Knit Picks Staff Blog (532)

Progress! Well, some at least.

I've just crossed the halfway point for the sleeves on hubby's sweater!

It's very weird going from knitting one large body to two small sleeves, and having to repeat the same round twice. So, I've had to tink a lot and haven't made as speedy progress as I'd like! They're just about long enough to reach his elbows...…

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Added by Kerin on April 30, 2010 at 6:23pm — 12 Comments

A wild hair

Since hubby and I have spent so many chilly mornings out on the lake recently, I had considered that maybe I should get him a nice sweater to wear under his jacket as another layer. And then I thought, DUH, I knit! I'll just make him one!

As it turns out, I'd bought yarn to make him a sweater several years ago, and never got around to it. Why? Because he's a lot bigger than me, and that is just a ton of knitting. At the time, I was still riding public transit, so lugging a big sweater… Continue

Added by Kerin on April 28, 2010 at 8:11am — 11 Comments

I’m finally allowed to play with the new colors in our lace-weight yarns!

There are some rules that even the owner of Knit Picks can’t break. In preparation for yarn launches, we always receive boxes in advance for knitting up photo samples for the catalog. These yarns are absolutely sacrosanct since everything has been allocated to sample knitters or the photography department.

Yeah, right! Imagine walking into a room filled with all sort of new yarns and/or new colors and not being able to… Continue

Added by Kelley Petkun on April 26, 2010 at 2:00pm — 19 Comments

Interview with Grace Mcewen

Ever since we put Grace's first IDP pattern up in December, she has been one of our most popular designers. All three of her patterns have sold strongly - including her new Victorian Rose, which only went up…

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Added by BabblingStacey on April 23, 2010 at 10:30am — 5 Comments

Spring Cleaning, Oregon style

I love to volunteer and I love to be outside, and those two things coincide a lot in Oregon. Every year we pick a volunteer activity for Earth Day, and we also did the SOLV Spring Beach Cleanup this year!

I wasn't ever really a big fan of the beach, growing up along the Jersey Shore. There was sand and water, and that was kind of boring I guess.(not to mention me + sun = OW) But then I moved to Oregon and was entranced by the treacherous, rocky, geologically amazing coastline. I also… Continue

Added by Kerin on April 22, 2010 at 6:00pm — 7 Comments

Discovering Lace Yarns

So a confession - I've never used lace yarn in my 9 years of knitting. I bought one skein a couple of years ago, but never used it - it just sits prettily on my shelf. I guess I'm scared it too thin for me & I'll break it immediately - even though I will happily knit socks in light fingering weight yarn on size 0 needles!

But I finally broke down & bought some because I am determine to overcome my fear of it. Plus I'm in love with… Continue

Added by BabblingStacey on April 22, 2010 at 4:20pm — 10 Comments

Cold hands, warm yarn

So, the hubster and I love to go fishing. Well, he loves fishing, I love having an excuse to sit on my kiester and knit all day! A couple of weekends ago, we decided to pack a lunch and head an hour away to a lake he used to fish with his dad. Well, in typical Northwest style, it was in the forties in the morning, though it was going to be in the upper 60's in the afternoon. So we dressed in layers. I had on my favorite hand-knitted alpaca sweater with a… Continue

Added by Kerin on April 20, 2010 at 10:32am — 11 Comments

Designer Interviews

If you are considering knitting any of the kits from the latest catalog, we have recorded designer interviews with Nina and Kerin. They show off the projects, and tell you about any special techniques used in the patterns.

Tilt A Whirl Kit

Soleado Bag…

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Added by Knit Picks Admin on April 16, 2010 at 4:00pm — 3 Comments

An IDP milestone!

As of today we have 250 knitting & crochet patterns in the Independent Designer Program! Our lucky #250? The new adorable pattern by Yvonne Boucher that she created especially for us!

The… Continue

Added by BabblingStacey on April 15, 2010 at 4:00pm — 6 Comments

The garden is always in bloom if you knit it...

