Stitchin’ in Silicon Valley
March 16th, 2010
A few weeks ago, Claire (of the Lion Brand Yarn Studio) and I attended Stitches West, a knitting/crochet/yarn expo out in Santa Clara, CA. We left just in time to miss the big blizzard in the Northeast, and it was nice to see flowers blooming and sunny (albeit chillier than this New Yorker expected) skies in California. At the show, we met a ton of knitters and crocheters, saw some of our good friends, and made new friends too!
Many of you Lion Brand fans dropped by the booth to see our new products and garments in person, enter our raffle, and pick up some free patterns.
Quite a few of you also stopped by just to chat, say hello, and share your love of Lion Brand.
We want to thank everyone who stopped by the booth!
We also wanted to share some photos of the amazing customer projects that people brought to show us:
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This is an octopus made out of Fishermen’s Wool — what a very cool creation! Doesn’t he look realistic? |
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A gorgeous Moonlight Mohair cardigan — pattern improvised by this lovely lady. |
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Look at this lady’s knit-along project! Her Inishturk Sweater is coming out beautifully! |
I’ve been to a couple of yarn conventions, and it’s always fun, BUT this was Lion Brand’s first time at Stitches, so we were very excited. Not only did we have a great time meeting and greeting our customers, but we also had a great time meeting the teachers, organizers, and other vendors on hand. One of our friends who stopped by was designer and author Lily Chin, who wore a dress she designed with Lemongrass Wool-Ease — that’s me with Lily below:
Once the show was over, Claire and I took an airplane back to New York, and as we came over the sunrise, I took this photo out the airplane window:
Doesn’t it make you think of the Tara Shawl below? I know that’s what it made me think of.
Were you at Stitches West? Are you going to be at Stitches South or Midwest? Let us know!
Fun to Knit, Fun to Wear
March 15th, 2010
One of the few pitfalls of my job here at Lion Brand is that as people call and write with questions about patterns, I get exposed to lots and lots of great patterns, all of which I want to make right now. I actually have a folder in my browser toolbar where I drop all of the pattern pages because, really, once it got over 10, I knew I’d never remember all of them. The fact that I have easy access to the yarn called for in all these patterns just exacerbates the problem. I’m usually pretty good about pacing myself, but after the holidays I decided to reward myself by casting on one of these projects.
I was torn between the Graceful Top (because summer’s just around the corner, really) and the Floral Fantasy Pullover (pretty!), and was also considering the Saturday Morning Hoodie (because who doesn’t need another comfy cardigan?). So I was trying to choose and then a customer called with a question about the Play It Cool Neckwarmer, and I clicked on the link in the pattern description for the Casual Comfort Pullover that it’s shown with–and the next thing I knew, I had all the yarn and a pair of needles in my lap, and I was casting on!
I decided to substitute Hometown USA for the Wool-Ease Thick & Quick called for in the pattern, just because I know I really love the softness of the Hometown USA and enjoy working with it. Since they’re both category 6 yarns, substituting was no problem at all.
This was a quick and easy project that resulted in a beautiful, comfortable sweater. I’ve already worn it twice and gotten lots of compliments both times. Now I just have to decide what to make next!
Inishturk Sweater KAL Round Up
March 14th, 2010
Thank you to everyone who has participated in our Inishturk Sweater KAL. We had a great time learning along with you, and now we’ve reached my favorite part: seeing your finished sweaters! Here are a few gorgeous photographs shared with us on Ravelry.
theaadrian’s sweater in Nature’s Brown Fishermen’s Wool
loydaf’s sweater in Oatmeal Fishermen’s Wool
anne1k’s sweater in Heather Gray Wool-Ease
sas58’s sweater in Natural Fishermen’s Wool
Congratulations to everyone who has finished so far. If you’re still working, join us on Ravelry to share your thoughts and receive support.
Related links:
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: The Final Touches and Finish Line!
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Blocking, Seaming, and Getting Ready to Finish
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: The Inishturk Shapes Up
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Making (and Fixing) Cables
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Visual Patterns - Charts
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Beyond the Ribbing & Sorting Out the Pattern
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Choose Your Yarn & Make a Swatch
- Announcing Our Winter 2010 Knit-Along!
Get more support at:
Teddy Bear from Squares
March 12th, 2010
Designer Noreen Crone-Findlay, created the cutest teddy bear from woven squares made with Homespun on a potholder loom, and she shared it with us in the Lion Brand Yarn Studio Ravelry group! Her clever construction makes this a great beginner project — simply weave the squares on your potholder loom and and sew them together following her easy photo tutorial. Soft and textural, Homespun makes for a cuddly bear! Click here to see the entire article on WeaveZine.
