Category Archives: Inspiration

Podcast Episode 204: Interview with Amy Clarke Moore

This week, Kelley gets a chance to talk with Amy Clarke Moore, editor of Spin-Off and Jane Austen Knits magazines from Interweave. Amy shares her story of how Jane Austen Knits started and talks about her collaberation with members of the Jane Austen Society who provide the depth and details in the wonderful articles throughout the magazine. If you are a fan of Jane Austen, you'll love this behind the scenes look at this wonderful publication.

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Knit Picks holiday yarn giveaway!

It’s the holiday season, and we know many of you have been busy the last couple of months knitting gifts until your fingers are numb. If you’ve blown your yarn budget on yarn to knit gifts for other people, and you’re slightly worried your friends and loved ones didn’t get the memo about buying you a Knit Picks gift certificate for your stocking, we’ve got the perfect holiday gift just for you. Free Knit Picks yarn! Now wait. Keep reading. There are important details to come, and if you don’t follow the instructions below, you’ll take yourself out of the running. We’ve picked 3 of our favorite patterns from the new Winter Knitty, and we’re going to pick 1 lucky Knit Picks customer per pattern and give them the yarn they need to knit that project. We’ve already picked the perfect Knit Picks yarn substitution for each project, and we’ve selected three ...

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In a Reverie

Like many knitters, as soon as I feel a chill in the air and the days start to get shorter, I start to daydream of what I like to call my perfect autumn sweater. For me - that means it's a sweater that is cozy and super soft, it's longer in length and has a big, billowing cowl neck. If all of the stars alligned and my aesthetic requirements were met, I would also throw in another request: to be made of a light and lofty fiber that is at the same time very warm. And after much contemplation, I finally found the sweater of my dreams: Francis Revisted by Beth Silverstein. Now, I have to admit - usually when I have all of the specifics imagined and planned out, it is almost always close to impossible for that dream to become a reality. So you can imagine how delighted I was as soon as Reverie arrived at the Knit Picks headquarters! It definitely met my light and lofty requirements in addition to being super soft and warm.

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Fun & Fast Fall accessories

If you're looking to take the chill out of a November morning, the Lampwork Hat & Mitts set is a colorful way to do just that! The pattern includes instructions for the beanie-style cap and fingerless mittens. Each piece is also multi-sized and customizeable for a perfect fit. Though the patterning itself is simple, a spicy touch is added...

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To Do List

Oh goodness, my holiday knitting queue just keeps getting larger! I spend a little bit of time every day trawling Ravelry and our library here for good patterns to knit (or crochet now!) up for everyone on my list and I thought I'd share a few of my favorites today.

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Podcast Episode 200: Celebrating Our 200th Podcast!

In honor of the 200th Knit Picks podcast, Kelley revisits one of her favorite episodes from the very beginning – deserted island knitting. Back in 2007, Kelley used this idea of being stranded on a deserted island to create her list of must-have knitting supplies. To start, Kelley shares two of her favorite blogs whose stories come awfully close to Kelley’s deserted island scenario. Both The Sailing Knitter and Island and North Country Life are blogs that follow the lives of two women traveling the high seas with knitting by their sides. Inspired by their stories, Kelley begins on her own list of must-have knitting supplies. Although there are some similarities to her list from 2007, Kelley’s focus is on drop spindling this time around with her cherished spindles from Golding Spindles being on top of her list. Along with plenty of fiber and silk hankies, Kelley also adds a ...

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My first IOU.

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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Make do and Mend

It's that time of year again: time to put away the sandals and dig through my collection of warm, comforting handknit socks. The only problem is that my sock drawer is empty - all of my socks are in the darning pile! I've often heard folks say, "Darning? That's when I say "darn!" as I toss them out!" I, however, prefer the old wartime motto: 'Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.'

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Podcast Episode 199: Interview with Anna Dalvi

Not ready to let go of your summer knitting just yet? Keep your lace projects inspired with this week’s podcast as Kelley chats with designer Anna Dalvi, author of the books Shaping Shawls and Ancient Egyptian Lace & Color. Hear all about Anna’s love of shawls and her design process for her book Shaping Shawls, which focuses on construction techniques for shawls. In her newest book, Ancient Egyptian Lace & Color, Anna uses her lace knitting expertise to explore the stories, symbolism, and mythologies of Egypt as reinterpreted through her lace designs. Anna also shares a few of her favorite mythological stories with Kelley and how they have inspired her designs. Ancient Egyptian Lace & Color. And don’t forget to check out Anna’s first book, Shaping Shawls! 3 easy ways to listen…

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Wearwithall – Knits for Your Life

The five knitters who came together to create Wearwithall wanted to offer a knitwear collection with enough variety to make their book the one you come back to again and again.With only 13 patterns, the designers have been completely successful. The breadth of the patterns gives you plenty to knit. But, each pattern can also lead to several more projects simply by making a few small changes.

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