Tuned In to Knitting Daily TV

This Winter's Hot Accessory: The Snood, Moebius or Infinity Scarf

Knitting Daily TV — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:00 GMT

Free Pattern for The Endless Love Moebius and Hat!

Today’s guest blogger is Adina Klein, creative director for Tahki Stacy Charles and former editor in chief of knit.1 and Vogue Knitting magazines. Adina has made several guest appearances on Knitting Daily, most recently in Season 3 demonstrating a lovely moebius pattern. Her photo styling of this ensemble makes me think of the Goddess Frigga at Winter Solstice—just gorgeous! Here’s Adina to tell us more about this unique pattern, which is available for free download on our website here.

The fashion industry is touting the snood (a cross between a scarf and a hood) and the infinity scarf, or moebius, as the hot new accessories for winter 2009. Featured this week in the Wall Street Journal and last week on Oprah, these fashion scarves are hitting the mainstream and mass-market retail. But there's no need to tell knitters how fantastic they are—we have long been cultists of the moebius (a rectangle that has been twisted 180 degrees) as an easy and versatile project that is inherently reversible. Today I'm excited to present to you a new take on the moebius with the "Endless Love" design, knit in a lovely lace pattern that's simple enough for even beginners to lace.

Who says lace needs to be on size 2 needles? Delicate and feminine, the “Endless Love” moebius is knit on a size 8 circular and is a modern twist on the scarf. Just like everlasting love, this moebius has no end and no beginning. The pattern was designed by Teresa Chorzepa for Tahki Stacy Charles and uses only two skeins of DOVE, a new worsted-weight wool-blend (44% extrafine merino Wool, 44% alpaca, 12% nylon) with a unique combination of airiness and body, and a slightly felted appearance. It has great stitch definition and is equally perfect for knit and crochet.

Watch the video of my demonstration of the moebius in Episode 303 of Knitting Daily TV:

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If you like the “Endless Love” moebius pattern, check out the other designs in the Modern Romance collection . You'll fall in love with this dreamy collection of designs to knit in Tahki's supersoft yarns DOVE, SAVOY and TRUFFLES.

In the mood for a snood? For a more hood-like version of a larger moebius pattern, check out the Shadow Moebius in Tahki Rio from our pattern booklet Natural Landscapes Terra Collection, 4th edition, available online or at your local yarn shop.

Are you working on a moebius, infinity scarf, or snood for yourself or someone else? Leave a comment here and let us know what pattern and yarns you're using.

Yours in knitting,
Adina Klein

Free Pattern and Video: Child's Holiday Capelette

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:00:00 GMT

Give a big welcome to today's guest blogger Jil Eaton, whose name has become synonymous with kids knitwear. Last year she introduced her own yarn line—MinnowMerino distributed by Classic Elite Yarns—and offered knitters everywhere an adorable free pattern for a child’s holiday capelette (originally published in the CEY Web-Letter). Today we’re thrilled that Jil is sharing this pattern with our readers and viewers, and we have an exclusive video of Jil demonstrating the capelette’s embellishment techniques. Here’s Jil to t ell us more…

Hi Knitting Daily! The Holiday Capelette project that I presented this season on the TV show perfectly captures my design philosophy. My trademark QuickKnits—in larger gauges, clean silhouettes, chic design details, and pure clean color—all add up to a charming garment.

The Capelette, knit in holiday red and icy blue for a touch of insouciance, is very easy to work up and includes regularly spaced increases for the shaping. The cape is decorated with a single crochet chain, sewn in easy loops around the bottom edge in a contrasting color. It is then punctuated with French knots sprinkled playfully around the chain.

You can watch me demonstrate some of these embellishment options in this video:

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Download the free capelette pattern here.

Embroidery, bobbles and other design details can make all the difference between an ordinary garment and one that is a showstopper. Color is key, and don’t be afraid to experiment--play with your yarn and have fun! Changing the colors for this capelette project could turn it from a holiday charmer to a classic party cover-up in pretty pastels or rich blues and aqua. Always use the best fibers you can find, for the joy of knitting and for the life of the garment, which could easily become an heirloom.

After so many years designing, teaching workshops and writing my “Ask Jil” column in KnitSimple magazine, I would say the single most important tip for perfect knitting is getting the correct gauge. Getting the gauge, or correct number of stitches and rows per inch, guarantees the garment will have the correct fit and drape, as the designer intended. Always do your swatch, which takes only a short time and is perfect for testing the ‘washability’ of that particular yarn. The gauge swatch is perfect as part of your knitting history; my students all maintain knitting notebooks, a typical 3-ring binder including clear plastic insert pages. Using one page for each project, include your personal copy of the pattern, notes, information about the lucky recipient, and your gauge swatch. Later the swatch can come in handy for any necessary repairs. As Nike says, “Just do it!” You’ll become a better knitter for life.

