Lion Brand Notebook
News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn
Lion Brand Notebook
News, Ideas and Information for Crafting with Yarn
If you could knit or crochet anything for anyone, what would it be and who would it be for?
Would it be someone famous or someone close? Would it be something simple or something intricate? Let your mind wander and don’t think about the limits of reality. It’s your wish, so go for it!
I thought about knitting something for my great-grandmother, Molly, who lived until I was 14. She was about 4 foot something with hair down to her waist that she wore in a bun and the most beautiful face I had ever seen. She would never take anything from anyone, so if I visited her with a coffee cake, I’d go home with a coffee cake and a dollar to spend on whatever I wanted. She could make everything from a 5-course sit-down dinner for 20 people in a house made to hold 4, to the exquisite crocheted lace that covered all the tables in her house. I’d like to knit her a cardigan, like the ones she always wore over her print dress and I’d like to see her one more time to give it to her.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=6533bcdb-0239-44fe-af7c-eedf1ba9191f)
Posted in Community, Lion Staff, Yarniverse | 109 Comments »
We’d like to invite you to enter our newest contest sponsored by Lion Brand and Hobby Lobby. To enter, create a prayer shawl made of Homespun yarn, take a photo and send it to us along with a story in 200 words or less about why you made it and who you made it for.
There will be 13 winners including a grand prize of $500 for the individual and $500 for the charity of her choice. Lion Brand will be matching the prize money of each winner with a donation to the charity of your choice.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=db34175f-7b3a-42ac-a081-bac7bfd33072)
Posted in Community | 6 Comments »
After completing a small project with Amazing, I was left with about 20 small balls in various colors, each ranging from about 5-15 yards in length. With such short lengths of yarn, I decided the best thing to do would be to make a striped scarf. I used this Brooklyn Tweed scarf as inspiration and cast on 25 stitches. I then worked in a 1×1 rib, alternating between colors every 2 rows. When I used up an entire ball, I simply changed to another. The result is a beautiful mixture of the Mesa, Olympia, Wildflowers, Ruby, and Aurora colorways. While I only used small amounts of leftover yarn, the finished scarf measures about 3.5 inches wide by 60 inches long. I love how the finished scarf shows off both the vibrant brights and delicate muted tones. Best of all, I’ve used up all of the small leftovers that were sitting around my desk! I did have to weave in a lot of ends, but the completed scarf made it all worthwhile.
Posted in Knitting, Lion Staff | 8 Comments »
Congratulations to Sarah for winning our video contest! Sarah made a hat and scarf for her step-father, Terry. Enjoy her great video below.
Related links:
Posted in Crocheting, Knitting, Yarniverse | 17 Comments »
We love to see pictures of your projects and read your honest opinions on our yarns and patterns, both on our website and on your personal blogs. Here are just a few of the blogs that have caught our attention recently.
Goodnight Gram knitted several of our patterns (including the Crayon Caddy) and used Wool-Ease Thick & Quick.
Confessions of a Craftaholic dyed our LB Collection Pure Wool and wrote up a wonderful, easy-to-follow tutorial.
Hey Jen Renee knitted a hilarious beard hat out of Wool-Ease Chunky.
Sonja at Humble Stars & Posies wrote a great review on Vanna’s Choice.
Elly at Green Olives Design used Wool-Ease to make a matching sweater and alligator scarf set.
Thanks to these bloggers for all of their great projects and kind words!
Posted in Community, Crocheting, Knitting, Yarniverse | 1 Comment »
This blog post inspired me to think about how to make 2010 a great year. It’s by friends at a company called Daily Grommet, that finds and shares information about extraordinary products. They feature a book called Better Because Of You. The book reminds us that small things can make a difference, that gratitude is an important practice, and that we need to remember our core values in the midst of active days.
So, taking a “page” from their post, we’re running a contest. Comment below and finish one of these two sentences:
Knitting makes me better because. . . .
or
Crocheting makes me better because. . .
We will select our favorite by January 15th at 3:00 p.m. e.s.t. The winner will receive a $35 gift certificate toward any products on our website to be shipped to an address in the United States.
There is no purchase required and the contest is open to anyone age 18 or over, except employees of Lion Brand Yarn Company and their immediate relatives.
![Reblog this post [with Zemanta]](http://img.zemanta.com/reblog_e.png?x-id=2cc2e82b-d9b0-4f4a-a55d-87aaf4188cc6)
Posted in Community, Crocheting, Knitting | 202 Comments »
I’m Hilary the V.P. of Sales for Lion Brand. Lately I’ve realized that two of my passions—health and yarn are converging.
I’m fortunate in that my passion is my work and my work involves selling a wonderful product that encompasses fashion, color, design, and is affordable and beautiful. I take pleasure in the fact that the product I sell makes people happy and gives joy and purpose to their lives.
My other passion is to live a healthy lifestyle. I eat wisely, including dark chocolate and broccoli. I do water aerobics, yoga and lift weights. I am just starting a walking program, thanks to Ilana’s encouragement. I watch my blood work numbers and I’m committed to reducing stress, because most medical professional believe it is a major cause of illness.
So how do my two passions connect? The fact that knitting or crocheting can help reduce stress, has been noted by doctors and crafters alike. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee wrote about it too. The simple repetitive movement of yarn on needles or hook is like meditating. Whether you meditate, or knit or crochet every day, you allow that special space in your otherwise busy day to let your thoughts untangle and your mind be free of all the chatter, planning, and worrying.
I am overjoyed to see friends live better as a result of having a regular knitting “practice.” I’d love to see it become part of a healthy lifestyle routine; to take even 15 or 20 minutes a day to knit or crochet in order to create a peaceful space in which to rejuvenate.
I’d love to hear from anyone reading this about how knit or crochet works into your healthy living program.
Posted in Knitting, Lion Staff | 6 Comments »
Last Sunday was a bright and sunny day and I jumped at the chance to sit on my roof overlooking downtown Manhattan and start my spring afghan project. It’s calm, quiet and feels like a private oasis in the center of a busy city. Whenever I start a project as large as this, I try to take my time and read through the pattern in advance, as well as double-checking my cast on. It’s so easy to miss 1 or 2 cast on stitches, when you are working with 180 stitches, and even 1 stitch too few will throw your whole pattern off.
A great thing to remember when tackling a challenging project is to not get overwhelmed by the size of it, but break it down into simple components, section by section and row by row. When setting up, remember that in this project, the right side of the work will have a purled background and the trees will pop out of that because they are knitted, so your right side rows will begin with a purl stitch.
The trees are beautiful, with their twining branches, and do take some concentration, but the pattern chart is simple to follow if you can keep track of what row you are on. I suggest using a post-it to cover the rows already completed. The row directly above the post-it, is the row I am currently working on. Where M1 increases are used on the trunks of the trees, be sure to make them knitwise, as stated in the pattern,
The cables that make the branches twist as if waving in the wind are quick and easy once you’ve done one or two. Even if this is your very first cable project, you CAN do this!
Posted in Community, Knit-Along, Knitting | 62 Comments »
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.
Posted in Knitting, Yarniverse | 4 Comments »