Accessorize with Shawl Pins & Sticks
March 11th, 2010
You loved our shawl pin in the last Lion Design catalog, so we have just added a couple more to our store!
These beautiful wood shawl pins add a touch of sophistication to your shawl, scarf, or wrap — and these fair-trade pins are made from found hardwood, meaning that no trees are chopped down to make them! Click on the photos below for more info & to order!
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| Shawl Stick (Light) | Shawl Stick (Dark) |
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| Shawl Pin (Dark) | |
I think they really make even the simplest shawl pop.
Pair your new pin with a classic project like this Crochet Afternoon Breeze Shawl for a great look this spring:
Learn to Knit by Touch
March 10th, 2010
Today’s guest post is by Nancy, our webmaster, who has spearheaded Lion Brand’s efforts to provide access to our patterns and resources for blind and visually impaired knitters and crocheters.
I’m the webmaster at Lion Brand and I want to make sure that everyone who wants to use our website is able to do so.
If you are not blind, you may have assumed that knitting is a hobby only for the sighted. But, what is the first thing anyone says about a nice piece of work? They say “Oh, that is so beautiful! Can I touch it?”
Knitting can be done by touch and is a popular hobby among those who are visually impaired. So, to make sure that our website works as well for those who are not sighted as for those who are, even though I’m a “sightling,” I participate in several Internet groups composed of visually-impaired people who knit or crochet. Many of our customers have commented on the clarity of explanation on the Lion Brand website; much of the credit goes to my Internet friends who have patiently explained to me what does and does not work on a website when the visitor cannot see.
A month or so ago, Davey Hulse, one of the members of the “BlindStitchers” Google group mentioned that he had written a book on how to knit because he’d found the beginning knitting texts so frustrating. I asked him for a review copy of The Touch of Yarn and was delighted to find that Davey is not only an unusually good knitter; he has written an unusually good book.
Lion Brand has long offered all free patterns in both large type and braille format. It seemed a natural extension to offer a book in the same way. The Touch of Yarn is the first downloadable book that we’ve ever offered and it is available both in Braille Ready Format (.brf) and in large type format (.pdf). As far as I know, we are the only yarn company to ever have done so.
But the book is not only for those who cannot see!
The Touch of Yarn is a beginning knitting primer that offers thorough explanations of each step in knitting. The step-by-step instructions describe every movement, hand position and what the step should look like, making it appropriate for both sighted and non-sighted knitters. The author says:
I want your experience to be better than mine was from the first day you pick up your first set of knitting needles, those strange little pointy sticks. I don’t want you to be one of the sad and frustrated people that try with confusing or unclear instructions and wind up throwing the whole wad of needles, tangled yarn and, dare I say it — painfully awful knitting — into a bag and giving it to a thrift store, like I almost did. There is no reason for it…now!
This book is designed to be what I wish I had had when I started knitting in August 2007. I wanted a quick, practical, approach to the basic skills, something that had no jargon and something that made no assumptions. I also wanted something that didn’t rely on pictures or videos. I’m totally blind, so those pretty illustrations didn’t help a bit until I called in my sighted wife who would try to make sense of what she was seeing and then to make a valiant effort to interpret it to me. My follow up questions would usually result in the answer: “I can’t quite tell from the picture.”
The Touch of Yarn is written in a casual tone and reads almost like the author were sitting by your side. Because the book is intended for beginners who may be working by themselves, it also covers topics that many of us take for granted: all about needles, how to select needles, yarn weights and the fiber that makes up yarn. It also has a section on helpful resources for blind and visually impaired knitters as well as some extremely practical advice on how to read instructions, how select a pattern and how to organize that yarn and needle stash that knitters of all vision and experience levels will find useful!
It is a startling fact that about 3% of the US population under the age of 65 — over 10 million people per the 2000 US census — are blind or severely visually impaired and that the level of visual impairment increases with age. According to the American Foundation for the Blind, close to 60% of people over the age of 85 suffer severe vision loss and many lose their vision altogether. The author notes:
It’s important to me that if you are reading this because you’re having vision problems that may lead to blindness that you come away knowing that there’s a way to do this art form even if you are totally blind. And, the joy in the art form is just as rich even though you can’t visually see the variegations or complex color changes.
Remember this: What do people want to do when they see that scarf or shawl?
They want to touch it.
