The Wonders of Weaving

A while back, I tackled my first ever weaving project and instantly loved not only the texture, but also the way colors interacted with each other. I was so impressed at how fast I was able to work through so much yarn that it didn’t take long for me to warp the Kromski Harp Loom for another project. Hannah has also been working on a few weaving projects recently and every time she brings in a newly finished project, my mind begins to wonder off and daydream of all sorts of fun, color-filled projects.

Having this itch to weave led me to Ravelry, where I discovered I was able to filter projects in a way that only showed weaving projects. I have been intrigued by the idea of working with Palette since there are over 100 colors to choose from. One click led to another, and I entered “Palette” into the search field to only show weaving projects that used Palette. One word: amazing! I was instantly inspired by all of the stunning projects that Knit Picks customers have made. There was one project, however, that just jumped out at me – yarnvista’s woven blanket!

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Fifty Percent!

I’ve been working on my hubby’s sweater now for a little over a month, and I’ve just passed 50% completion!

Both sleeves are finished, and the body is currently 8.5″ long – just
over a third done. For me, this is where the hard part begins – the
monotony of the next 23″! Luckily I’ve only got a foot left until I
break for the armscyes… yipes. My attention span on a project is
usually two weeks or so, so looking headlong into another month of
knitting this one project is daunting, to say the least. To keep my mind
busy, I’ve started timing my rounds. It takes about 10 minutes for
non-patterned rounds and up to half an hour for patterned rounds. So,
with about 75 rounds to the armscyes, that’s 25 hours and ten minutes
max. I could totally do that in a weekend, right?

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Cozy Hex Coat

I told my mother at the end of February that if anything in my Ravelry
queue caught her fancy, I would knit it for her. We browsed through all
the 514 patterns together and none of them were really speaking to her,
until the Swirled Pentagon Pullover from Knitting Nature. Her eyes lit up and we read through the pattern details. On a whim I clicked through to see all the patterns in Knitting Nature and that’s when my mother saw the Hex Coat, the pattern that really won her heart.

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How to Pick Up Dropped Stitches

A dropped stitch is something that probably most knitters have had to face at one point or another. It can be quite the frightening sight to see a stitch just hanging out somewhere in your knitting, far away from the needle where it should be nicely nestled on top of. Knowing how to pick up your stitches can help save a project just when you think all is lost and also prevent rows and rows of stitches from being ripped back.

And to help you conquer those dropped stitches, we put together this handy video tutorial that will guide you through each step as you work your stitch back up to your needle. Not only do we show you how to pick up a dropped stitch on both the knit and purl side of stockinette stitch, but also on garter stitch fabric. So grab a crochet hook, and get ready to pick up some stitches!

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More baby things!

Like Alison, I’ve been working on some baby things!  Two of my closest friends are having a baby in May & I’m so excited for them.  I wrote about my decision making back in January and wanted to be sure I shared the final result with you.

I was originally planning on making a log cabin style blanket with University of Oregon colors – yellow, green, white & black – since we all grew up in Eugene & are big U of O fans.  I ended up ordering Swish Worsted because I liked those colors the best & got started!

But then after a few rounds, I realized how mind numbingly dull it was to knit – and slow! I had just finished up my Bullseye Blanket and was really in the mood to crochet something else.  And then when I saw Alison’s gorgeous Ripple Blanket, I thought that might be a great project instead.  I happened to mentioned it on Twitter and Linda Permann had an even better suggestion – Lyn’s Round Ripple Baby Afghan!

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What would your perfect kit be?

As with any fashion-type industry, we plan all of our patterns and
kits well in advance of their release dates. In fact, we’re about to
start planning our projects for 2013!

With so many other projects in the works, it’s a daunting prospect to
come up with so many ideas at once. So, I turn to you, dear readers,
for inspiration! What kind of kits would you like to see in 2013?

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Podcast Episode 181: Color Development & New Spring Yarns

With spring just around the corner, there are lots of new yarns popping up here at Knit Picks! First, Alison chats with Jenny about all of the fun that was had while developing the fifteen new colors of Chroma Fingering and Chroma Worsted. Hear all about the colors that almost didn’t make the cut, how they were saved and which shades are quickly becoming staff favorites. Next up on the list of new yarns is Aloft! Jenny and Stacey chat about why they just can’t make up their minds and choose a favorite of Aloft’s five new colors, in addition to giving tips and tricks to working with Aloft and of course, there is also plently of pattern inspiration for this lovely yarn. Finally, Alison introduces Hannah, our catalog designer for Knit Picks! In addition to dreaming up fun cover shoots and making the catalog beautiful, Hannah also gets to …

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Chroma Surprise Jacket

Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Opinionated Knitter
was one of the first books I bought as a knitter. I loved the photos,
stories about the various school houses she lived in and more
specifically, the story behind her Baby Surprise Jacket. Fast forward six years and I had still not knit a single thing out of The Opinionated Knitter. However, after years of gazing longingly at my favorite pattern book, I was
finally able to rally my courage and make my own “Baby Surprise Jacket”.

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