What really happens in the Knit Picks office

The Knit Picks office is a pretty busy place.  We are always working on the catalog, or developing new products.  But that doesn’t mean that it’s all work and no play!

I came to work wearing some awesome crocheted slippers that I bought at Last Thursday (an arts festival in Portland on Alberta Street).  I love how bright and crazy they are!  Stacey wanted to take my picture, and I decided to do a high kick!

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A gift from another knitting enthusiast


 

Apparently knitting is extremely popular in Argentina. In fact, there is a Yarn District in Buenos Aires!

My friend Jody lives in Argentina.  She sent this yarn to me because she thought I would appreciate the uniqueness of this yarn, and she knew I would love the autumn colors!  This yarn is a bulky thick and thin yarn, with orange felted flowers tied to this really interesting art yarn.

 

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Let me introduce you to my drop spindle

Of course, introductions require names. I’ve always named my spinning wheels. My Kromsky Sonata is Elizabeth. My Joy is Amy. But, I never thought about naming my drop spindles.  

The last couple of years I’ve become enamoured with drop spindling. I’ve learned to appreciate the beauty and personality of each of my drop spindles. The surprising productivity that comes from the portability of drop spindles. I am just as likely to grab a spindle and fiber as I head out the door each morning as I am to take along a knitting project.

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Spinning Out of Control!

My coworkers and I are so excited that we are finally offering spinning supplies, because we’ve been crazy about spinning for a long time.  I learned how to knit first, and then my love of yarn drove me to try to spin with a drop spindle made out of a cd and a dowel, and later I bought a spinning wheel.  Kelley actually learned how to spin before she started knitting.  In college, she had a work study job at her college’s library, and many of her coworkers were spinners and taught her!  Alison is a spinning maniac, bringing in hanks of handspun to the office almost every Monday morning.  

We all hang out after work for informal craft nights, but we thought it would be fun for everyone to bring their spinning wheels to work so we could gather and spin together!

 

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The best words a knitter can hear

A while back, I posted about the sweater I was knitting for my hubby for our anniversary.

It
had some issues: the shoulders weren’t quite right, and the motif was
puckering. Well, after a hasty finish, I presented it to him on our
anniversary trip with a rather cool reception. I had no idea if he
actually liked it or if he was being nice. I knew it was too warm to
wear at that point, so I figured I’d have time to fix the issues and
throw a zipper in before he could wear it.

So, fast forward a few months. We had a trip to Crater Lake looming, and he needed a warm sweater.

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Every knitter should give spinning a try

 

I know that my early confidence with knitting was the result of learning to spin before I learned to knit. Transforming fiber into yarn gave me an understanding not only of the properties of different fibers but also what I could expect from my finished yarn.

 

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Who Wants to Design a Sweater?

Are you tired of knitting from patterns? Do you have a sweater in
your imagination that you can’t quite find the perfect instructions
for? Are you an aspiring garment designer?

If any of these
questions piqued your interest, then you are probably ready to design
your own sweater! I’ll be teaching an online class over the next 8
weeks right here on the Stash Blog, which will cover everything you
need to know to knit a seamless sweater from the bottom up to fit your
personal measurements precisely! Each week, there will be video
discussions of the curent topic and free pdf downloads of my notes and
worksheets. I’ll be knitting my own sweater as we go, and if you knit along with
me, you’ll be able to easily have yours done too in the 8-week period.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments section of the posts–I’ll
answer as many as humanly posible and other will chime in too, so that
folks who can’t knit along with us can still access the class later!

As
I learned while shooting the first video, I can really run off at the
mouth! So I’ll stop writing now and just let the videos speak for
themselves. This is our introductory lesson. I’ll be giving an overview
of the course, encouraging you to knit a sweater for yourself, and
discussing yarn options from a design perspective so that you can
select your yarns and be ready to start knitting with them in time for
next week’s discussion on gauge and swatching. Click through for the videos, and Enjoy!

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