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by Knit Picks Staff on June 9, 2011
Did you catch the Fair Isle reference in yesterday’s post? In case you don’t understand what Fair Isle has to do with Scotland, here’s a little history for you. Fair Isle is a traditional knitting technique used to create patterns with multiple colours. It is named after Fair Isle, a tiny island in the north of Scotland, that forms part of the Shetland islands. This is the last stop on Kerin’s journey around the world. If you were playing along throughout the week, we thank you very much! If you guessed the right answers and you were the first to do it, expect an email soon! For now, Kerin is on her way home. What a fun vacation she has had! The last photo that we snapped from her journey was of her arriving in Portland at the airport! She looks happy to be home. ... |
Category Archives: Fun
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by Knit Picks Staff on June 9, 2011
Today marks the first day of World Wide Knit in Public Week! Woo hoo! What are you doing to celebrate? Make sure to check back on our blog on Monday for details about a really fun contest. Until then, enjoy your weekend and get out there and knit! |
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by Kelley on June 7, 2011
This is the photo from Mason Dixon Knitting: Outside The Lines. You can see how the pattern caught my attention. The shawl is actually very easy to knit and it worked up relatively quickly. I couldn't have cut it much closer. I finished the shawl one week before Bob's nephew's wedding. Thank goodness lace shawls dry quickly. I was so happy with the results. One of those times when you have wanted to make something for ages and it turns out even better than expected. |
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by Kelley on May 31, 2011
What could be better than having an inspirational book arrive in the office at the same time as a sampling of new yarn? A Knitter's Home Companion by Michelle Edwards is an absorbing combination of stories, patterns and recipes. Her trio of washcloths just begged to be knit with our new Dishie cotton yarn. |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 31, 2011
Kerin is the in-house pattern designer for Knit Picks and is one of the most talented knitters our company has ever had the opportunity to work with. We thought that you all should get a chance to get to know Kerin the way that we do, so how better than with an interview! I hope you enjoy getting to know our funny (and all-around-awesome) Kerin as much as I did. As many of our blog friends know, you are the pattern designer for Knit Picks. This job requires that you know pretty much everything there is to know about knitting. When and how did you learn to knit? |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 19, 2011
We are so pleased with the wonderful response we received from the Say hi to Dishie contest! Thank you to everyone who submitted their dishcloth designs, I can't tell you how much fun we had looking through all of them. We have selected three grand prize winners who will each get a $20 gift card to Knit Picks. Our winners are: Sabrin Rehnke with her Giraffe dishcloth Continue reading to find out who the other winners are and to see the dishcloths that earned honorable mentions. |
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by Knit Picks Staff on May 11, 2011
This past Friday, I had the honor and privilege to visit with a woman named Peggy Adams from Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon. Peggy works as the Child Life Specialist in the Family Resource Center and is working hard to arrange a program for the parents of children to participate in while their sons and daughters receive treatment. I reached out to Peggy a couple weeks ago because I thought she might know of some local charities who might benefit from yarn donations. After speaking with her for a few minutes, she mentioned that she was in the process of starting a knitting and crochet class for the parents of kids at the hospital. |
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by Jenny K on May 10, 2011
As new yarns have been coming out, we have been working hard to make sure that we have our brand new yarn review videos to go along with the latest Knit Picks additions! By now you have probably seen Dishie - a new worsted weight cotton yarn that as the name suggests, is the ideal choice for dishcloths, home accessories, market bags and more! Alison gives her review of Dishie in this video and has some wonderful ideas for this soft, yet sturdy yarn as well as tips for using Dishie for garments. Another thing everyone here at Knit Picks is super excited about is the release of all the new and amazing Tonal yarns! In addition to Shadow and Stroll, we now have a beautiful selection of subtle, tonal colors in both Wool of the Andes and Swish Worsted! Both of these new additions come in 100 gram skeins and the colors are just so inpiring - my mind goes right to sweater knitting, even though summer is (hopefully) right around the corner! I just love the depth and texture that the tonals add to any project. You can also hear more about the new tonals as well as tips for working with these hand dyed beauties in Alison's yarn review video. |
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by Jenny K on May 6, 2011
Gauge is one of those things than can be a bit tricky to get a hold of when you first start out knitting. Gauge is also one of those things that will most likely remain finicky even when you have more experience with it. It is no wonder so many people dislike gauge and swatches as some people naturally knit loose and others knit tight. I am sure you have heard plenty about how every person knits slightly different, but that got me thinking…how much variance is in one’s own knitting? As an experiment in gauge, I decided make a swatch where I knit using the continental method (how I normally knit) for the lower half and the English method for the top half. When knitters talk about gauge, all they are referring to is how many stitches take up one inch. If you are a loose knitter, you will end up with larger stitches which results in fewer stitches in each inch. And conversely, a tight knitter will end up with smaller stitches, resulting in more stitches in each inch. Depending on what the yarn or pattern that you are using calls for, a loose knitter may go down in needle size to make up for the bigger stitches and a tight knitter may up go in needle size to counteract the smaller stitches. |
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by Jenny K on May 5, 2011
As you may have noticed already, it has been a busy week here at Knit Picks! Not only have we added lots of new yarny goodness, but there are also many new kits as well! And if you are like me and love to hear about the inspriation behind a design or simply how an idea transformed into a finished project, these designer interview with Kerin are a real treat! And to pass along the inside scoop on these amazing new kits, Kerin and I worked together to bring you another round of designer interviews! You can now see videos for the Shift Totes, the Dimensions Wrap, the Tiddlywinks Baby Set and the Fancy Feet kit simply by clicking on the "video" tab when viewing the kit. Besides finding out the spark of creativity for these patterns, Kerin also mentions specific construction design and techniques as well as tips and tricks. Another thing that I really like about these videos is how it adds another way to see the actual designs knit up, how large they are as well as how they move and drape. |