If you go to my website, www.minnowknits.com, you can sign up for my monthly email newsletter, MinnowNotes, or check out my blog at www.jileaton.blogspot.com. Remember, when we are knitting, all is right with the world! –Jil Eaton

New Video: The Most Common Knitting Blooper?

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:32:00 GMT

Today's guest blogger is Barry Klein from Trendsetter Yarns, who shares with us one of his favorite knitting bloopers. Have your own blooper story? We'd love to hear from you in the comments! And don't forget to check out the video at the end.

Greetings, all! I am asked all the time “why do you knit?". I try to come up with a brilliant reply but the answer is really simple…. I love it. To be able to design a yarn, select colors and then play with it enough to know what knitwear to design for it is like creating a new life and then sharing it with others so they can become part of your family.

Being on Knitting Daily is a similar experience. Every episode I have appeared on as a guest, about 20 now between Knitting Daily and Shay Pendray’s Needle Arts Studio show, has been done with Laura Bryant from Prism Arts. We feed ideas and experiences off of each other and we try to bring new ideas, laughter and our love of knitting to our knitting family.

During one taping, we discussed gauge and fit. Both of us spout on repeatedly about the importance of always knitting gauge. I decided to show why it is truly important. Laura was wearing a sweater I had designed. We were talking about fit and style with our host Shay Pendray, and in front of me on the table was another copy of the sweater Laura was wearing.

I said, “Laura is wearing the sweater where gauge was met. Here is what happens when you don’t do a gauge.” I picked up a sweater that was 58” across and 30” long and held it up in front of myself. You could hear the gasps and the laughter from everyone in the studio. I smiled for the rest of the taping, and since it's aired I’ve heard from knitters around the country that they loved this segment as well.

For those of you who missed Knitting Daily episode 110 from the first season on your local PBS station, I’m happy to share it with you here today. Trust me… there’s more fun to come! -- Barry Klein, Trendsetter Yarns

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Free Pattern: Fair Isle Tam

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 14:42:00 GMT

Hi, Knitting Daily readers! I’m Lisa Myers from Fairmount Fibers. When I was invited to be a guest on Knitting Daily, I chose to demonstrate a traditional Fair Isle tam, which is one of my favorite knits for playing with color.

Here's why:

-- Tams aren't very large. If you want to experiment with a color combination, you want to see the pattern develop quickly. And you don't want to be committed to a whole sweater.

-- Tams are easy to fit. You may not wear them yourself, but you can knit one and have it on hand to give as a gift.

-- The inside of a tam is really inside. Yes, a scarf might seem like a simpler canvas, but the "wrong" side is bound to show sometimes.

-- In fact, the part of a tam that may seem like a drawback—the decreases that shape the top—is the source of some of the most beautiful color effects: the geometry of those decreases produces kaleidoscopic angles and symmetries.

You can download the free Fair Isle Tam pattern here, and watch a video clip of my guest appearance:

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In the segment, most of my discussion was about "contrast" as the governing principle of color choice. Because our eyes see color mostly in relationship, a medium blue will look lighter when it's next to navy, and darker when it's next to powder blue. When you're selecting a group of colors for a Fair Isle pattern, you need to consider not just whether the group "looks good" together but whether the pattern will show clearly. That's usually a matter of making sure that the background colors are all closer to one another than any of them are to the accent color.

But there's also the matter of light. Here are the same tams from the video clip above, taken out of the studio into an overcast afternoon and photographed against a concrete sidewalk:

The light in the studio wasn't just very bright, it was very warm—you can see how the gold tones really "pop" there compared to the cooler tone of the natural light. Out on the street, that gold turns almost orange, and the bright acid green fades almost to yellow. When you're choosing colors for a project, try to get out into some natural light. Many of us do most of our knitting indoors, in the evening, which is not, of course, how most hats get worn.

In this sense, we're fortunate to be knitters: our work will move from a bright snowy morning to a slushy dusk, and in between it may be in the fluorescent light of a subway platform or the hipster cool of a dim coffeehouse. By comparison, a Cezanne painting on a museum wall is trapped in one perpetual mood.

Both Alice Starmore and Ann Feitelson, in their excellent books on Fair Isle knitting, have written about the way traditional Shetland yarns foster this play of light. The key is in the blended, heathered colors: look closely at most Shetland jumper wools, and you'll see that the "red" yarn has some blue fibers, some gold, even some green. From a distance, they all blend together to look "red", but the presence of the other colors helps connect the red to whatever color is nearby (for instance, a dark blue that turns out to contain red, purple, and gold).

