Stash Control and a New Shelf

I don’t know about you, but I love to have all of my spinning stash around me. Well, a lot of it anyway. I’m lucky enough to have a family that understands the need for piles of stash. We have an inactive fireplace in our family room that I have claimed , using the hearth as my stash home. Not in any organized fashion, mind you. Though I organize it periodically, it never stays that way. It’s subject to whims, shopping trips and current deadline projects. Because I know you’ll understand, here is an un-doctored, un-neatened photo of my fireplace stash. You spinners who are in long term ...

Ninja-bonus giveaway post!

Out of the blue, we’ve got a surprise ninja giveaway! [We love giving you stuff.] Today brings the launch of a new digital magazine, Sockupied, from the folks at Interweave. It’s not an online mag, though you get it from the internet. It’s quite a different thing. And it’s full of socks! This first issue also features a profile of our very own Cookie A! Go Cookie! Here’s how their press release describes it: “Sockupied is available as a digital download exclusively from Interweave’s online store for $14.97, beginning today. The eMag is actually a 365-megabyte application that ...

Just who is writing this thing?

You may have noticed that the KnittyBlog has diversified. It used to be a one-woman blog with Amy mouthing off on whatever she felt like writing about that day. A while ago, Jillian wisely suggested that there are 4 of us who work on Knitty. Each of us has a different background, different likes and dislikes, and different life-based and geographical perspectives. Which is way more interesting than just one person being mouthy. So we made it so. The KnittyBlog has been brought to you by the Knitty Team since early 2010, and we figure it’s time we officially introduced ourselves. We take turns writing this ...

Obsession: Cooler Weather

It’s been a long, hot summer where I live. It started early, and it has been relentlessly hot and sunny since May. Now, I do like summer very much. I love light cotton skirts, and ice cream, and feeling the warmth of the sun on my face. I love iced coffee, and the beach, and being able to take the dog out for a walk without four layers of protective clothing. But if truth be told, summer is not my favorite season. I’m a Fall girl; an Autumn girl. I love cool, sunny days; I love listening to the leaves crunch under my feet as I walk. I love dark rainy nights. Why? Because I’m a knitter, of course! ...

I’m a cheap date.

I’m also a gear ho. So it wasn’t surprising that, when I recently visited the Chelsea, MI-area spinning guild — The Spinner’s Flock — that I’d be trolling the tables of fiber and goodies for sale to see if anything was there that I couldn’t live without. There is a lot of wool. Beautiful 9-month-preganant-belly-sized balls of woolly roving, elegant braids of hand-dyed merino/tencel [from my friend, Carla, which is why I remember the URL], and lots of equipment. Obviously the wool stayed put. On a second pass through the hall, the spindle shown above caught my eye. Ooh, pretty ...

WWW: Big gestures, big knits & big stars

The Knitting Noras, a group in Bolton, England, has announced a follow up project to their successful 2010 Naked Knitters calendar: postcards.  The calendar project raised £5,600 for Christie’s Hospital Cancer treatment unit. The postcards feature bonus pictures from the original photoshoot, and are being sold online, for £1 each, £4.50 for a set of 5 and £9 for a set of 10.  There’s equal opportunity sauciness – ladies and gentlemen, knitting and crochet.  Something for everyone! Proceeds raised will go to After Adoption, a charity group in the UK that provides support and assistance for ...

Keeping Track with Tags

Sometimes it’s the little things that save your sanity in knitting. The humble hang tag has come to my rescue many times. I’m a process knitter. Which is a nice way of saying I love to knit but it take me a while to finish projects. I might have a dozen or so projects and swatches for future projects going at once. I’ve tried keeping track of it all with sticky notes, with notebooks, with computer programs, for me, none of that works because they are all separate from the knitted piece. When I start a project or swatch I attach a hang tag after a few rows of knitting. I note the pattern name, yarn, ...

Attention non-woolly sock knitters!

The day has arrived. Sock Candy, the non-woolly version of Blue Moon’s Socks That Rock, has returned in beautiful hand-painted glory! Says Tina, “We are offering our Sock Candy for a very limited time as a hand paint. It is not our intention to continue to hand paint this yarn. Instead we’re venturing into having it mill dyed in multicolors.” One last chance to grab the most beautiful hand-painted cotton sock yarn ever! [Yup, Singer was made for me. Literally. How flattering, and irresistible, is that? No worries, I placed my order before I posted this. Because I know what you knitters are ...

WWW: Squids & Bridges

Congrats to the winners of our most recent contest, chosen by Shannon Okey herself: Big winner [prize: a copy of The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design, plus the choice between one of her online classes OR an one-one consultation with the pro herself] Allison August 4, 2010 at 12:49 pm Cracked Shannon up by mentioning zombie apocalypse winner [prize: a copy of The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design, plus one online class] Susan August 4, 2010 at 4:55 pm Mentioned tweets about this contest winner [prize: a copy of The Knitgrrl Guide to Professional Knitwear Design, plus one online class] ...

5 Tips for a Dye Day

Two or three times a year, my fiber gang gets together for a dye day.  Here are 5 tips from our group to yours to keep your dye party running smoothly. 1) Plan and work ahead and after. Know how many people are coming and what’s for lunch. Mix your dyes ahead of time and soak your fiber the night before. Plan on rising and drying your fiber at home. Just dye and play on dye day. 2) Time and space for all. No one wants to wait on dye day. Have spots for everyone to work their color magic and enough pots, crock dyers, burners, etc to set the fibers. 3) Have some color ideas, but let it flow. I usually come with ...
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