shops?  Sign me up!

Read more »

Podcast Episode 164: Gearing Up for Sock Summit

Kelley gets ready for the upcoming Sock Summit with weaving! By planning out projects for her rigid heddle loom, Kelley is able to go through her sock stash and use up yarn from the first Sock Summit. Who knew weaving could work as a stash management tool? Kelley also shares two books that would be perfect for those interested in weaving – Hands On Rigid Heddle Weaving by Betty Linn Davenport and Weaving Made Easy by Liz Gipson. Next up, Kelley chats about projects on her needles and her weekend of weaving! Kelley also reviews the book, Mittens & Hats for Yarn Lovers by Carri Hammett.   3 easy ways to listen…  

Read more »