Category Archives: Inspiration

My Finished Grey Blanket

What was that? Alison only uses three colors, and they’re light grey, medium grey, and dark grey? Well, BEHOLD MY CREATION! Right when the new colors of Palette were about to come out, I got the color bug and wanted to knit a blanket. I was originally going to knit a 10 Stitch Twist Blanket with Tina, in these-are-totally-not-Alison-colors, but I had a few false starts and didn’t really get into it. So sad! Aside from being a departure from my usual favorite colors, I also left the realm of knitting! The Purl Bee blog had a beautiful crocheted granny square blanket up a while back, and something about it just got to me. I liked that it was one enormous granny square, I liked the modern colors, and ...

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Suggestions for future instructional videos

Now that I’m finished with my Learn To Knit Socks video series, I am ready to tackle some new projects. I would love suggestions! Here is what I already have on my list Mittens – I will be using DPNs and a two-color pattern. I haven’t chosen the pattern yet. Understanding a sock pattern using either DPNs or Magic Loop Designing basics for an Aran Sweater – How to plan out placement of cables. That’s all I have now so please give me some more ideas! <

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Quincy by Jared Flood – A Knit Buddy project!

Love this hat!!! And, look at the variations! by rrevbbd (Ravelry) by knitterrie (Ravelry) by madingley (Ravelry) and, mine! Umm, someone didn’t pay attention to gauge!! In my defense, I did use a size 8 needle which is pretty small for Cadena but you know that I am a loose knitter. And, when I am making something more involved or larger than a hat, I am good about gauge. But, I was so excited about Jared’s design that I could not wait to get started!! Here’s the “Ta Da” My first successful felting project!! Please note how nicely I shaped the crown! Yep, I am thrilled!! I used one and a half skeins of Cadena, Saffron, to ...

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It’s in the bag!

There are a lot of bag kits available for fall! Bags are a great way to learn new techniques without worrying about whether the finished product needs to fit. But, they often require a lot of finishing and findings that you wouldn’t ordinarily use for a garment. And, since a bag can really be a great statement piece or say a lot about its wearer, finding unique purse hardware can really add to the impact! So, where do you start? Well, take the Arden Bag, for instance. The only necessary parts are handles and a zipper, though other supplies are suggested (purse feet and webbing). The rest is up to you. None of the finishing supplies come with this particular kit, because there are just so many options that it would have been difficult to choose for you! So, this is where you can really have fun with ...

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Spock Monkey and ClosetGeek are famous.

Today Deborah Douglas, the creator of the cute Captain Kirk creation that you originally saw in the Halloween slideshow, sent us a link to this video of a local news story about her friend, Elisa Willis, AKA ClosetGeek, her Spock Monkey, and our Mr. Foster Halloween Costume Contest! Captain James Tiberius Kirk Monkey Can you believe that Spock Monkey was on the news? And that he and Captain Kirk really got to meet Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner? That’s too cool! Spock Monkey There isn’t currently a Spock Monkey pattern available, but you can still get the pattern for Mr. Foster and his pajamas, robe, scrubs & lab coat, officer cap, shirt & pants, and sailor pants, shirt & cap here. <

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Mary Scott Huff event is next week!

I am so excited about the Mary Scott Huff event! Here is a reminder of the event details: Date: November 11, 2009 Time: 7-9pm Location: Billy Frank Jr room at the Ecotrust building 721 NW 9th Ave Portland, Oregon 97209 The Ecotrust Building is one of my favorite spots in Portland. It was the first LEED Gold certified historic renovation in the country. Much of the building uses reclaimed and recycled materials and the building is notable for its sustainable and energy efficient building techniques. The Ecotrust building is a really beautiful and unique space. It is also in a really convenient location. The streetcar stop on Johnson is right in front of the Ecotrust building. If you take the bus or Max into downtown Portland, it is very easy to transfer to the streetcar lines. There is a very helpful trip planner on the Trimet website. Since our event is occurring on Veteran’s day, ...

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Photo behind the scenes & a contest!

Now that our November catalog projects are online and catalogs are in the mail, I thought it would be fun to show you a few “behind the scenes” snapshots of our catalog shots. Often we have to put ourselves and our models in ridiculous looking situations to get that lovely and natural looking shot. To make things a little interesting, we’ve decided to make a game out of it. Can you guess what the product is we’re shooting? (Hint: It’s either a kit or a book project.) Contest Directions: Email the item i.d. number or the KnitPicks.com URL of the product shown in each of the following four photos to contests@knitpicks.com by 11/17/09. We will randomly draw a winner from the correct entries who will win the Knit Picks kit of their choice. Kindly put “photo contest” in the subject line. Please do not post the answers in the comments! If ...

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Final sock knitting videos!

Here are the final two sock class videos. The first one will walk you through how to make your decreases for the toe, and then the second video shows you how to do the Kitchener stitch to close the toe. Once you’re finished with the toe, you’re all set! I’ve also added the new videos to the list of sock class videos so you can find them all in one place in the Sock KAL. <

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Mr. Foster Halloween Costume Contest Winner!!!

This Halloween, Mr. Foster is dressing up as Spock! Find more photos like this on Knitting Community Yes, the winner of our Mr. Foster Halloween contest is Spock by Elisa Willis, aka ClosetGeek. Spock got 262 votes!!! Nice work Elisa! Keep an eye out for a private message so we can get your address and mail you a Carmen Banana kit as your prize. It was really hard picking our top 3 costumes for you guys to vote on. We got so many amazing entries. Thanks for helping Mr. Foster think of a Halloween costume. Happy Halloween from Mr. F and all of us here at Knit Picks! <

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Happy Halloween!

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year because I love to see people wearing crafty and creative costumes! Since Halloween is on a Saturday this year, we decided to come to work on Friday wearing our costumes. This is the marketing department. From left to right, Kyle is a cowboy, Melissa is a crazy craft lady, Diane is a pirate (she has paintbrushes and yarn in her treasure box), Marci is the lady from the Snuggie commercial, Angela is a tattooed lady, I am also a cowboy, and Alison is an explorer. What are you going to be for Halloween? Did anyone knit or make your own costume? <

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