Not really thrilled with my work
by Kelley on August 30, 2011
During Sock Summit I had a friend come with me to pick out yarn for a pair of socks. She was drawn to the colors in the Three Irish Girls booth.
Read more »
The making of a neo-classic
by Knit Picks Staff on August 26, 2011
When we were developing Chroma, we discussed its merits in the realm
of faux fair isle. (That is, stranded knitting where the yarn does the
color changing for you.) For some reason, I’ve always associated the
words ‘faux’ and ‘bas-relief’ – perhaps it’s the silent letters, perhaps
it’s just the mashed-up remnants of art school. But whatever the
reasons, that planted the seeds of a Greco-Roman inspired faux isle
pattern. Given that the medium of architecture (espectially in
antiquity) was stone, Chroma was sure to inject new life into an old
theme! And what resulted are the two Architecture Hat and Mitts sets.
Each of these two kits is a separate pattern. The first one, Columns, was inspired by columns of the Ionic Order…
Read more »
IDP Photoshoots
by Stacey on August 25, 2011
As the IDP Coordinator, one of the more fun parts of my job is doing photo shoots. Some designers aren’t able to take photos that work on our website so every 6 weeks or so, we schdedule an IDP photo shoot where we photograph the projects on one of our models. Usually, when I do the shoots, there’s about 20-30 projects that need to be photographed all in one day!
My favorites shoots are the ones we can do outside – often times (especially from October – March) we aren’t able to because it’s too cold (or in most cases rainy!). But in the milder months, it’s a lot more fun. While most of the photos you see in the catalog are shot in different locations, all the IDP shoots are done right around our office. Luckily, our offices are surrounded by nature rather than buliding so we have lots of options for backgrounds!
Like we have pretty trees…
Podcast Episode 166: eBook Author Interviews
by Knit Picks Podcast on August 24, 2011
This week is all about eBooks! First, Kelley gets a chance to talk with Erica Jackofsky, an IDP designer and author of the eBooks Sweet Treats and Musical Minds. Next up, Alison chats with Lee Meredith, who designed the Swerve Mitts available through IDP and created the eBook, Game Knitting. Kelley then catches up with Liat Gat who created a unique format where eBooks combine with videos. Liat currently has five eBooks available through Knit Picks and includes eBooks on magic loop socks, magic loop, 2-at-a-time mittens, learn to knit continental, and double knitting. Finally, Alison talks with designer, Beth Hahn who also is part of the IDP program and combines stories, watercolor illustrations and knitting patterns in her series of eBooks, The Adventures of Miss Flitt.
3 easy ways to listen…
Read more »
You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!!
by Knit Picks Staff on August 19, 2011
I learned to knit continental style and fair isle after 35 years of “throwing”… see me do the happy dance??
Vacation Projects
by Stacey on August 11, 2011
So what kind of crafting projects do you choose for your vacations? Do you choose something simple & mindless (why stress about something while on vacation?) or do you go all out for something complicated?
For myself, I pretty much choose mindless projects for when I’m traveling for vacation – that way I don’t have to carry charts or anything around. But I’m going to do something different when I’m on vacation next week. I’m not going to be doing any traveling beyond a trip to Seattle on the weekend to see my two favorite baseball teams play and I’ll be driving so no time to knit then! So it’ll be a “staycation” and I decided to challenge myself.
(both of these photos courtsey of Erica Jackofsky)
Read more »
Going toe-up can be a good thing – for socks!
by Knit Picks Staff on August 10, 2011
Now that Sock Summit has come and gone, I have to plan out what to do
with all the yummy new sock yarn I have! Since I have a goal to use up
all my Sock Summit purchases by the end of the year, I’d better get
cracking. But, after having knit so many pair of socks, I’ve learned a
lot about speeding up the process. First came the Magic Loop method and
knitting two socks at once – that totally eliminated second sock
syndrome for me. But what really sped things up was knitting my socks
toe-up. That gave me the ability to finish the socks at any point I
wanted past the heels, and not have to worry about running out of yarn
before the toes were done.
But, toe-up cast-ons can be fiddly and
hard to manage – and there are lots of them to choose from! So, how do
you find one that suits you best, and how do you actually work the
cast-on? To help, I did some short tutorial videos for the three toe-up
cast-ons you’re most likely to encounter: click to see more!
Sock Summit Recap
by Jenny K on August 10, 2011
It was just over a week ago that sock knitters took over Portland,
Oregon for the second ever Sock Summit! I was lucky enough to have gone
to the first Sock Summit, and was just as excited about being able to
attend this year as well. First of all, I have to point out the obvious –
knitters are pretty awesome people! No matter where I found myself or
which table I sat down at, I was quickly immersed in conversation with
other knitters. It sure is a wonderful feeling to have an instant point
of connection to everyone around you, all connected by our simple love
of all things fiber.
I’m in the middle of books galore!!!
by Knit Picks Staff on August 9, 2011
Hey, have you heard about all the books Knit Picks has? (or
will have?) Like Knit One Knit All by Elizabeth Zimmermann.
It’s not the organizing that’ll kill you!
by Kelley on August 4, 2011
I had an epiphany last night. I spent Saturday cleaning my closet and
pulling out my stash. Last fall I had organized my stash. I was
inspired by my Sock Summit’s purchases. As I laid everything out on the
living room floor, I pulled up Ravelry.
I have been very slow catching on to the tools available to me in
Ravelry. I just learned how to search for projects based on the yarn
weight. I decided to see what I could find to use up my collection of
lace yarns. After clicking on the Patterns button on the main Ravelry
page, I put “lace weight yarn” in the Search block.
That’s when I realized that organizing my stash isn’t really the
challenge – it’s the assigning of projects that takes time and a lot of
consideration. Without a plan, my stash would go back into my closet
looking much more appealing but likely to sit there forgotten. A
terrible fate for yarns I love.
I still need to make notes in my Springpad system, but look what I found for my lace yarn collection.
Read more »