Teaching 200 people to knit and crochet at Maker Faire
May 9th, 2008
Last weekend I attended Maker Faire at the San Mateo fairgrounds near San Francisco. Maker Faire is an amazing event for do-it-yourselfers. It’s a family oriented event where everyone from little children to grandparents can interact with and experiment with everything from circuit boards to crochet amigurumi. The atmosphere is fun and the energy is great.
We have been one of the sponsors of this event for the last couple of years. This year at our booth we taught about 200 people to knit and crochet. What a thrill it was for me to see the looks on peoples’ faces when they learned to craft with yarn!
The icing on the cake was that our booth won the Editor’s Choice blue ribbon. And. . . speaking of cake, we offered a workshop on making yarn cakes. It was great fun to see even young children walk out of the booth with smiles on their faces and a finished slice of cake in their hands after working on it for less than an hour. Keep an eye out next week for our newsletter where we announce the new patterns for these cakes.
Sweaters for Chickens
May 9th, 2008
This is for real! Brigitte Hawley, from Benenden, in Kent, England decided to care for gave the four chickens rescued from the Battery Hen Welfare Trust. She knit them sweaters to help them survive the cold winter and called her creations the “chux tux.” In the end, not only was her altruistic deed rewarded by healthy chickens, but she won a national knitting contest!
View the original article at BBC.
The Beauty of Homespun
May 8th, 2008
Homespun is one of those iconic yarns Lion Brand is known for, so people might be surprised to find out that it was “born” in 1997. I know it surprised me when I started at Lion Brand – I assumed Homespun must have been around forever!
Homespun started when David saw a unique yarn woven into a throw blanket. He thought, with a few modifications, that it would be ideal for hand-knitting and crochet. Lion Brand worked with the mill for over two years to perfect the yarn and the original set of 9 colors.
When we introduced it, the yarn became a sensation. It was totally different from anything else on the market – softer, silkier, and with a wide variety of color effects. It’s also a great weight (CYCA #5 – Bulky). So many crocheters and knitters tell us that they love how quickly they finish projects when they use Homespun. Many charity groups have embraced using Homespun in Prayer or Comfort shawls, because of its soft feel, easy care, and affordability. In 2005, we released a book with Leisure Arts featuring different prayer shawls to knit and crochet. It was so well received; we’re working on a second one now, due to be released in late 2008.
Homespun got an unexpected boost in popularity when we released a pattern for a Homespun poncho designed to look like the one Martha Stewart wore when she left prison. Three years later, it is still one of the most downloaded patterns on our site (out of almost 2,000 total patterns).
About a year ago, we visited the beautiful, historic mill in New England where Homespun is made. Built in 1864, the mill has run on hydro-generated power since 1915 and has such a feeling of textile history. Around the time of this first visit, I was teaching myself how to make yarn on a home spinning wheel (a project still very much in progress) - I was amazed at the similarities between home spinning, and the way Homespun is produced.
The first step in making Homespun begins with dyeing the raw fiber into over 50 individual shades. These shades are then blended together into a sliver, ready for spinning. The colored fiber can be blended in various ways – with one dominant color and 2 or 3 coordinating accents for a Heathered Solid; with 3 or 4 contrasting colors for a Tweed; or with up to 8 colors in a shifting pattern that created the subtle, variegated stripes in our Painterly colors.
We were so inspired by our visit; Lion Brand collaborated with Leisure Arts on a book of patterns with a story on the mill and beautiful photos of the blending and spinning process. You won’t believe the bright shades of fiber that combine to make the earthy hues of Prairie!
Don’t try this at home
May 7th, 2008
According to this article, doctors are using size 7 crochet hooks in a new surgical procedure to remove varicose veins.
Tree of Life Knit-Along: #1
May 7th, 2008
UPDATE: Thanks for your comments on this Knit-Along suggesting that the pattern be free. We are offering this pattern free for the next two weeks for anyone who would like to join the Knit-Along. Please click on the image above to get the pattern.
In need of a good spring project, I decided on the Tree of Life afghan designed by Nicky Epstein. The pattern was originally written for Lion Brand in Wool-Ease but I thought I’d give it a try in Fishermen’s Wool, in Natural, which is a great airy off-white. The Twin Trees and Flower Garden patterns that make up the design inspired me that by the time I’m finished, the weather will actually be perfect for a day in the park.
After doing a quick swatch, the the gauge worked out perfectly, with 18sts to every 4 inches, so I’m off to a pretty good start. (For more information on gauge, listen to this week’s YarnCraft podcast episode.)
I hope you’ll join me for this group knit-along as we work on this classic pattern, a long-time favorite for over 10 years, together. I’ll be sharing my progress every two weeks, and I hope you’ll ask questions, comment, and share your progress too.
Feel free to use the knit-along badge above on your blog. (Right-click the image — or Ctrl+click on Macs — and select “Save As” to save it to your computer.)
The Sweater That Made me a Knitter
May 6th, 2008
To me, my grandfather was larger than life. He had been the sheriff of a small town in the Adirondacks and personified elegance, authority and grace — he rode a chestnut-colored horse and wore a shiny, star-shaped badge. He was always impeccably dressed and adhered closely to a “don’t buy a lot, but buy well” philosophy. I remember his uniforms and suits and how all of the things that hung in hiscloset were tailored and pressed.
One of the items my twin sister and I inherited from him was a beautiful, handmade extra-large gray wool cable knit sweater that he had gotten in Ireland. Every winter we would switch off and either she would wear it or I would. It got to the point where I would jokingly not want to give it back to her at the end of the season and I began to think to myself, what I need to do is make one of these and our problem would be solved. The idea was fun but seemed impossible — the only thing that I had ever knit was a few basic sweaters and blankets and I had no idea how to cable.
I went to my local yarn store and had the great fortune of meeting a wonderful teacher named Beth. During one of her classes, I shared my cable sweater dilemma with her and told her with a smile that I planned to make an exact copy of it. With a large smile back she said, “Well, then let’s do it!” For several weeks, we mined stitch pattern books to try and find the series of cables we needed. Many of the diagonals were too short or too tall and there was an endless back and forth. Then the long hours of learning the twist stitches and different sequences came. We fiddled and charted and tested and finally came up with the pattern. I searched high and low for wool that was just the right color gray (which took a few weeks — had to be 100% wool in just the right shade) and finally set out to make the sweater.
The biggest challenge along the way was the saddle shoulder. I remember Beth said, “Well, we’ll just do a regular shoulder and won’t get involved with that mess!” And I remember pleading with her to help me figure out the saddle shoulder. “It has to be exactly the same!” I told her - big, huge pain in the neck that I was. I even insisted that we recreate two mistakes that I found along the way and ended up stretching out the neck a bit when I was done (Grandpa had a big neck). In the end, it was as close a replica as I could manage and took just under two years to complete.
Since then, I’ve used small sections of the pattern many times for smaller projects - once for a baby vest and another time for a scarf. I laminated the original graph and love having it in my larder to use for future designs. In many ways, I feel that when I use the pattern, I’m giving my friends a piece of my history and love for my grandfather.
Welcoming Spring by Creating Your Own Colors
May 5th, 2008
I don’t know about where you live, but spring seems to be a bit slow in fully coming out this year in New York City. It’s the beginning of May and it feels like the beginning of April right now with cool temps and lots of rain. In a recent newsletter, we featured a special comic-book style piece about hand-dying wool. It was written and illustrated by Michelle Edwards, a regular contributor to our newsletter. It’s sure to brighten your day and get you in the mood for spring, even if the day is cloudy.
Seen in the Yarniverse: Creating Recyclable Bags
May 2nd, 2008
For some of us (especially New Yorkers), getting 10 plastic bags at a grocery store is not an unusual thing. If you’re doing that every week for a year, you’ve collected a lot of plastic bags. Some of you might not know what to do with all of these excess bags, and some may also want to figure out ways to reduce the wasteful usage of these bags. Luckily, Lifehacker posted an easy solution for this by crocheting your plastic bags to create a shoulder tote.
There are quite a few websites where you can purchase your own recycled bags, such as Reusablebags.com, and there are also some people who are creating some very amazing and cool bags out of recycled material. For instance, Cindy at My Recycled Bags does some absolutely incredible things with all types of materials. She’s given me permission to show a couple of her bags here, and she has some incredibly creative ideas. She even created a VCR tote partially using Incredible, a Lion Brand ribbon yarn!
Crocheted Mini Shoulder Bag (Plastic Bags)
Sling Bag (VCR Tape & Incredible Yarn)
Question and Answer - Substituting Yarn
May 2nd, 2008
Q - I found a pattern that I love but it is designed with Wool-Ease and I’m giving it as a gift to someone who is highly allergic to wool. Can you please suggest an alternate yarn that will work with this pattern?
A - You can find a list of yarns that can be substituted for any Lion Brand yarn on our Substitution Chart. In this case, you may want to substitute Lion Organic Cotton or Nature’s Choice (both organic) or you might choose Cotton-Ease or Vanna’s Choice, all completely wool-free. Keep in mind that the importance of creating a gauge swatch before starting most projects, is especially important when you are substituting yarn.
She may never buy from us but . . .
April 30th, 2008
It’s been one week since we launched the Lion Brand notebook and it’s been a real thrill reading all the comments. I especially liked the one from Laura, who wrote from Argentina. She said, “even though your yarns are not available in Argentina, I just want to thank you for all the interest(ing) things I find at your place. . . I can´t buy your products, but I love to see the patterns and all the tips you give us.”
You may wonder why I was so pleased at a comment from someone who can’t even buy our yarn. It’s because when Lion Brand can encourage someone to knit and crochet, I believe we have done something good. I am thankful for the fact that I am part of a business that helps make peoples’ lives better. Yarn provides people with a way to de-stress, a way to express themselves creatively with color and fiber, a way to share something handmade with others and so much more.
You may even be surprised to know that I work with my competitors (I like to refer to them as my friendly competitors) several times a year to come up with ways to promote and encourage crafting with yarn. I’m chairman of an organization called the Craft Yarn Council which, among other things, organizes the annual Knit Out, now held at the Mall of America in February.
Loving my work means loving the business I’m in as well as believing in our products.
