Crazy for Ewe
Summer knitting yarns to keep you cool.
Lots of people only knit in the winter. I get it - wool is definitely nicer to use than almost any plant-based fibers, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give summer yarns a chance. There are lots of great reasons to knit summer garments and even more beautiful summer fibers to enjoy.
Knitting - not a solitary activity
The wonderful thing about knitting is that it is a solitary activity. Unlike tennis, you don’t need a partner or team. You can do it all by yourself for hours on end. The downside of knitting is that it is a solitary activity. We can occupy ourselves to the exclusion of others and sometimes feel a little lonely. Don’t get me wrong here. Knitting is a beautiful experience and a very real way to be mindful - fully present, and in the moment with ourselves alone. But our need for one another is just as real.
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How to get organized in life and in your knitting
I had a wonderful conversation this morning with Ciara Conlon - I've been telling anyone who stands still about how Ciara's book, Get Organized - Do more in less time, has changed my life. Well, is changing my life. I still have a long long way to go, but at least I have a map now!
You can watch the video here on YouTube, Ciara talks about how getting organized starts with effective goal setting. We have quite a discussion about how
Top 10 reasons to love your Local Yarn Store
In the yarn world, Local Yarn Store Day is the best day ever. Instituted to celebrate those brick and mortar operations that support the fiber arts world with yarn, classes, events, and community, it’s a party with all the trimmings. We’ll have cool exclusive stuff - It’s a partnership between local yarn stores, vendors, designers, hand-dyers, and more to create a super special event and remind
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Magnolia KAL
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my survey on the Magnolia Knitalong. I asked you to tell me which style you liked best - Magnolia Bloom which features the motif around the yoke, or Magnolia Chunky which has the motif at the hem and cuffs.
Both versions are absolutely beautiful with the soft halo of mohair and the lovely.
From Tension to Comfort: Knitting Tips to Keep You Pain Free
We all know knitting is a great way to relax and de-stress. Knitting’s calm, automatic, repetitive motions quiet the mind and bring peace to the soul. However, unchecked, endless hours of knitting either with great focus or with simple repetitive movements, can cause problems of their own.
Have you ever been engrossed in a complicated pattern - working the fabric,
Try new things - in your knitting too
After a day of snowboarding, my son Colton hit me with it.
“Hey, Mom,” he ventured, “I know you used to ski. I want you to promise me that you’ll go skiing with me next season.”
Gulp. I ditched my Rossignols in 1998 and haven’t looked back. Now this. A million thoughts ran through my head, and most of them were not good. But this was my 20 year old asking me to do something with him. How often does that happen???
“Um, okay,” I stammered. What am I getting myself into?
Trying new things is scary. No matter whether it’s something big and obviously frightening like hang gliding or skiing again after 25 years. Trying something new triggers a visceral fear. And fear makes us feel vulnerable. .Will I be able to get off
Caring for and storing your handknits
It’s October. You look out the window and see the maple tree ablaze in red and gold. The air is crisp, perfect for apple picking and leaf peeping, and all the simple pleasures of fall. As a knitter, you’re especially excited because you know just the sweater you’ll wear - practically the same color as that maple tree. How good it will feel to pull that on with your jeans and maybe some boots! You imagined this day with every stitch of that sweater. And now the perfect fall fantasy awaits. Only when you pull it from the cedar chest where you carefully tucked it away last spring, you see that some nasty critter has chewed three ragged holes at the back neckline. You want to cry. You do cry. That sweater took forever to knit, and the yarn was NOT cheap.
But wait. Wait. It's a dream - a nightmare. You're awake now and you remember that it’s the end of March. You only just finished that sweater last week, and
Sparking Joy in your knitting life
As knitters, we collect all kinds of yarn for all different reasons. Unless you’re a brand new knitter, or a unicorn, you have a pile of yarn in your stash. There are all those half balls leftover from projects, the yarn from the craft store we bought before you knew there was a difference, the yarn that we got at a fiber festival, the yarn that we bought because it was on sale, the yarn in the color we just love, and the projects with patterns awaiting their turn at the top of our queue.
Using Kondo’s method, we’d decide first what kind of knitter we want to be and then look at each skein, each project, and decide whether or not they spark joy
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Using Kondo’s method, we’d decide first what kind of knitter we want to be and then look at each skein, each project, and decide whether or not they spark joy
Let the good knitting times roll
We all have jobs or other commitments–a host of responsibilities that demand our time, attention, and serious focus. So, it’s important, every so often, to relax and be playful–to let loose and indulge just a bit.
We knitters usually find time to relax with our projects. I’ve said many times that I like boring knits that don’t tax me mentally. Usually. I make sweaters that I love to wear –sweaters that work in my wardrobe, so calm neutrals (yes, pink is a neutral). But sometimes it’s good for me to knit something completely impractical. Something in an outrageous color or luxurious fiber that’s not a wardrobe staple. Something fun and fabulous, just because it’s fun.
A knitting community
knitters seem like superheroes the way we make garments appear from sticks and string, we are people with the same belonging needs. The first thing knitters do in a new place is find the yarn shop. We are looking for our people. Sure, we might say that we just want to see what they have and we maybe need a souvenir skein, but the truth is that we want to find the community where we can belong. We want to find those people who speak our language, understand our concerns, and share our passion.
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