Category Archives: Inspiration

tying up skeins of yarn in preparation for dyeing them with indigo dye
How to Dye Yarn with Indigo: Our Indigo Dye Day!

We’ve been talking about dyeing your own yarn a lot lately, and with good reason: it’s a very fun way to take your fiber art to the next level! Want to learn how to dye yarn with indigo? Read on for tips and tricks for working with this ancient plant-based natural dye. One of the benefits of working for Knit Picks is working with creative, fiber-loving gals that are excited to teach us new skills. Our lovely Brand Director Hannah organized an Indigo ...

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Podcast Episode 322: Warm Weather Knitting

Cascades Tee Here in the Pacific Northwest we’ve had our first burst of warm weather and we’ve decided it’s high time we talk about warm weather knitting. Whether you’re thinking of garments to WEAR or projects to MAKE during our upcoming heatwaves, we’ve got you covered. Listen along as we talk about the ins and outs of our favorite knitting season: SUMMER! First up, Stacey and Hannah share their favorite projects. We’ll get you thinking about your own knitting queue and wardrobe. And if you’re wondering if summer is blanket-knitting season, the answer is YES! Modular blankets are easy to knit in small sections while sitting in the sun, and then pieced together in the cool evenings. Stay tuned for more ...

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Podcast Episode 321: DIY Yarn – Dye It Yourself!

We’re recording these episodes from our homes scattered across Portland, Oregon. We may be apart but our enthusiasm for all things yarn and crafting bring us together! Today, we’re taking a small departure from knitting or crochet to talk about dyeing yarns. No matter what craft you’re passionate about, being able to make your unique, custom colorway is an exciting and fun project that you can do at home with things you probably already have around the house! First up, Regan and Hannah chat about natural dyes. You can get stunning washes of color from tree bark, spices, and common vegetables with just a little bit of time and effort. Regan shares his experiments with our Earthues dye kit and ...

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Stitch Away Stress – Self-Care

During stressful times, nothing is as important as self-care—if you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to keep going to help other people. Even if you can only spare only a few minutes a day, it’s enough to recharge your batteries to handle what life throws at you! We’ve gathered together what the Knit Picks staff have been doing to practice self-care over the past few weeks. Hannah Maier, Brand Director For the past month, I’ve really taken time to savor quiet time in the mornings. I make my favorite tea, snuggle on the couch and listen to a podcast or read a book for a few minutes ...

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Podcast Episode 320: Tried and True Knits

You may have noticed that we took a short break between episodes while we figured out how to record from home. We miss our tiny recording studio but we’re also so excited to be able to record new episodes for you to knit along to.   Many of us are finding more time to do our favorite crafts during the day… it’s a time to rest and find comfort in our projects. Even though we’re spending more time crafting, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all of that time is spent in one go over  the course of a leisurely crafternoon! Instead, kiddos, pets, work or chores punctuate our days. Everyone on the Knit Picks team has found ways to make our ...

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Stitch Away Stress – Connecting with Crafters

How are you connecting your fellow crafters while staying at home? A lot of us have been missing crafting nights out or even simply hanging out with friends, and when that’s an important part of your life, it can feel pretty isolating. We’ve reached out to our friends for some advice. For the Knit Picks staff, we’re used to seeing each other every day and to keep us going, we have a daily video call to check in with each other! It’s just lovely to see everyone’s face (and everyone’s kitties, puppies, and kiddos popping in to say hi!). Test knitter Maeve (Instagram: maevezana) has a similar solution:“I wanted to say that I’ve had several lovely zoom meeting “knit ...

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Stitch Away Stress! Knitter Tips for Managing Stress

With everything going on in the world, it’s been difficult to manage stress levels. A lot of us are finding ourselves torn from our usual daily routines while worrying about the health of ourselves and loved ones, while not feeling we have an outlet for our anxiety. Since April is Stress Awareness Month, it’s a great time to check out The Craft Yarn Council’s annual campaign to help all us yarn crafters find balance in this overwhelming time – Stitch Away Stress!

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Together We Create!

Since the Knit Picks staff have all been at home these past few weeks, we, of course, have been knitting and crocheting up a storm! We all have different reasons for it – first and foremost, it’s something that we obviously love to do, but it also helps us stay connected to each other and to our online community, even if we can’t be out & about. So we thought we’d share some of our projects with you and would love to see what you are working on during this extraordinary time! Of course, we’ve been working on our blocks for #WarmUpTogether! It’s been a lot of fun; for me personally, I’ve been rediscovering my love of crochet! While Warm Up America isn’t able to accept the blocks and other projects at the moment, we’re keeping them all safe until we come back together.

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