These tams make use of the same heathering principle, but by a different process. Rather than being spun of wool dyed different colors, the Manos Silk Blend yarn in the tams is a blend of two fibers—70 percent merino wool and 30 percent silk. The yarn is dyed after it's spun, but the dye takes slightly differently to the different fibers, so that even the "solid" colors have a kind of shimmer of lighter and darker shades.

While I really want you to finish reading this and run for your stash to try out a tam, I can't resist giving full citations for those who want to read more about color and fiber:

   * Alice Starmore, “Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting,” recently reissued by Dover
   * Ann Feitelson, “The Art of Fair Isle Knitting,” Interweave Press
   * Deb Menz, “Color in Spinning,” Interweave Press.

Yours in knitting,

Lisa Myers
Fairmount Fibers, distributor of Manos del Uruguay yarns

P.S. We have other good news to share: Manos del Uruguay has been admitted as a full member of WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization), the global representative body of over 350 organizations committed to 100% Fair Trade. This recognizes Manos’s mission to eradicate poverty through sustainable economic development, pioneering social and environmental policy and practice, and continual reinvestment in marginalized artisans, farmers and producer communities. Click here to learn more about the co-op.

Trash Your Color Wheel and Have Fun with Color

Knitting Daily TV — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:00:00 GMT

Today's guest blogger is Prism Arts' Laura Bryant, who is not only a great designer but also an expert colorist. We hope she inspires you with her unexpected ideas for experimenting with color in knitwear. Please welcome Laura to Knitting Daily!

Color fills my life—from college training in fine art through 25 years of developing color combinations for my hand dyed yarn company, Prism Arts, to teaching knitters about color at venues around the country.

I work with color every day. My favorite (and only) rule is that you don’t get “Wow!” by doing the expected. I dislike standard color systems based on the color wheel—you know the ones, the complimentary and split complimentary and so on. They produce nice but predictable work that looks, well, predictable. Instead, I try to empower knitters to go where they’ve only dreamed they could, by looking at color differently.

Through years of teaching artists, art students and knitters, I have developed some great visual means of explaining basic color concepts. But how could I express a semester’s worth of color education in four minutes? Before leaving my studio for the flight to Ohio and the Knitting Daily TV tapings, I selected several sheets of colored paper for an on-air demonstration. Barry and I were to tape a total of six segments, so a lot of planning went into getting everything into two pieces of luggage. I carefully placed the sheets in a folder, where I thought they would be safe from getting crushed.

The morning of our taping, as we sorted and organized yarn, demo pieces and garments for each segment, I could not find the papers anywhere. Convinced that they had disappeared from an open pocket during the flight, I rather frantically re-worked the entire segment. With little time to rehearse in my head, the resulting video was spontaneous and nerve wracking, but it turned out great anyway! Here it is:

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The idea is to forget about matching hues (putting all blues together, for instance) or brightness (such as all dull colors together).

Then take all the bright ones that don’t have an obvious spot, and start placing them one at a time at one end. Keep moving them until they seem to belong. Once you have done that, I promise you that any colors selected from a quadrant will look great together! You can download this PDF companion for additional visuals. Simply arrange colors from lightest to darkest.

The total irony is that when I unpacked at home the next day, lo and behold—there were the papers, just where I had put them for safe keeping!

--Laura Bryant, Prism Arts, Inc.

The Case of the Mystery Hermosa Bag

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:00:00 GMT

This week’s guest blogger is Kelly Lealos from Namaste Inc., makers of handbags and accessories designed for knitters and crocheters. Namaste helped us decorate the set for our last tapings—see if you can find their brightly colored notions tucked in the background when you watch the show. Now, here’s Kelly to tell you more about her experiences in the studios.

Hi Knitting Daily! Last March my business partner and sister, Dawn, and I packed ourselves up and made the trip to Ohio for the taping of our segment on the show. It was the first time either of us had done anything like this, so we were really excited, but had no idea what to expect. We were really impressed by the studio, and seeing Namaste products decorating the entire set was so cool!

When we arrived at the set we learned that Kim Werker, a friend of ours from this great needlearts community we love, was hosting our segment. Immediately this calmed any nerves we had about appearing on TV—it was just like catching up with Kim and her contagious smile!

Our interview was for episode 312, “Gifts for Every Season”—which won’t be airing until closer to the holidays—but we’re excited to give you this preview video clip here:

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We know yarn crafters love to make gifts, but the idea behind our segment was to show some gi ft ideas for the knitter and crocheter. The funny thing about the segment is that before we went on, Dawn and I were asked if there were particular products that we’d like to show. I happened to be carrying a “not-yet-announced” Hermosa bag.

