amy singer

Last week we told you about knitters around the US making scarves to donated to volunteers at the Superbowl festivities. In the UK, a similar initiative is asking knitters to create cushion covers to be given as gifts to participants in this year’s Olympics and Paralympics being held in London.

Wow. Just wow. An Icelandic software developer and husband of a knitter tells us that he has developed a software application to help knitters design their own Lopi sweaters. It allows you to choose and place patterns and colors, to experiment and create your own unique designs. It does require Microsoft Silverlight to be installed [a cumbersome experience if you need the latest version...you have to uninstall it manually before installing. But worth it, we think.].

Speaking of Iceland, Clara Parkes has announced her upcoming Iceland Fiber Experience. This coming September 18-25, the tour promises “a hefty dose of fiber, unforgettable sheep chasing and wrestling, Clara’s classes, world class chocolate tasting, all the Lopi from your wildest dreams and of course the usual; spectacular nature, delicious meals from the best local ingredients and excellent company of knitters from near and far”.

A “warm-hearted bequest“… a Cleveland librarian and avid knitter, Diane Mathews, bequeathed her collection of knitting books to her library, and her stash of yarn to local knitters, with the condition that the yarn be used to make scarves and hats to donate to the homeless. Thanks to her generosity and thoughtfulness, the program “Warm Up Cleveland” has gathered hundreds of items to be donated to the homeless and shelters around the city. Other knitters have added yarn, since Diane’s original stash has been used up.

Witty knitting alert: A knitter in the UK has been making wooly replicas of her colleagues, the gardening team at Paignton Zoo.

I have a confession to make: I haven’t been practicing.

After an initial, energizing success at spindle-spinning, I got distracted.  I picked up the spindle only a couple of times in the fall, and when all we got together in Waterloo a couple of weeks ago, I proudly got my spindle out, rakishly drafted a bit off the braid of BFL Jillian gave me, and started to spin.

And it was an unmitigated disaster.  I dropped the spindle. I had lumps the size of grapes. I couldn’t draft. I kept breaking the roving. I couldn’t control the twist. It was a mess.

The worst part was that, naturally, I was surrounded by expert spinners at the time – goddess of all things fibre Denny, Amy, Jillian, our host Sue, and Tabi the spinning teacher from Shall We Knit.  At first, they were all smiles, but as it became quickly clear how badly I was doing, they averted their eyes. I think I might have heard a snicker.  (I kid, they were all very encouraging.)

Denny, sitting beside me on the couch, was very polite: she gave me a few pointers (including, most helpfully, to remember to spin the spindle in the same direction all the time… ), and refrained from laughing.

We all agreed that you don’t get better at spinning by keeping the spindle in a box, so I’ve made a plan. I need to practice every week. I teach a class on Thursdays evenings at Lettuce Knit, and Denny works a shift there Thursday afternoons.  My plan is to go to the shop early so that she can watch over me while I fumble my way through this, and hopefully expand my skills.

Once I’ve mastered the basics with the BFL, I’m keen to get started into a little sampler project that the lovely Sue put together for me.  I’ve got a collection of little bags of rovings from various breeds – each is enough to try it  out, get familiar with the fiber, and experiment.

And then – THEN! – I am desperate to try this mittens-from-silk-hankies thing that all the cool kids are doing.

I figure that’s enough for a year.  Wish me luck!

Lynne was Knitter Zero. The lovely Lynne showed up at a Knitty Roundtable wearing her Lanesplitter skirt, and we all fell over at the wonder of it and how flattering it was on Lynne, and Jillian and I almost immediately cast on for our own.

At least five or six other knitters who were there that night have made their own, including Susie L, Jennifer and Lynn W.

We had a mini-reunion last December, my skirt with Lynne’s, and Susie L’s terrific version.

The contagion continues to spread… Kate inevitably infected Denny (although their styles are very different, they are spiritual knitting twins), Lynne passed it to Sue, and Jillian and I finally found a sheep-free yarn for Amy to knit one of her own, Lang Yarns’ Sol Dégradé. Last weekend, we once again gathered around Lynne for a new photo op.

Amy may have cut the tip off her finger a few weeks ago, but it is healing well, and she’s resumed kniting…slowly. She’s making great progress so far, even with her injury.

Jimmy Beans Wool is very proud to announce that they have signed a multi-year partnership with the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), the national governing body of Olympic skiing, snowboarding and freeskiing, to become the first ever-official yarn, knitting and crochet supplier to U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing.

A driving force behind the partnership is to build awareness of the yarn industry and to expose people to different crafts, fibers and companies. Jimmy Beans Wool has partnered with Red Heart® yarns to create “Stitch Mountain”, a marketing and promotional campaign that encourages people to be creative on and off the slopes.

A fun and fascinating profile of Jane Whatley, a knitter in the UK, who has worked on projects for the wardrobe departments for  various movies, including the recent War Horse, and the Harry Potter series, and Love Actually.  She has even knitted for Colin Firth!