If you want flowers that won't wilt, leaves that won't turn brown, and bugs that won't eat your veggie plants, then the Backyard Garden Kit is just the thing!

There are 15 patterns for small accessories in this kit, and plenty of Palette to knit all of them and then some. You could easily knit a… Continue

Added by Kerin on April 15, 2010 at 7:59am — 3 Comments

An unexpected knitting treat!

Early this week I received a package from a dear knitting friend. Inside I found this note -

Notice to the reference that my friend kept this in her knitting bag and thought I would enjoy one myself. The box was very small and well padded with a layer of bubble wrap. I'm thinking, "Europe! Maybe a lovely painted tin for my stitch markers. Or, some sort of…

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Added by Kelley Petkun on April 14, 2010 at 9:49am — 14 Comments

A lesson from the Knitting Gods

It seems that the Knitting Gods feel I need a lesson in the benefits of embracing the act of ripping out my knitting.

First, there was the Stonington Shawl "lesson".

Remember that the Stonington Shawl had been my "mindless" portable project. I was in desperate need of a simple project to knit while we were out to dinner with friends. I had planned on…

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Added by Kelley Petkun on April 13, 2010 at 11:06am — 12 Comments

IDP Yarn Kits

I love simple shopping. If I buy furniture from IKEA, everything I need to make the table comes right in the box and I add it to my cart with one click - no searching for the right nuts and bolts. Its a complete package.

With the growing popularity of our IDP program, I wanted to bring this same convenience to the hundreds of $1.99 independent designer pattern downloads available, so that you can support your favorite designers and get the same yarn… Continue

Added by Brett on April 13, 2010 at 11:00am — 9 Comments

What a night!

That's about all I can say about our Spring Yarn Party!

I mean, check out this crowd!

I'm so excited this turned out so well - we haven't had many events & this was the first one to celebrate our new yarn lines, so we weren't quite sure what to expect. Since I was coordinating it, I was so worried that…

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Added by BabblingStacey on April 8, 2010 at 2:30pm — 10 Comments

This is the way to work a room!

We had our Yarn Tasting Event last night and I, ummm- the new yarn, was quite popular!

Look at all these lovely…

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Added by Kelley Petkun on April 8, 2010 at 1:08pm — 11 Comments

Love Stroll Tonals, but not so into socks?

While I can't say that I'm in the camp of non-obsessive sock knitting, I know it's not for everybody! But, with such wonderful colors, Stroll Tonal is pretty universally appealing whether you like socks or not. So, if not socks, what do you do with it? Well, I've got a few ideas!

First, I have to say that our… Continue

Added by Kerin on April 6, 2010 at 11:00am — 3 Comments

iheartchocolate

Wouldn't you think that this would be one of the first Ravelry names taken? Knitting? Chocolate? Well, you would be so wrong!!

Let's go back a couple of years to a lovely spot in Mexico. I'm sitting by the pool with Xena, knitting away on something when a young girl and her brother come up to me and ask if they can say, "Hi" to Xena.…

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Added by Kelley Petkun on April 5, 2010 at 3:50pm — 10 Comments

Spring Yarn Party this week!

The helper bunnies here have been busy getting ready for our event!

My desk is covered with all these brightly colored yarn samples - big thanks to the customer service department who wound most of these goodies!

No surprise - I decided to make some Bunny Nuggets, Dust Bunnies &… Continue

Added by BabblingStacey on April 5, 2010 at 2:56pm — 11 Comments

Mindless Knitting Crisis!

My Stonington shawl has been one of my Mindless Knitting projects. I usually only have a couple in progress with the rest of my WIPs being more intellectually stimulating.

Well, this…

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Added by Kelley Petkun on April 2, 2010 at 2:19pm — 9 Comments

Interview with Toni Carr

In my previous job life as a bookstore girl (where I lovingly took care of the knitting section), I remember when Toni Carr's book Knockdown Knits was released. I immediately snapped it up - it was so much fun to read & such great projects, even for those who aren't roller girls like… Continue

Added by BabblingStacey on April 2, 2010 at 1:00pm — 6 Comments