A little background: Before Dawn and I decide on a bag to introduce to our customers, we test it extensively. For us, this means carrying it around for weeks while deciding what we love and hate about it, making changes, and then testing the next sample. Many bags have gone through more than ten sampling stages before we feel they’re right! I had been carrying the most recent sample of the Hermosa bag for some time (it was my travel bag to Ohio) and had really been enjoying the bag in its current stage. We decided then and there that the Hermosa bag should be debuted on Knitting Daily TV, so I displayed my own peacock-colored Hermosa bag for the first time (fully equipped with all my personal items) on the set. We figured, no problem, by the time this show airs in October we will already have these bags in stock.

Shortly after we returned to our home in Los Angeles, someone had seen a photo online of our appearance and posted it on Ravelry, and wanted to know the identity of the “mystery” bag. It was hilarious and what a buzz it caused! The response overwhelmed Dawn and me about what loyal, attentive, and wonderful fans we have of Namaste bags and accessories.

Since our appearance on Knitting Daily TV, we have introduced the Mini Clutch—a great way to tote your hooks or DPN’s, as well as your personal items. The best part about this one is that it doubles as a clutch for a night out on the town (my non-crafting friends have appreciatively let me know!).

Additionally, we’ve introduced the Oh Snap! Pouches in a set of two (XL & XXL). This product was added to our line after many needlepointers and knitters asked us to make something they can fit their larger projects and canvases in. Also, we’ve just introduced the Hermosa bag in red and the Laguna and Zuma bags in a classic black (all as a result of requests from customers).

We’re working on other new products based on requests, so stay tuned and sign up on our website to receive updates about new launches and colors.

One of the many things we love about being in this industry is hearing from those who like and use our stuff. So keep the feedback coming in—tell us what you’d like to see, what you need to have. The truth is, we’re listening.

Namaste,

Kelly Lealos, Namaste Inc.

The Illusion Cube Blanket and Six Other Free Patterns from WEBS!

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:00:00 GMT

Today we have a real treat for you -- a how-to video and free pattern for the most amazing blanket project from WEBS - America's Yarn Store (www.yarn.com). If you liked the Babette Blanket by Kathy Merrick that has been popularized on the Internet, you're going to love the Illusion Cube Blanket--a journey in color for the knitter! WEBS has been a sponsor of Knitting Daily TV on public television since its very first season, and we're thrilled to introduce you to their spokesperson and owner, Kathy Elkins, who demonstrates the blanket in the new Series 300. Without further ado, here's Kathy...

As a yarn shop owner, one would think that my days would be filled with plenty of knitting time. Unfortunately, this is not the case. When I do find time to knit or crochet, be it for myself, the shop, or for a gift, I am always inspired by projects that are simple to create, yet beautiful when completed. Our Illusion Cube Blanket fits the bill perfectly. I was thrilled when I had the opportunity to showcase this incredible design by Kirsten Hipsky for our Valley Yarns line.

The blanket is constructed by creating a series of garter stitch hexagons, each of which uses two of the eight required colors. Each color is used twice, once as the main color and once as the contrast color. Color changes occur every two rows, which allows for the unused color to simply be carried along the side, minimizing the number of ends that need to be woven in at the end. The hexagons are created in three sections and then stitched together to form the cube. The shape of each hexagon emerges from a series of increases and decreases, along with picking up stitches to start the next section.

Download the free Illusion Cube Blanket pattern, as seen on Episode 310.

Once all fifty-six hexagons are completed, the assembly is based on a chart, which creates the gradient of colors both horizontally and vertically across the blanket for a stunning finished look.

I love this project for several reasons, but if I had to pick my top two they would have to be:

It’s portable, which is always a bonus for me. Between travel, waiting to pick up my kids or attending one of their many events, having a project that I can tote around easily with me is crucial.
The color change, increases, decreases, and picking up stitches are relatively basic skills, but here they’re combined into a very complex-looking result.

Watch this video to learn more about the techniques you'll use in the blanket's construction:

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The Illusion Cube blanket was knit in our Valley Yarns Northampton, a 100-percent, worsted-weight wool available in forty colors. Color palettes for this project are endless and by simply reducing the number of strips you could easily have a gorgeous shawl or even a scarf. You can see all of the colors of Northampton and check out all of our other great yarns at http://www.yarn.com.

