General

Out of the frying pan…

Amy – upon receiving my first Techniques with Theresa contribution in over a year – asked me if I’d like to talk about what I’ve been up to since leaving you with a “Part One” – yet Part Two-less – for way too long. Here’s my story. Last fall, my husband turned to me suddenly and said “How would you like to try living in the US for a while?” I was gobsmacked. We’d talked about this for years in a vague, theoretical kind of way. But having lived in Norway since 1999, I felt at least half Norwegian. I love my adopted country and my Norwegian family, had ...

Spining Tuesdays: Corespinning – try this!

I can’t stop thinking about and trying different ways to corespin. I want it to be balanced and soft. I have a dream of knitting some sort of sweater out of corespun – loose and layer-y. I’ve been researching different ways to corespin. I’ve found a bunch of different methods and haven’t tried them all yet, but I wil,l and will report back. Here’s the one I tried this week and I really like the result – Coreless Corespinning. With this technique you split off a small amount of your batt – about a pinkie finger’s thickness, and spin a single while you are ...

Spinning Tuesdays: Phat Fiber Fluff Box

I got a Phat Fiber Fluff Box in the mail. Did you hear me squee? Don’t know what Phat Fiber is? There is a detailed description here, but in a nutshell it is a box of samples, either fiber, yarn or a mix. Fiber artists contribute a certain number of small samples that they have dyed, carded and packaged as they are inspired by the theme of the month. Phat Fiber boxes go on sale once a month and there is a limited number of each box, so you have to click quickly. The theme for August is Bollywood! Look at the beautiful box full of fiber: 20 little fiber packages, not counting the extra goodies like buttons, ...

A peek into Amy’s classes at VK Live this September!

Amy here. This week, 5 really cool people are blogging about the upcoming Vogue Knitting Live event, to be held in Los Angeles this September. I feel privileged to be the 6th. Did you know I teach knitting classes? I do. I started teaching when No Sheep for You was published, to help spread the non-wool knitting knowledge as far as I could. What I learned in those early classes is how much I love the lightbulb moments — when something you say as a teacher hits straight home with a student, and the lightbulb moves away from your head and over theirs. That’s a bit dramatic, but hopefully you know what I mean. ...

Spinning Tuesdays: A Winner and the Tour de Fleece

Our winner of our last fabulous spinner’s haul is Heather in Maine. Congratulations, Heather! Our thanks to Storey Publishing, The Spinning Loft and Interweave for our prizes. Thanks to Deb Robson for writing such an inspirational book!   Are you spinning for the Tour de Fleece? This year the Tour completely snuck up on me and it’s in the midst for the nuttiest time of summer for my family. But I can’t let it pass, I love a challenge. I’m going to spin for Tappen Zee by Amy King. I’ve been wanting to make it since we published it in Knittyspin. What will I spin it out of? ...

Spinning Tuesdays : Qiviut and Leicester Longwool

I’m back to spinning from Deb Robson’s Must Spins. I’m almost done with the list and I’m both ready to be done and a little sad. I’ve learned so much about different fibers and tried fibers I never would. Mostly I’ve learned to really look at and think about fibers before I start to spin.   This week’s first spin is Qiviut. Yep, this is a sexy as I’ve heard. So soft it’s almost distracting, I’m happy to just pet it. The Qiviut I have was ready to spin. I spun from a cloud, using a supported long draw. I found it a little harder to control than Cashmere, ...

Spinning Tuesdays: A Winner, Kid Mohair and Churro

Our winner of the spectacular spinning gift basket is : Rachael from Rochester. Congratulations Rachael, happy spinning and learning about different fibers. A big Thank You to Storey Publishing, Interweave and The Spinning Loft for supplying our prizes.   On to our spinning! First this week I spun Kid Mohair Wow this was fun to work with! Silky and sexy – it’s most of what makes up Rowan’s famous Kid Silk Haze after all. I didn’t both to wash the fiber, it had a little vm, but no real dirt and it wasn’t sticky. I combed the fiber and made two samples, one thin and one thick spinning ...

Spinning Tuesdays: Merino and Clun Forest

This week’s entries in my spin along with Deb Robson’s lists are Merino and Clun Forest. I know that Merino isn’t next on the spinning list, but I’m waiting for some Southdown (yay!) so I skipped ahead. Merino has a reputation among spinners. They either  love it or don’t. I will admit to loving it, and also admit that Merino is the Diva of fibers, touchy and can be difficult to work with, but it completely worth it. My merino was gooey and sticky, with little to no VM. It took 3 good soaks with Power Scour to get it spinnably clean. Even in it’s prewashed state it was soft and ...

WWW: Every day is Sweater Day; Fundraiser for MSF; Grannies for Hire

This Thursday, February 17th, has been designated National Sweater Day in Canada. This initiative of the World Wildlife Fund is designed to help the environment by encouraging Canadians to put on a sweater and turn their furnaces down. Our very own Franklin participated in a radio show on NPR about the resurgence of knitting. Listen to a wonderful wide-ranging discussion here. There’s also some great historical knitting images and posters on the site, here. “Remember Pearl Harbor, purl harder!” Pennies Per Hour of Pleasure, also known as P/hop, is a knitting fundraiser for Doctors without ...

Valentine’s Day Ninja Bonus Contest!

Ooh, we’ve got a doozy for you today, knitters. Are you sitting down? At right, you see the lovely HiyaHiya Interchangeable Needle set in sizes US 9-15. There’s another set available in sizes US 2-8. So what’s the prize? What could you win? BOTH sets! No, really! I know! Here’s what HiyaHiya say about their needles: “HiyaHiya Steel Interchangeable Needles feature keyless screw-on connections and swivel cables. Our 5″ small set includes 7 sets of tips in sizes from 2-8US (2.75-5mm). Our large set includes 6 sets of tips in sizes from 9-15US (5.5-10mm). Each set includes a practical ...
Load More