100K!

I realize that I shouldn’t be shocked any longer at just how big the IDP program has gotten over the past 15 months but I just got some big news –  this past weekend we hit 100,000 pattern sales!  Wow!  That is amazing – and best of all, all of those sales went directly to the fantastic group of designers we have in the program so far.  As of last week, we have over 350 IDP designers – we generally add about 20 new designers a month in fact!

Have you checked out some of the new patterns recently?  There’s been so much exciting new stuff coming out – my queue grows larger & larger every week!  Here are some of my favorite new designers & patterns:

 

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New Book Pattern Downloads

As we’ve told you in the past, we have been working with several of our book publishers to bring you pattern downloads from select books. This way you can choose to purchase one or two patterns of your favorite patterns at $1.99 each from a book rather than buy the whole book… Today I am excited to let you know we now have new book, Arctic Lace by Donna Druchunas, added to our selection.

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The results are in for the 2011 Reader’s Choice Awards!

As many of you already know, several of Knit Picks’ yarns and needles
were nominated for Best-Of in the 2011 Reader’s Choice Awards on about.com.
To become a finalist for the awards, about.com’s staff must sift
through hundreds of different nominations and pick the top five for each
of the five categories.  We are elated to say that Knit Picks was
selected as a finalist in four out of the five categories, including:
Best Wool Yarn (Wool of the Andes); Best Cotton Yarn (double nomination – Shine and Simply Cotton); Best Sock Yarn (Stroll); and finally, Best Knitting Needles (double nomination – Harmony and Options Interchangeables). 

As if that weren’t exciting enough, we are delighted to say that we
took home the 1st place spot for the Best Knitting Needles category with
our Harmony wood needles! (insert happy dance)

If you would like to read about the awards, click here: Reader’s Choice Awards – Knitting.

Thank you so much to everyone who voted for us, we really appreciate your support!

 

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Beyond my wildest expectations!


Yarn – Aloft

PLUS  Design – Belinda Shawl in Mason Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines

EQUALS (had to refer to a thesaurus because I knew just one word wouldn’t be enough)
Diaphanus, gossamer, luminous, radiant, resplendent, shimmering, exquisite, elegant, ethereal – you get the idea. This layer is done in Tarragon. I can’t wait to see what happens when I start the Eggplant layer.
P.S. Kay and Ann recommend using straight needles but I am using Zephyr circulars and I’m a happy camper. But, don’t forget that we do have straight Harmony needles.
 
 

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Possible cure for Second Sock Syndrome

I seem to have returned to knitting socks with DPNs. I still use the Magic Loop Method for certain sock designs. What I do still appreciate with the Magic Loop Method is being able to knit two socks at the same time so there is no Second Sock Syndrome…

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Finished Handspun Yarn – Blues and Purples

I finished spinning all 500g of the Wool of the Andes roving
that I dyed
!

I did end up plying the lighter blue bobbins (the top two in the photo above) with the darker purple-and-blue bobbins so that the color would even out among the skeins. It worked for the most part, and I ended up with 5 skeins that varied only slightly – one is more purple, one more dark blue, etc.

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Slippies and Hot Water Bottle

Warm and happy. Nice new slippers to celebrate all of the snow we had at our home the last couple of weeks. And, in my enthusiasm for Chroma in fingering weight, I had completely forgot that we also had it available in worsted weight. Alison pointed this out to me as I blocked my Gentle Reversible Shawl and was trying to figure out my next Chroma project.

This is my free Seed Stitch Hot Water Bottle Cover pattern. I used the twisted stitch version to give the fabric even more texture. It only took a few hours to knit the cover so I was able to use it to keep warm during the worst part of our winter storm.  I used one ball of Chroma Worsted in the Mesa colorway plus a little bit more. The good news is there was plenty of yarn left in the second ball to make a hat.

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So, how are those resolutions going?

Progress is delicious!

OK, admit it. It’s the beginning of March – you’ve probably forgotten
what your knitting resolutions even were for this year. I mean, isn’t
that the point of resolutions? You’re supposed to forget aaaaaallll
about them till about December 15.

Well, unless you’re me and you’re completely out of your mind. Why do
I say that? Because not only do I have lofty goals for this year, but I
have all of them. Pretty much. Ok, let me explain.

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