The Touch of Yarn is sold in downloadable format on LionBrand.com
Related links:
An Heirloom Afghan in Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton
March 9th, 2010
If you’re a fan of our popular Tree of Life Afghans (including the original Nicky Epstein creation, a baby sized one, and a crochet version), check out this beautiful new afghan from our friends at Interweave Knits. It is in their current issue (now on newsstands) and is called the “Yggdrasil Afghan.”
Made in Nature’s Choice Organic Cotton in the gorgeous and earthy Pecan color, this lovely spring-appropriate afghan is a wonderful heirloom design by Lisa Jacobs. This is definitely an afghan that will be treasured.
For this pattern, go to KnittingDaily.com and download it for free. Click here.
Photo by Kathryn Martin, courtesy of Interweave Knits.
Related links:
Needle Craft at the Theater
March 8th, 2010
You never know where you will see knitted and crocheted items. Last week I went to an off-Broadway show and found a small café section that had tables and chairs that were all crocheted with vibrant geometric designs. This made my night even more enjoyable. The level of creativity and cleverness that people have never ceases to amaze me. I have attached some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Click on the slide show below to rotate through the photos.
Enjoy!
Yarns on Set: The Martha Stewart Show
March 7th, 2010
Our friends at The Martha Stewart Show were changing up the look of their craft set, and they stopped by the Lion Brand Yarn Studio for some inspiration and ideas — they then dressed the craft area with yarn and adorable garments.
Anduin Havens, art director of The Martha Stewart Show, was also kind enough to share a photo of her own knitting project that she just completed — made in Alpine Wool from a Fiber Fool pattern:
Anduin also wrote all about the craft area on the Craft Department’s blog over at Martha Stewart.com, so see photos of the set in its many beautiful incarnations by clicking here — the final set with yarn-decor is towards the end.
See a great craft project for knitters & crocheters on The Martha Stewart Show, this Tuesday, March 9th.
Related links:
Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: The Final Touches and Finish Line!
March 4th, 2010
This Inishturk Sweater KAL has gone by so quickly and it has been a joy to see so many of you join, knit and learn. For those of you who haven’t finished your Inishturk yet, don’t worry! This KAL remains here for you to go back and read any of the posts or helpful comments from other participants. I finished my Inishturk yesterday — and just in time, since I would love to have a new sweater with this very long winter!
In last week’s post, I joined the shoulder seams with a 3-needle bind off, a technique that is perfect for matching patterns. Of course, you can sew those shoulders together after you have bound-off and I remembered the post about sewing together a cabled piece of the Cable Luxe Tunic, the KAL we did a year ago.
After I finished the shoulders, I picked up for the neck and found that I needed to pick up a few more along the front neck sides, but I decreased on the next round to the total number of stitches called for in the pattern. The second round has us decreasing 10 stitches across the stitches that were on the front holder and another 10 across the stitches that were on the back holder to accommodate for all those cable stitches that were in that center cable. If you decide to have your neck a little larger, just make sure that you have a multiple of 4 stitches for the k2, p2 ribbing.
I usually keep my sleeve stitches on a holder before I bind them off, just in case I need to adjust the length. After I finished the neck, I put on the sweater without the sleeves and then could see if I needed to adjust the length of the sleeves. Many times need to add an inch to sleeves, but these were just right! I bound off the sleeves and then saw how that double-seed stitch made the sleeves slightly “wonky”.
(The sleeve on the left shows how they both looked when they were finished. The one on the right was “blocked” by just dampening with a spray bottle and left to dry.)
After they both were dry, I used my markers to correctly place them where they need to be sewn to the body. I forgot to place a marker on each side of the front and back where the pattern told me to mark the sleeve placement. But my sleeves are 20″ across at the time, so I just measured down 10″ from the top for the front and back, and attached the sleeve making sure that the center of the sleeve is in line with the shoulder seam. I always use detachable markers (or safety pins) for my sewing and work from marker to marker for a nice even seam.
All that was left to do was sew up the side and sleeve seams — again, sewing from the right side and using those markers. I wove in the ends, put the Inishturk down for a minute and went looking for my camera.
When I came back, my faithful assistant was already doing her final inspection!
I love this sweater! Thank you all that have voted for this KAL and especially all of you who have participated, asked questions, left comments and shown photos of your Inishturk!
As you finish, please post photos of you and your sweater in our Flickr Group so we can see your results!
Related links:
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Blocking, Seaming, and Getting Ready to Finish
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: The Inishturk Shapes Up
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Making (and Fixing) Cables
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Visual Patterns - Charts
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Beyond the Ribbing & Sorting Out the Pattern
- Inishturk Sweater Knit-Along: Choose Your Yarn & Make a Swatch
- Announcing Our Winter 2010 Knit-Along!
Get more support at:
