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 »
You don’t need to be a spinner to love fibers! I’m not a spinner but it doesn’t stop me from indulging in an assortment
of fiber. That’s why I am so excited that Knit Picks is now selling many
types of fiber.
There’s Wool of the Andes roving in Bare and in colors, recycled fibers with Full Circle Roving; there are spinning batts in many colors and now silk hankies!
Read more »It’s officially one week into December, and like many people, I have a few projects that are just about ready for finishing – things like seaming, weaving in ends, blocking, etc. This year, I will be trying to work on the finishing touches as I go along, which means I will hopefully be able to avoid the mad dash of sewing and seaming.
For one reason or another, as soon as I bind off my last stitch my mind instantly categorizes my project as done. But! There is still so much to do after binding off, I know this yet, I try to avoid it. Once I get into a good workflow, I can spend the weekend finishing up projects and blocking out shawls with no problem. Like everything, starting is the hardest part – even if it is the finishing that you are starting on.
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‘Tis the season for knitting and general fiber craft madness! It’s foggy
outside and I’m keeping my cocoa mug topped off while I round out my
basket full of finished presents for family, friends and… of course,
the various pets! I like switching between something that will give
me that instant gratification and those complicated heirloom-quality
pieces that demand a greater portion of my brain. So, I thought I’d share some of the products of my industrious little
needles, just in case there are some of you out there who need a little
nudge of inspiration!
If you’re like me and haven’t started your holiday shopping yet,
don’t fear – there’s still time! And if you’re trying to find just the
thing for your knitting friends, we have lots of options.
Besides yarn and needles, our kits
make great gifts. It comes all packaged up for you (just need some
paper and a bow!), and contains everything you need to make a project.
They make it easy for you to get your shopping done and find something
for every knitter on your list!
Accessories
Accessories are fun to make and wear and are a great medium for learning new things.
This stylish cap pairs a simple slip stitch pattern with advanced
finishing. This is a great project for someone who is a little uneasy
about hemming, lining, seams and sewing – by the end of this hat,
they’ll be a pro!
So how is your gift crafting coming along? For myself, I’m a little over halfway on my handmade gifts – I have 4 nieces & nephews and each requested some sort of knitted item (yes, I’ve trained them well). They run in ages from 5 to 12 and all of them love silly little toys – which is good because I love making them! So I thought I’d share with you some of my favorite toy books & patterns if you need some gift ideas!
If you’ve been following the blog for awhile, you may remember that I’m a huge fan of Rebecca Danger and her monsters.
I am what some people call a “fashion enthusiast”. More accurately, I
am a fashion fiend. In my past life (before marriage, college and job),
I used to model for some really cool local designers, and even a couple
of high-fashion brands. I stopped modeling professionally when I was
about 18 but those years in the industry have definitely left their
mark. Every season since then, I have made a ritual of stocking up on
fashion mags and gummy bears and devoting a full day to sifting through
the pages of beautiful (and quite often crazy) fashion trends that will
soon be gracing the shelves of local stores.
Over the weekend, my husband and I were invited to attend a private shopping party at Nordstrom
where, while being fed an unreasonable amount of champagne and hors
d’oevures, we were allowed to browse some of the upcoming season’s
hottest fashion trends. While I am the world’s biggest sucker for a new
pair of jeans, this season’s shopping party was all about accessories
for me. As I was calmly (ha!) sorting through the shelves of beautiful items,
I started to notice a trend. Knits!
Most of the items that
I fell in love with were things that most knitters/crocheters could
make fairly easily! I thought that since so many of you are much more
talented than I, I would share some of the things that I saw flying out
the door last night in the arms of proud shoppers, like myself, in hopes
that you can gain inspiration for any last minute gifts.
Do you need a beautiful gift that would work for every lady on your list? (Or, like me, you just need to make more fingerless mitss because you lose them all the time). Well our Freebie Friday pattern this week is a lovely pair by designer Susanna IC.
These are BonBons and just as sweet as their name!
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Ice scrapers are a sure sign that it’s time to break out those “serious”
sweaters that I’ve had packed away since Vermont. Oh how those sweaters
kept me toasty! Unfortunately it looks like two of them have met with
the dreaded wool-nibbling moths! I was able to poke a finger through all
four holes. After frowning for a moment and pledging to make some
little sachets of cedar shavings, I brightened up a bit when I realized
that the new Full Circle Roving had the perfect colors to repair both sweaters without any fuss at all!
When I found out that one of my close friends was pregnant, my mind instantly wondered off to all of the adorable baby knitting I would be able to enjoy in the next few months. Tiny booties. Cute hats. Little sweaters. And of course, the baby blanket. This would be the biggest project of all my baby knitting plans, so it was first on my list to start.
