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by Kelley on February 10, 2011
When my sister returned from a trip to England last November, she sent me a ball of natural wool that she picked up as a gift. Did I mention that my sister does not knit? The single ball of yarn was your big hint. Don't get me wrong, I love my sister and I love that she thought of me. But, a single ball of heavy worsted yarn does provide a bit of a challenge. No wonder it had been sitting in my stash until a couple of weeks ago when the son of a dear friend asked me to knit him a hat. Bingo! |
Category Archives: Inspiration
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by Knit Picks Staff on February 9, 2011
Funny Alisha mentioned hats and charity in her last post - those two things are near and dear to me! In fact, at the end of January, I shipped off 25 little baby hats to a local medical charity. All of these hats are made out of Swish Worsted (except for three - one in Stroll and two in Comfy). They are super simple, quick and cute, and use only a little yarn. All of the yarn for these was scraps from other projects that would have been destined for the garbage or a long, lonely wait in some random scrap bin. But, I saw other potential in the yarn. Even a few grams would be enough for a stripe in a hat this small! Over the last few years, I've slowly amassed a pretty good collection of these scraps, and have found that charity knitting is the perfect use for them. Got scraps? Keep reading for a free baby hat pattern! |
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by Kelley on February 3, 2011
I know I am going out on a limb because each knitter has his or her own set of parameters. But, as I finished my Lace Ribbon Scarf I realized it was one of my absolutely perfect projects. Here is my checklist - 1) Easily obtainable instructions - right from Ravelry. I was able to use my Google Documents app to make the PDF file show up on my phone whenever I wanted to check the lace pattern 2) Memorizable pattern - it didn't take long for me to be able to read my previously knit stitches to tell where I was in the pattern. 3) High quality yarn - our Chroma yarn is delightfully soft as it flows through your fingers, it makes a fabric that is decadently soft and the color play as the lace pattern travels back and forth was mesmerizing. 4) Quick to knit - don't get me wrong, I love challenging projects like lace shawls or colorwork sweaters. But, those don't fall under my category of "absolutely perfect". 5) Easy to give away - that's right! A friend was admiring this scarf as I was knitting it. I loved that I didn't hesitate for a moment before I offered it to her as a gift. I enjoyed knitting it and I knew she would love it day after day after day. 6) My fingers are itching to cast on another potentially "absolutely perfect" project - and I think I've found it. Using my other ball of Chroma Fingering weight yarn in Sunrise. And, I will only need one ball because it has nearly 400 yards in the 100 gram ball. The pattern for this shawlette. |
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by Alison on January 17, 2011
I wanted to introduce you to the newest member of the Knit Picks team, Jenny! Jenny’s our new Education Coordinator, and she’ll be writing tutorials, managing the podcast schedule, and creating new videos for techniques and virtual classes. She’s already hard at work on podcast episode 151, and it should air this Thursday, January 20th. |
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by Kelley on December 28, 2010
If you are expecting a pattern for these socks, you are out of luck. I'm calling them Chimera for a reason. |
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by Knit Picks Staff on December 23, 2010
It's time to announce the three winners of our Knitting Motifs for Babies and Kids giveaway! I used a random number generator to pick winners from the comments. #20 - Irene #222 - Robin J #92 - Diane Tetreault Congratulations! We'll be emailing the winners to get their addresses so we can mail these out. Thanks to everyone who participated. You all had great comments and ideas! |
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by Knit Picks Staff on December 23, 2010
Everyone here at Knit Picks would like to wish all of you a very happy holiday. Thank you for being such great supporters of our company, we really appreciate and value every single one of you. For your viewing enjoyment, here's a video of our holiday classic, How to thank a knitter. Cheers! Knit Picks |
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by Knit Picks Staff on December 15, 2010
This year is the year. Every other year that I've committed to making homemade gifts for friends and family, I've managed to finish in time. But this year I'm going to have to accept defeat. My sister just told me last week that her fiance wanted a pair of dark brown or black fingerless gloves for Christmas. Last week. And I'd been planning on just ordering him an Amazon gift card online. Oops. |
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by Knit Picks Staff on December 9, 2010
I am very excited because today I officially published my first pattern, Kitty Cat Paw Mitts and Hat, as an IDP designer, and I owe it all to my cat, The Bus (and Stacey!). I've blogged about The Bus before, he is my very charismatic and very surly Siamese cat. He is mostly brown with little white feet. This year when I was trying to pick a costume for Halloween, I was struck by a stroke of genius and decided to dress up as my cat. I had Marshmallow, Dogwood Heather, and Bittersweet Heather Simply Cotton in my stash, so I whipped up a quick kitty hat and matching mitts and dressed in all white and brown. I added some whiskers and a collar and presto chango- instant Bus costume. |
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by Kelley on December 9, 2010
Just like nearly every knitter I know, I was thrilled when inventive knitters began to find ingenious ways to use the flexibility of circular needles to use instead of double pointed needles (DPNs). For a while, I used only two circular needles or one long circular needle (Magic Loop Method) whenever I knit something with a small circumference - socks, mittens or hats. Now I've gotten so that I choose between my options depending on what I'm knitting. As you know, I just finished my Tic Tac Toe Socks. I always overcompensate when it comes to making sure I won't run out of yarn for a project. I ran out of yarn when I was first learning how to knit. On a Pi Shawl, no less. I was traumatized! Now I always end up with leftover yarn. I had a skein and most of a ball of Gloss to use for "something". |
