May 3rd, 2010
Classic Elite’s latest newsletter mentions their new 2010 spring yarns, Firefly (25% linen, 75% viscose) and Katydid (100% organic cotton ribbon yarn).
The most popular project from their Picnic pattern book (designed to highlight the new spring yarns) is the Firefly fringed scarf. I hadn’t heard of this project, but it really is lovely! Fluttery and fringe-y and summer-y.
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July 8th, 2009
Cascade Yarns has announced a new addition: Lana Bambu, a loosely-spun single ply wool/bamboo mixture.
It looks beautiful, and I’m all in favor of eco-friendly fibers like bamboo. But I have some reservations about the twist – the few times I’ve knit with a bamboo blend, sagging has been a terrible problem. The classic way to combat this is by producing the yarn with a hard twist. Hmm, not so sure about this one!
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June 25th, 2009
Famous hardass music reviewer Steven Wells passed away of cancer last night. Of all the strange turns his life had taken, surely one of the oddest is that atheist punk rock anarchist Wells took several shots at the knitting community, yanking the chains of the knitters with wild, delighted, and delightful abandon.
Wells was a troll in the best and purest sense of the word. His music reviews for the NME are the stuff of legend. Wells made a career of stepping on people’s toes, pouring himself into his vitriol-fueled writing like no one else.
He will be missed.
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September 1st, 2008
The problem with knitting in public is that it gives non-knitters the impression that you’re not paying attention. Knitters know that this is silly, of course. We know that (given the right project) knitting takes up only the tiniest percentage of your attention.
Nevertheless, sometimes appearances are important (Dear Abby agrees). There are some situations in which knitting is not the most appropriate choice.
EPA attorney Michelle Ryan has learned this lesson the hard way. The PJ Star reports that Ryan “was caught on camera knitting during an Aug. 18 public hearing in Peoria on Peoria Disposal Co.’s proposed “de-listing” of hazardous waste it handles so it can be treated and shipped to landfills around the state.”
The KIPping in question has raised quite a furor, including demands that Ryan be fired.
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August 19th, 2008
Steven Wells has published a new article, taking aim at knitting during the Olympics.
With this, his third article (see also: 1st, 2nd) taking the piss out of knitters, Wells has elevated trolling to performance art. Knitters around the world are taking offense to Wells’ snipes and jabs. Although so far, said offense is largely confined to the inevitably-epic Ravelry thread.
“Pretending to take offense at the inoffensive” has long been a comedy standard [nsfw]. It’s difficult to fault Wells for continuing to hit the same note, considering how effective it’s been at exposing the knitting community as largely humorless.
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August 12th, 2008
The Knitting Daily website has published two wonderful tutorials for tricky sock-related techniques: the Eastern cast-on, and a stretchy bind-off, the lace (or decrease) bind-off.
Lovely!
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August 10th, 2008
Interweave Knits has put up its Fall 2008 issue preview, along with its suite of free web-only patterns. (The Sidelines Top, a generously-sized top with slimming accents, has already become a Ravelry favorite!)
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August 1st, 2008
On July 21st, NPR’s Marketplace aired a story about the decline of knitting, as marked by the closure of knitting stores. The blow-back has been both ferocious and predictable, from Ravelry threads to comments on the article itself.
Naturally, it’s a mistake to correlate “yarn purchase rate” with “interest in knitting.” Most knitters have more yarn than they need for the project at hand.
Buying yarn often becomes a hobby in and of itself. This eventually leads to SABLE, a state so common that it’s been given its own acronym. (“Stash Amassed Beyond Life Expectancy.” Even if the knitter stopped buying yarn today, at their average knitting rate, they would not be able to knit the entire stash before they died.)
The “knit from your stash” trend is definitely on the rise. (Let’s face it: collectively, we’ve spent too much money on yarn.) With the economy and general belt-tightening, I think it’s reasonable to predict that yarn sales will slowly decline. Call it a “market correction.”
The most baffling statement made by the Marketplace article has to be “the [knitting] fad has passed, because those still in the market for needles and yarn are buying most of their wares online.”
That doesn’t mean that the fad has passed. It… means that knitters are buying yarn online.
Do you have actual, researched stats on the success/failure/open/close rate of physical yarn stores? Send us a tip!
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July 31st, 2008
Classic Elite has announced new yarns for fall 2008:
Ariosa A bulky, 90/10 blend of extra-fine merino and cashmere. (Cuddly!)
Fresco A sport-weight blend of 60% wool, 30% baby alpaca, 10% angora.
Moorland A DK-weight blend of 42% fine merino wool, 23% baby alpaca, 19% mohair, and 16% acrylic.
Portland Tweed A tweedy worsted-weight blend of 50% virgin wool, 25% alpaca, and 25% viscose.
Smitten A DK-weight blend of 90% cashmere, and 10% polyamide.
Summer Sox A sock yarn available in both semi-solid colors, and what looks like self-striping colorways. 40% cotton, 40% superwash merino, 20% nylon.
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