Follow along and discover your next inspiration as we cast on for projects we love, explore new techniques, and dish about the latest and greatest from Knit Picks.
Meet the team »
Need a new project? Check out our Freebie Friday pattern this week – a pair of cute fingerless mitts!
These are Helen Duffy‘s Fingerless Mitts. I just love the little cable up the side.
Read more »With Kerin & Hannah’s recent posts on organizing their stash, I decided to work on my craft corner last weekend!
When I lived in Massachusetts, my significant other & I had a 3 bedroom house, which was great! I took the tiny room for my craft area, where I could keep all my yarny things, plus my sewing machine, books, a comfy chair and anything else I wanted in my own private sanctuary. It was a very small dark room but I liked having a place of my own.
When I first started knitting with my handspun yarn, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wished for a magical label marked with yarn weight, recommended needle size, yardage, and washing instructions. Over time, I’ve gotten better about documenting my handspun as I create it; when I don’t take notes, though, I have to just wing it!
For a recent cross-country trip I decided to give myself a little challenge – I packed nothing but 4 skeins of handspun yarn and an assortment of needle tips and cables. The four skeins I chose were finished more recently, so I hadn’t had time to measure the yardage, weigh them, or even match them up with other yarn for projects.
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I’ve been knitting for quite some time now (going on seven years! Phew!)
and I’ve only successfully knit two sweaters, both of which were
separated by years of socks, mittens and other smaller projects. It was
always so hard to take the plunge and invest in enough yarn for a full,
cozy sweater. This past summer I found the Larch Cardigan by Amy Christoffers and fell head over heels for it. The color and high collar really caught my eye! I fussed over which yellow and which yarn I would knit my new dream cardigan in and eventually settled on Stroll Sport in Mustard
to give it a nice, soft drape and so that I’d be able to machine wash
it. I set to work and finished all the pieces within two weeks! But…
then came the sleeves.
This week’s technique of the week is all about silk hankies! Also known as mawata, each silk hankie is made
of silk from cocoons that are stretched and dried over a square loom that can
then be pulled apart, drafted and worked into yarn. Best part of all is that you don’t need any special tools and you don’t even need to know how to spin in order to enjoy these lovely silk hankies. Simply peel off a light-as-air layer of silk and slowly pull it apart by beginning in the center, and you’ll be ready to knit or crochet with it.
These stunning Silk Hankies from Hanks in the Hood are available in so many beautiful colors, choosing your favorite just might be the hardest part! Another advantage for those unfamiliar to spinning techniques is that silk has very long fibers, which makes it easy to draft without accidentally pulling it completely apart. Although the process of turning your silk hankies into yarn is rather simple, it can be a bit intimidating at first and feel somewhat like you are venturing into unknown waters. And if you are anything like me, a little visual reference can go a long way when I am learning new techniques. Which is why we put together a video tutorial all about how to work with silk hankies. You’ll learn all about seperating and drafting each layer by layer, how to start working with your drafted fiber, along with other tips and trick for working with these beauties!
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There’s a lot to be said for gift yarns. When my friend went walking along the knitting shop row in Buenos Aires, Argentina, she bought a lovely skein of hand-dyed, ribbon yarn. It took a long time for me to find something to make out of the precious skein. I wanted a scarf or shawlette that I could knit without worrying about the yardage.
Read more »Love the look of lace but intimidated by the techniques? Let Kelley
guide you through the process of knitting lace as she goes over the
quirks of lace knitting, in addition to tips and tricks for successful
lace projects. Next, Kelley chats about one of her favorite things to do
while knitting or spinning – listening to audiobooks! Kelley gives an
overview of audible (an audiobook service) as well as several reviews of
recently completed audiobooks she has enjoyed listening to while
crafting. Finally, Kelley catches you up with projects that are on (and
ones that have recently come off) the needles. In keeping with the topic
of lace knitting, Kelley talks about her Elizabeth Zimmerman Anniversary Pi Shawl
that was recently completed. Kelley also chats about all of the lace
projects she was dreaming of while blocking her newly finished Pi Shawl, as well as a few socks that are still in progress.
And for even more …
Whenever I head out the door during the cold winter months, mittens are an essential part to my outfit. My hands always get so cold, especially during those early morning car rides into work – I really don’t know how I would manage without one of my many pairs of mittens! In fact, I have just started to wear holes through the top parts of where the pads of my fingers are on my very favorite pair of mittens. Instead of sulking in the tradegy of my fast fading pair of mitts, I saw this as a great opportunity to make myself another pair. So in honor of my love of mittens, we will kick of Technique Tuesday with Kelley’s Mitten class!
And just what is Technique Tuesday, you ask? Every week, we will feature a different technique, lesson, or video class to help build your crafting skills! Mittens are such a wonderful project for beginning knitters who are familiar with knitting in the round, but want to throw in a few extra skills. In addition to ribbing for the cuff, you will learn how to create a gusset for your thumb through a series of increases, which leads into the hand of the mitten that will later be tapered down through decreasing.
Read more »As we talked about in the last color theory blog post,
inspiration for color is all around us. In addition to seeing amazing combinations of
colors in nature, we can even look back through works of art to find patterns
of color combinations that have stayed true for hundreds of years. Continuing
along with our theme of warming up the winter blues, we will take a closer look
at different shade of blue along with colors that are often paired with
blues – including paintings from centuries ago to present day fashion.
When I think of exceptionally lovely uses of the color blue,
I can’t help but think of the 17th century Dutch painter, Johannes Vermeer. Known
best for his domestic scenes of middle class life, Vermeer was also
particularly fond of bright, vibrant shades of blues which were often paired
with bold colors such as yellows, oranges, and reds.
Begins with a single slip knot!
The yarn for hubby’s sweater is here! I think he was even more
excited than I was when I first opened the box on our couch. He grabbed
it and took a deep whif of its woolly goodness. I’ve trained him well!
Now for the fun part – designing the sweater!
