In with the new!

Happy New Years, everybody! At the office, our resolution is to tidy up our collection of yarn samples here to make way for the amazing new yarns that will be coming this spring. It was such a big job, we had to enlist some special helpers!

Two of our coworkers’ daughters spent the day with us, sorting and organizing existing yarns and playing with the new stuff! I can’t show that just yet, but you’ll like it, I promise! 😉
It’ll be a long process, but it’s always worth it to organize your ‘stash’. What’s your knitting resolution for this year? <

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Knit Picks Speed Knitting Contest- win needles, yarn, and a book!

That’s right. Our last giveaway was such a success that we’re already at it again. But this time you’re going to have to work for that prize. Here’s what we want you to do.
We will be knitting a home decor project out of worsted weight yarn using size 10 needles. The first one to complete their project, post a photo on their Knitting Community blog, personal blog, or Ravelry and link to it from the Speed Knitting Contest knitalong wins a Knit Picks needle set (you choose which one), a fiber yarn sampler, and the knitting book of your choice. That’s over $100 value. The home decor project will not be announced until the last week of January to give everyone a chance to get their supplies, stretch properly, get well hydrated, and perfect their speed knitting techniques.
Here’s how it’s going to work:
Step 1- Join the Speed Knitting Contest Knitalong …

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Ever wonder where we get all the fun color names?

We go to color selection meetings hungry!

One of my all-time favorite snacks is clementines (in fact the one in this photo didn’t last long after the pic was taken!). When we decided on a new, cheery orange for Risata (and maybe a few other lines!), it had to be Clementine! The yarn’s color is quite a bit more lively in person, and is such a perfect orange. Not too yellow, not too red, not ‘pumpkin-y’ or neon or dull. Just pure, juicy orange. I love it!
Though they don’t all have food names, seeing the new colors of Risata together makes me wistful for youthful summers and rainbow popsicles. They are just the colors of pure joy, don’t you think? Yum!

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Speed Knitting Contest Update

I’m excited to see how many people have signed up to participate in our speed knitting contest.
The race isn’t on quite yet, but we’ve made a new video to help you get ready to knit FAST! This is a new take on the tips we’ve gleaned from Miriam Tegels, the world’s fastest knitter. At your request we’ve filmed it from a new perspective so you can get a better view of how to minimize your movements, keep your tension, and knit faster.
You’ve still got a couple more weeks to practice, Practice, PRACTICE!
Check back next week for a look at what techniques you’ll need to know to complete the mystery project successfully. Don’t worry, we consider this pattern an advanced beginner pattern, and we’ll provide a list of tutorials next week to give you a little time to master any you haven’t tried before. …

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Another use for all that lace yarn in your stash

I just finished my latest project…

I loved using double-stranded lace yarn on my Tempest cardigan, and there are so many good colors of Shadow that I wanted to try something similar but at a lower price point. I already had a ball of Shimmer in Cumulus in my stash, and I thought it might go nicely with another favorite, Shadow in Basalt Heather. I swatched them together a few different ways to see if my idea would work, washed the swatches, then got down to business.

I knit a basic raglan sweater in the round using two strands of Shadow held together. Every 6th row, I’d triple strand using two strands of Shadow and one of Shimmer. I was working at about 5.5 stitches per inch, so the miles and miles of stockinette went by pretty quickly. I also …

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Speed Knitting contest update #2- techniques and tutorials

First off, I’ve consulted with our judges and since our warehouse has been incredibly overwhelmed recently, and your packages have been taking a few extra days to go out (even though all the staff at the warehouse are putting in extra hours right now!), we’re going to delay the start date to make sure everyone who ordered the first week of January has time to get their yarn. The speed knitting contest will begin sometime during the first week of February. So if your yarn hasn’t arrived yet, don’t fret!
Secondly, our judges have decided that you will be allowed to knit the pattern on sizes 9″, 10″, 10.5″, and 11″ needles, depending on your gauge. If you have ordered size 10’s, you should be a-ok. Since it’s a home decor project, gauge isn’t as important as if it was a garment, but we wanted to allow a little more wiggle …

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