What’s What Wednesdays

HolidayVacations has announced the details for the upcoming Craft Lit “Road to Rhinebeck” tour, scheduled October 8-16, 2011. This autumn adventure for book and fiber lovers starts with a tour of the literary haunts of Alcott, Thoreau, Dickinson, Hawthorne and more, includes a sprinkling of yarn shops, a visit to Kristin Nicholas’ fiber farm and ends at the fabulous New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck. Amy Detjen of Knit Circus and Schoolhouse Press and Heather Ordover of CraftLit will be your hosts. More info here. Speaking of wooly events, this weekend is Toronto’s Downtown Knit ...

Kelly C, comment number 821 is our winner for the Silk Road Socks book giveaway. Didn’t win and still want to knit those amazing socks?  You can buy your copy here. You can look at all the patterns on the book’s Ravelry page. Looking the Silk Road Socks KAL? Mary Scott Huff, a knitter, designer, author and teacher based in Oregon had more than her knitting needles stolen from her car: a collection of 17 very valuable, important and beautiful samples were stolen from her car outside her house last week. She has written a heartbreaking and wonderful open letter to the thief on her blog. If you’re in ...

The Knitted Bliss blog brings to our attention an absolutely stunning modification of a Knitty pattern: a shrug inspired by the Pomatomus socks. Bravo Jen! The first Vogue Knitting Live event takes place this weekend in New York City. It promises to be a fun weekend of shopping, classes and socializing. Organizers of the annual Leith Festival in Scotland are seeking contributions from knitters with the aim of “dressing” the woodland area where the festival is held. A enterprising 14-year old 8th grader in Wisconsin is knitting her way to Europe: she’s selling hats and scarves at a local arts ...

Crafting a recovery: a wonderful piece in the New York Times. Ready a hanky. A giant cardigan to celebrate the 900th anniversary of Cardigan, in Wales. Also in the UK, a great story about a new-generation company helping to bring the British wool industry back! If you’d like to create your own little wool industry, consider the contest from Juniper Farms. Enter to win a flock of sheep. Really! The Globe and Mail suggests that sweaters might be just thing to keep us Canadians warm through this cold winter… Seriously, some excellent sweater fashion eye-candy, a sensible video on how to care for wool ...

The winner of the Lisa Souza BFL sock yarn is comment number 742, Bridgette. The winner of the Cuckoo Mitten kit using The Loopy Ewe Solid Series yarn is comment number 3005, Eileen. Congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to the wonderful fiber folk for donating prizes! Some truly excellent guerilla knitting (woolen octopus streetcar attack!) in Japan [see right]. A video of the Wall Street Bull yarnbombing in progress – outstanding finishing skills on display. The Toledo Main Library is hosting a collection of rare and wonderful knitting images. Rare Purls: Knitting Images from the Victorian Age ...

The Rare Breeds Survival Trust in the UK is a charitable organization dedicated to conserving Britain’s native farm livestock. Founded in 1973, not a single breed has gone extinct since then, and they are doing important work to protect both the animals and small farms and holdings who keep them. They have recently launched a Wool Exchange, allowing members to advertise wool and fleeces from rare breed sheep for sale or exchange. The listings are fabulously breed-specific. (Note that the advertisers are small, independent suppliers – they likely would only ship within the UK.) Bonus adorable sheep pictures on ...

The Edmonton Journal has a charming little piece about the final rush of gift-crafting. Perhaps the journalist herself is a crafter and was perhaps looking for a quick article to write so she could get back to her projects? The staff at Sacramento’s Crocker Art Museum were thrilled to see the museum yarn-bombed in November, proudly posting the pictures [one shown at left] to their Facebook page. Planning for 2011? Take a peek at the comprehensive round-up of knitting and fiber-related events at Knitters Review. We love that Sarah Keen’s book Knitted Wild Animals has made it onto a New York Times’ ...

MacMillan Cancer Support in the UK is running a campaign to raise awareness of and force the government to address the issue of “fuel poverty” among cancer patients. Fuel poverty is when someone has to spend more than 10% of their income on energy to heat and power their home. In the UK, 1 in 4 people having cancer treatment struggle to pay their energy bills, and 6 out of 10 people with cancer have had higher energy bills since diagnosis. Visit the site to participate. Enter an answer to the question “what makes you warm?”, and your name and answer will be added to the petition and a section ...

The new year is approaching fast, and that means it’s time for a new calendar. Here’s a few we’d be proud to hang on our walls… Our very own Franklin Habit’s Stash of Knitting Cartoons. Interweave, as always, has a lovely selection of fiber-arts related calendars – knitting and spinning, and others. Vogue Knitting offers a stitch-a-day desk calendar. Accord Publishing offers a pattern-a-day desk calendar. If you’re looking for something a little off the beaten path, there’s the Dishcloth calendar, including patterns from a number of great designers like Kay Gardiner. ...