Knitters in the Indianapolis area will be eagerly watching the screen during the upcoming Superbowl, being held February 5th, in their city. Knitters contributed 12,494 scarves to be given to volunteers working at Superbowl activities over that weekend. The scarves were all knitted in blue and white, the colors of the Indianapolis Colts, the local team, and wearers should be easy to spot amongst the crowds when the game is televised.

Shibori Girl Studios has announced a new slate of classes for 2012, including an innovative online workshop about Indigo dyeing. More info here.

Special Caturday Feature! Knitters in Winnipeg are creating blankets for cats and kittens at their local Humane Society. Bonus video of adorable cat-on-knitting action!

Knitting Ninja! Veronik Avery received a really rather wonderful gift from her clearly talented 15-year-old daughter…

High-school students in Brooklyn are knitting blankets to be donated to babies with HIV/AIDS in the New York Area.

I’m getting right on my 2012 spinning goals by choosing fiber – that’s the best part isn’t it?

I’ve chosen this to start making friends with worsted spinning.

A club fiber from Spunky Eclectic, South African Fine in the colorway Peace on Earth. I’m going for a 2 ply, DK or a little fatter.

For sweater knitting I have this

Southern Cross Fibre Falkland, colorway Dirt. I’m going to spin a woolen 2-ply, with probably a little extra ply twist.

I’ve even started sample spinning

It’s looking a little too contrasty for me, but I’m going to spin more, a little finer and knit swatches.

How are your goals coming?

Kate’s goals:

In the UFO category, there’s the Must Have Cardigan that I started in early 2008… I dusted it off a couple of weeks ago, and decided to finish up the body pieces and work the buttonbands so I could try it on.  I figured that once it felt like a garment, I’d be encouraged to finish.  My plan was a good one – I’m really excited about it now!

In the USO (unstarted object) category, there’s that bag of Noro Hitsuji which I’m sure will make something really terrific… something… am thinking a vest.

And in the UEO (unending objects) category, more black socks of course.  Because a girl can never have too many pairs of socks.

The most urgent project for 2012, however, is to finish up the pair of Qiviut socks – the temperature is dropping.

Jillian’s Goals:

1) Knit from Knitty! I want to knit at least 6 things from Knitty this year.

I just finished my Lanesplitter, so I’m counting that as one project done! Look for a Lansplitter group photo in Friday’s blog post.

Next up:

Escargot

2) Knit Socks!

I want to love knitting socks. I am a very slow knitter, usually I finish 1 pair of socks per year. It’s sad, I know. This year I’m going to try for 3 pair, with at least 1 pair for me.

3) Knit with My Handspun!

One of my spinning goals this year is to spin and knit a sweater. I’m already doing some sample spinning for this one.

Amy’s finger needs to get better before she can even think about knitting!

What are your knitting goals for the year?

Like every other knitter on the entire planet, I fell hard for the wonder that is Clapotis.

Did you know that there are over 18,000 Clapotis projects on Ravelry?

(It’s pronounced clap-o-tea, BTW, with the emphasis on “tea”.)

And like many other knitters, I’ve made more than one.  But my first will always be the one I love the best.

I acquired the yarn in a trade.  And I am quite sure that I got the better end of that deal.

I got 8 skeins of a long-discontinued Noro yarn, Sarubia.  It’s 60% silk, 40% Kid Mohair and I love love love love love it. (You probably saw that coming.  It’s Noro and it’s got silk and mohair in it.  How could I not?)  It’s a slubby, very wooly sort of blend, not at all like the Kidsilk-alike sorts of blends you often see.

And the color is tremendous: much more subtle than many of the Noro yarns. It reminds me, in the best possible way, of gasoline in a puddle. The background is an espresso brown, and there are stripes of a pale watery grey, a pale watery green and a pale watery pink.  There’s an iridescence to the colors, coming from the silk.

I traded 4 balls of a plain worsted weight wool in a solid dark green.  It’s a great yarn, and my friend said it was just what she wanted for a felted bag.  But come on! I got the world’s most beautiful Clapotis, and she got a green felted bag.

An absolutely fascinating insight into the life of an early 20th century mother of seven…. In 1913, Maude Richards of Exeter, New Hampshire began keeping a record of all the sewing and knitting projects she completed. Each page of the journal contains a brief description, “kimono apron for myself,” or “marble bag for William,” and frequently a swatch of fabric. Barbara Rimkunas, the curator of the Exeter Historical Society, has given us this great snapshot.

This week marks the 96th annual (!) Pennsylvania Farm Show. It’s a traditional country fair, featuring all those fabulous traditional country fair events and foods and activities, including animal displays, baking competitions and all sorts of fibery goodness.

Among the many events are the annual Fleece To Shawl & Sheep To Shawl Contests, which are being held today, Wednesday, January 11th, starting at 3pm EST. Teams compete by shearing a sheep (the Fleece To Shawl teams, comprised of high-school students who are relatively new to the event, start with a fleece), carding the fleece, spinning the fleece into yarn, then weaving that yarn into a shawl – all in a 3-hour time period. The teams are judged on many things: the quality of the shearing, the uniformity of spinning and the individual quality of the spun yarn and evenness of the woven shawl are just a few of the judging criteria. A highly anticipated event, the Fleece and Sheep To Shawl contests always draw a big crowd of onlookers… and TV cameras as well!

