Featured Blog Posts – April 2009 Archive (21)

Planting a Garden of stitches

By now, many of you have seen the Nonna's Garden Shawl. But in case you were wondering, here's a little insight into how it came to be!

Last winter, we put the final touches on City Tweed and decided that we wanted to make a kit that would feature every… Continue

Added by Kerin on April 30, 2009 at 3:30pm — 18 Comments

We've received several questions about the development of City Tweed and especially how we chose the colors for the DK and HW (heavy worsted) lines, so we thought we'd have a little fun and film a short video about… Continue

Added by Tina on April 28, 2009 at 12:30pm — 7 Comments

My green diet

I took a quiz online this week to find out how green my diet is. It turns out that since I don't eat meat, I'm going to prevent 165,000 lbs of CO2 from polluting the environment in my lifetime! Crazy!! Since I eat a lot of vegetables, I've also been trying to do my part by getting my veggies locally whenever I can. Christy and I went to the farmer's market in downtown Vancouver last weekend, and it was tons of fun walking around and seeing what is in season.

Last year, I belonged to… Continue

Added by Angela on April 24, 2009 at 1:00pm — 5 Comments

Have you seen the new freebies?

Just like we wish that peace on earth wasn't only on Dec 25, we've decided to extend "Earth Day" to at least an "Earth Week."

Katie made these awesome rear view mirror hang tags and/or a placard for your dashboard to help you remember your reusable grocery bags. By the way, that's the first time I've ever used the word "placard" did I do it correctly?

I went digging through those dark, sad recesses of the cabinets around… Continue

Added by MarciH on April 23, 2009 at 9:54am — 6 Comments

POW! contest winners

Our grand prize winner of the POW! contest is Kate Palmateer. Kate wins a copy of Handknit Heroes and 7 skeins of Wool of the Andes in the color of her choice.

The two runners up who will each receive a copy of Handknit Heroes are Marta and Darlene M. Thompson. Congratulations!!!!

All three winners have been notified by private message.

And thanks to everyone who entered, reading… Continue

Added by Angela on April 22, 2009 at 10:30am — No Comments

Simply Cotton KAL

Just in time for Earth Day, I've started a knitalong with our new organic simply cotton!

I'm knitting a sweater for my fourteen month old out of Simply Cotton Worsted. I think this yarn is perfect for baby knits because it is super soft, machine washable and comes in four fabulous natural… Continue

Added by Katie on April 21, 2009 at 7:30pm — 3 Comments

Helping out a local park for Earth Day!

My SO is a volunteer coordinator at his office and they like to volunteer in the community every few weeks at least. For Earth Day, I *strongly hinted* that perhaps helping out our favorite local park would be the best way to go. So, last Saturday morning, we put on our gloves, grabbed our clippers and joined up with his coworkers at Tryon Creek State Park to pull ivy!

English… Continue

Added by Kerin on April 21, 2009 at 3:57pm — 2 Comments

Wednesday is Earth Day!

Since Earth Day is coming up, this week we'll be featuring some Reduce/Reuse/Recycle tips on the Knitting Community.

Here's a video tutorial on how to recycle old, worn-out t-shirts into soft cotton ribbon yarn. All you need is a t-shirt that's been through the laundry recently and a sharp pair of scissors. I've been thinking about making a bulky mat for the laundry area in our garage. I've been looking at patterns like Absorba (… Continue

Added by Alison on April 20, 2009 at 1:00pm — 11 Comments

OpArt Baby Blanket

This is the OpArt Baby Blanket from Fall 2008 Knitty. I immediately fell in love with it because not only is it not overly baby it appeals to the graphic design side of me. At the time I wasn't pregnant but knew that was part of the upcoming plans so I kept it in the back of my mind. So when we did get pregnant and we finally found out it was going to be a boy, I knew this was the perfect blanket and seeing as my husband is a… Continue

Added by Christy on April 17, 2009 at 8:30am — 16 Comments

Knit One, Give One Contest

Note: If you’re just in it to win it, scroll down and read the bold print.

I think it’s something that’s happened to every knitter. You put hours into knitting a present for someone- picking the right yarn, finding the perfect pattern, knitting, ripping back, knitting again (maybe that’s just me). In the end, you think you have the most perfect gift ever created. You just know they are going to LOVE it. And then they open it… and….nothing. No… Continue

Added by Angela on April 16, 2009 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Handmade Nation

Two weeks ago, Angela and I both saw the new craft documentary "Handmade Nation" at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in downtown Portland, OR. The movie explored the lives of indie crafters and the DIY movement, and there were tons of crafty-folk in attendance. They had a kiosk set up for people to take pictures of themselves showing off their handmade goods, and they later published… Continue

Added by Alison on April 15, 2009 at 2:29pm — 6 Comments

I've fallen in love with Sock Innovation by Cookie A.

I had a lovely chat with Cookie that will be my podcast on April 29th. To prepare for the interview I carefully read through Sock Innovation and it is such a fantastic contribution to the knitting world.

Just looking at the photos of Cookie's intricate socks can be intimidating. I know because that was exactly my reaction. "Why in the world would I knit socks with that much textural detail?"

Well, I read… Continue

Added by Kelley Petkun on April 15, 2009 at 11:06am — 7 Comments

UFO is done!!!

The UFO KAL has been an inspiration to me... I had started a pair of socks a couple of years ago (well that's how long it's been since KP has sold the yarn!)...

it was very sad, laying in a forgotten bag, the needles stripped (two circs) from it... the color was Memories "Easter"... The name inspired a deadline--get it done by Easter! I finished knitting them using the magic loop method (I used… Continue

Added by Kim on April 13, 2009 at 10:50am — 9 Comments

Happy holiday weekend!

Angela knit a Wool of the Andes bunny nugget as a catnip toy for her cats, and I'm a little jealous. She did let me snuggle with it during my nap today though, that was nice.

She said she got the… Continue

Added by Xena on April 10, 2009 at 2:30pm — 4 Comments

Knit a couple of inches, try on your sweater, make adjustments!

I will be ripping out my knitting and starting again with 6 inches fewer stitches. So, my new number will be 160 stitches. I'm taking off just a few more stitches to play it safe.

I will knit a couple of inches and try it on for a second time! Yep, then I will be sure that everything is… Continue

Added by Kelley Petkun on April 10, 2009 at 1:38pm — 14 Comments

Oops! Forgot to show you the video of my Classic Lines Cardigan swatch after washing!

Added by Kelley Petkun on April 10, 2009 at 10:34am — 3 Comments

Win a Handknit Heroes comic and free yarn for a POW! Hooded Scarf.

Have you seen Handknit Heroes yet? It's the first graphic novel for knitters, and it's pretty awesome. Not only did the first issue feature twins with superhuman powers and a mom who is secretly working to invent bullet proof fibers, it also included a pattern for the… Continue

Added by Angela on April 8, 2009 at 9:00am — 107 Comments

Blanket Statement

Ever since we had the Speed Knitting contest featuring the Hemlock Ring Blanket (Ravelry link), I've been a bit… Continue

Added by Alison on April 6, 2009 at 9:00am — 19 Comments

Secret knitting

I've been doing secret Christmas knitting, and I haven't been able to post about it because I know some of my family members browse this site. I didn't want to spoil their surprise. But, Kelley suggested I show a close-up, so you can't really tell what they are -… Continue

Added by Tina on April 3, 2009 at 9:35am — 35 Comments