Category Archives: Inspiration

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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Fall Felting

The weather is turning colder, and it’s a great time to be thinking about warm slippers, hot cider, and snuggling by the fire under a cozy afghan. I’m busy with several felting projects at the moment, and fall is such a nice time to work on things like that. I’ve got 4 pairs of slippers in process (serially, not concurrently) – one pair in the Laced Slippers Pattern, and I’m working on the Town Slipper Kit set for my nephews for Christmas. (I think I’m safe from their prying eyes here, as they are off doing teenaged boy things, not reading my knitting blog!) I’m also working on a lovely felted afghan for my brother from the Nordic Felted Knits book. It’s crocheted as a huge, loose, lacy piece, and then felted. I’m doing it in a dark brown, and I think it will ...

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November Catalog Preview

Hey guys! I’ve been working here for months but I’d like to officially introduce myself, I’m the new catalog designer for Knit Picks. I’m a very beginner knitter, but I’ve been working for Knit Picks sister company, Connecting Threads for years, so I’m familiar with all the amazing people that work here! That said, we have some great projects in our up coming November catalog. This catalog is all about small, quick-to-knit items that make good stocking stuffers. Or if you want to give your self something nice, we’ve got kits and patterns for you as well. The Arden bag is a personal fav, it’s well constructed and the color options are subdued but stylish. We’ve done it a bit differently this time, instead of the putting the entire catalog online, we’ve picked out at few highlights. I’ve made a smaller preview, sort of a snapshot, to look ...

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CLiC Tuesday – Hurrah!

I had forgotten how energizing it is once you have joined the sleeves of a sweater with the body! My cardigan is now my constant knitting companion! Remember, it is football season so I have lots of time to knit! 🙂 <

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Mary Scott Huff Talk and Book Signing in Portland, Oregon 11/11/09

Hey Portland Area Knitters! We are having a local event, and we would love to meet you all in person! Local author, Mary Scott Huff, is releasing a gorgeous new book, The New Stranded Colorwork, and we are so excited about it that we are organizing an author’s talk, trunk show, and book signing to celebrate. We have been fans of Mary Scott Huff’s designs for awhile. She designed several exclusive Knit Picks patterns such as the Selbu Blazer, the Lace-Rib Shrug, and the Empress Pullover. But The New Stranded Colorwork celebrates Fair Isle knitting. She has patterns for women, men, and children. There are both sweaters and accessories. And Mary Scott Huff’s signature is rethinking traditional techniques and motifs to create new, fresh, and whimsical designs that stand out in your mind until they end up on the top of your knitting queue. The event will begin with Mary ...

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