Blogger Yarny Marni live blogs the event, too, so even if you’re not there in person, you can follow it online.

When most people think of fisherman’s sweaters, they tend to think of lovely Irish “Aran” knits. The traditional English and Scottish fisherman’s sweater, the gansey, is less well known, and being a little simpler and less showy, perhaps a little less appreciated by the non-knitters. The BBC has produced an excellent radio documentary about a project to preserve the knitting heritage of the fishing communities on the Moray Firth coastline, in north-eastern Scotland.
Project workers are working to save existing ganseys, helping local knitting groups to create new ones and encouraging modern interpretations of this most traditional of garments.

Following up on a story from a couple of weeks ago… the “Sticks, Hooks, and the Mobius: Knit and Crochet Go Cerebral” exhibition at the Williams Center Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, has just opened. The event was marked with a yarnbombing and an appearance from Mme. Defarge (well, an artist in a really fab costume). More activities and events have been announced for the exhibition, including a knit-a-thon, a lesson on knitting botanically accurate flowers, and a talk from Kathleen Greco, an artist who works with glow-in-the-dark “jelly yarn”.

A group of Yarnbombers from the UK has been invited by Vogue Knitting to their Vogue Knitting Live event in NYC this weekend. Can’t wait to see what sorts of things they do…

Best. Wallpaper. Ever.

Our winner in the Tom Bihn Swift giveaway is Eve from Vermont. Congratulations Eve and a huge thanks to the folks at Tom Bihn for a great prize!

Are you knitting a project with tangly, slippery or otherwise unruly yarn? Then this giveaway is for you! You can tame your yarn with a Yarn Cozy.

The creative folks at Buffy Anne Designs have donated 6 sets of three Yarn Cozies for a giveaway.

The usual rules apply for our giveaway: Leave a comment on this post before midnight, eastern time, on Monday, January 16, 2012. 6 comments will be chosen at random to answer a skill testing question. If they answer correctly they will win our prize. Prizes valued at $12.00 each.

The folks at Shall We Knit in Waterloo, Ontario are having a Knitty weekend this weekend. Kate talked about the whole weekend yesterday on the blog.

Some folks wanted more info on the spinning classes I’m teaching, so here it is.

If you’d like to sign up the page is here. It’s going to be fun!

Wrap Me Up:
Corespun 4 Different Ways

Ready to try core spinning or to try a different method of core spinning? Using different fibers and cores you’ll learn four different methods of core spinning.

In this class you’ll learn how each method of core spinning and each type of core effects your final yarn.  After you try all of the methods you’ll know how to spin smooth or textured, fat or thin corespun yarns. I predict everyone in class will have a different favourite.  You’ll also know how to make your corespun yarn balance.

I am obsessed with knitting handspun yarn, so we’ll talk about knitting with corespun and I’ll bring you a pattern that will show off your new corespun.

I Like Big Yarn and I Cannot Lie: Spinning Big Soft Yarn

Chunky, bulky, super bulky it’s quick to knit and easy to spin! Come learn the tricks to spinning a fat, soft, lofty wool yarn, and learn what to knit after you’re done.

In this class you’ll learn how to adjust your, hands feet and wheel to get big yarns easily. We’ll try spinning with a variety of fibers and fiber preparations (roving, top and batts) to learn how they effect your big yarn.

I am obsessed with knitting handspun yarn, so we’ll talk about knitting with big, soft yarn and I’ll bring you a pattern that will work great with your new yarns.

Even if you can’t take a class, if you’re in the area, stop by and say Hi to the Knitty gang!

This coming weekend, Team Knitty (and a bonus special guest star*!) are hitting the road to visit Shall We Knit in Waterloo, Ontario.

Friday night Kate is doing a signing for her book!

Saturday we’ve got a full day of classes:

* Jillian, our goddess of spinning, is teaching classes on Corespinning and Spinning Big Lofty Yarns.

* Amy is teaching her Autopilot Socks and Plug & Play Shawl classes.

* Kate is teaching her Baby Surprise Jacket workshop, and sharing her favorite tips and techniques in her “Knitter’s Toolkit” class.

Full class descriptions here (click on class name for description). As of this morning, spaces are available in most of the classes – check online or give the shop a call at 519-725-9739 to register.

Sunday we’re running a Yarn Roundtable, starting at 1pm. We run these events to give knitters a chance to try out different types of yarn, and then pass their input along to our Knitty readers. You bring your needles, we bring the yarn. And nibbles. And door prizes. A most excellent way to spend a winter Sunday afternoon.  Come and hang out with your friends, try out some yarn, win some prizes!  Space is very limited, so please register here.

*And as a special bonus, the incomparable Denny is coming along as a teaching assistant, cider taster, and general gad-about. A splendid time is guaranteed for all