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.
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Over here at Knit Picks, we have been going crazy with the fun new accessory and gift items. You spoke and we listened – there are so many to choose from! You can find them in the New Tools section. I wanted to show you some of my favorites. First there’s the fun entertainment when you aren’t knitting…
There’s been an explosion of soon-to-appear babies in my life – cousins, friends, coworkers, they’re everywhere! The news causes my two-part reaction of a) “Congratulations!” and b) furious knitting of wee baby things.
The only problem is that, since these babies haven’t arrived, I have to show you my finished projects photographed flat on a table instead of on a cute round head.
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I recently finished spinning a bunch of the roving that I had dyed with Greener Shades dyes back in February. I was trying to work my way through a bin of older fiber before I allowed myself to play with my new goodies – thinking about it, it’s kind of weird that I create so many rules for myself while working on tasks that are supposed to be purely recreational.
Anyway, I ended up pulling out several braids of dyed Merino that seemed the most fun, then spun them each into a lofty 2-ply bulky weight yarn. I had split each braid in half and then predrafted the fiber without splitting it further, resulting in long color repeats for each single ply. When I plied them together, I got a nice barberpole effect that should work up as subtly shifting stripes.
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November is almost here! And that means that there’s a new catalog in the works. In the spirit of cooler weather and cozier knits, the next cover is a tiny fiber village! I spent the past two winters in a tiny town in rural Vermont enjoying deep snow, icy ponds and farm houses blanketed with snow so this season I couldn’t resist recreating some of those memories with soft, cozy fiber.
Read more »O hey, everyone! My name is Jenny and I’m a brand new,
pleased-as-punch addition to the Knit Picks staff. As time goes on, I hope to
share all my beautiful, botched or just plain shrug-inducing projects with you!
It’ll be fun, I promise.
First and foremost, I don’t knit. And frankly, how are you
all doing it? Was I merely born with the dexterity of child wearing thick
mittens? The needles! The way you must hold TWO of them!
On the other hand:
Crocheting.
Thanks for a great contest! We randomly chose 2 winners for the contest – each will win the toy of their choice, along with a copy of the the pattern, which designer Ann Marie Ivins generously donated. They will also receive as a copy of Linda Permann‘s excellent new book as well!
For Quinao, the winner is:
Beth Rudo!
Who wrote: My favorite crochet pattern is the Tunisian Mitered Square afghan. I’m making one right now. And I would love to have Qinyao.
For Roxy, the winner is:
Marie/Underground Crafter!
Who wrote: My favorite crochet pattern of all time is probably Monet Pineapple, by Janie Herrin (RIP). This was my very first pineapple and I made several afghans from this pattern as gifts. I would love the Roxy, please, if I win. Thanks for offering the giveaway!
Thanks everyone! I think these will go to very happy homes!
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All of use here in the office read lots of crafting blogs – we’re all bigtime crafters so we like to keep up with what’s going on! One of our favorites is Sweatshop of Love, the wonderful blog by Allyson Dykhuizen. We were delighted when she submitted some of her designs for the IDP program. Now she has a cute little free pattern with us too!
Presenting the Tinfoil Tiara Brigade: The Headband Pattern!
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One of the best things about this job is the fact that I finally was
introduced to crochet, much to my mom’s delight. She had tried to teach
me so many times but it never stuck until about a year ago – and now I
have so many great crochet patterns to choose from!
Two of my all time favorite crochet designers are Ann Marie Ivins and Linda Permann
– both of of whom I’ve discussed here on the blog. Because I think
they are both so wonderful, I figured I’d hold a blog contest to
celebrate them!
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There are so many reasons to love yarn, and those reasons are as
different as the crafters who use it. But, what we can agree on is that
using yarn confers a benefit to us. (Otherwise, why would we keep on
using it?) One of the greatest benefits for me, is that yarn and
knitting give me a way to pass time that otherwise would be wasted, or
spent doing something much less pleasant. It allows me to take those
little chunks of time standing in line at the grocery store, in the
waiting room at the dentist, riding the train, etc., and turn them into
productive moments. When you’re an on-the-go type of knitter, it’s kind
of amazing how much time you never knew you had! But, sometimes, life
throws you a situation in which waiting is all you can do, and unless
you have something to keep your brain busy, it drags on forever. Like
the hospital!
We checked in at 7am. I pulled out the little sleeves as the nurses went through the pre-op procedure.