I hope you have as much fun knitting this blanket as I did! Be sure to check out some of our other free projects from the past three seasons of Knitting Daily TV (highlighted below). To watch more video how-to's from these projects' demonstrations, plus knitting tips and yarn reviews from our appearances on Knitting Daily TV, go over to WEBS' Yarn Store YouTube.com Channel for a complete archive. And don't forget to check out other product reviews and announcements on the WEBS' blog. --Kathy Elkins

Velvet Curtain Cabled Gauntlets, as seen on episode 106

Sublime Soya Cotton Scarf, as seen on episode 107

Vermont Felted Bag, as seen on episode 112

Valley Vintage Vest, as seen on episode 205

Nantucket Felted Rug, as seen on episode 311

Firmaments Lace Shawl, as seen on episode 201

Hollywood Hunks and The Breast Cancer Support Scarf

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:03:00 GMT

Hi Knitting Daily, First of all… wow! I still can’t get over what an incredible job Eunny did in demonstrating how to get started on our Knit for a Cause Breast Cancer Support Scarf from Knitting Daily TV. Seven months pregnant at the time, I wasn’t able to make it to the tapings back in March (a shame, because I’ve always wanted to be on TV), but I was overjoyed to learn that Eunny would be acting in my place. You can watch it right here. Thanks again, Eunny!

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I guess I should explain where the idea for the Breast Cancer Support Scarf came from…. It’s a kinda fun story, after all… but only if you like the thought of an original Ghostbuster agreeing to knit for charity! Some of you might have heard that we at JimmyBeansWool.com were invited to participate in one of the pre-Emmy’s Celebrity Swag Suites back in September 2007. Once invited (don’t worry—they didn’t have to ask twice), we took it upon ourselves to create a luxury quick-knit for the event—something that some of the celebrities could pick up and quickly knit a row or two. (Plus, I’ve always loved a quick-and-dirty bulky knitting project, especially one that uses silky and fuzzy luxury yarns.) Five beautiful yarns, a few frogged scarves, and a very long weekend of schmoozing later, and the Breast Cancer Support Scarf was born!

Download the free Breast Cancer Support Scarf pattern here.

Luckily, the weekend went even better than planned; most of the Hollywood hunks in attendance that day in the Swag Suite (Kevin Sorbo, Ernie Hudson, Judd Nelson (yes – that Judd Nelson) Tim Daly and Scott Baio, to name a few) allowed me to teach them the knit stitch and then knit a few rows on the original scarf. The girls who knit were all gracious and generous with their time, but it was the guys who stole our hearts… learning to knit for a cause AND be photographed while doing it? I can’t imagine how the weekend could have turned out better. Anyway, we auctioned off the original scarf a few days later and raised an additional $265 for charity. (Of course, I did go ahead and bind off and sew in the ends… I didn’t dare ask any of the celebs to do that.)

So… what does this have to do with the scarf you just watched Eunny demo? Well, the response to the original scarf was so overwhelming that we decided to take it a step further and create a kit. Our knitters could then make their own Breast Cancer Support Scarves—even if they might not have a Hollywood Hunk to help them. It was really important to keep the charity at the center of our motivation, so right from the beginning we decided to donate $5 from each kit sold to breast cancer charities. To date, we’ve donated over $2,000 to the Susan B. Komen Foundation from our kit sales.

After raising a few thousand dollars for breast cancer, we decided to expand and now offer a selection of Knit for a Cause scarf kits: Alzheimer’s in purples, Leukemia in oranges, Heart Disease in reds, and Ovarian Cancer in teals. We designed them partially because customers began requesting kits in other colors symbolic of various causes, and partially because in one way or another, all of us at Jimmy Beans Wool have been touched by at least one of these diseases. Now five charities strong, each kit bears a special significance and $5 from each kit sold goes to the respective charity.

So, whether you knit one of these scarves to keep, or one to give away, we know you’ll be happy with the result, both creatively and charitably…and you will have a great story to tell your friends. We sure do!

P.S. If you’re interested in pics of the original hunks knitting, you can find them by clicking here.

--Laura Zander, JimmyBeansWool.com

Learn the Portuguese Style of Knitting & Get a Free Pattern for Baby Booties!

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:42:00 GMT

Have you heard of knitting with a knitting pin or with your yarn around your neck? You'll have to see it to believe it, and lucky for us we have a video of today's guest blogger, Andrea Wong, who is on a mission to share with North American knitters the Portuguese style of knitting.

I believe life is about love. And one thing I love to do is to knit! I have been knitting since I was seven years old and teaching the Portuguese style of knitting for the last six years. This is one of the oldest styles of knitting, but still very new to knitters in North America. The major difference is that you “wear your yarn”—either the yarn is tensioned around the neck or you wear it around a knitting pin placed on your left shoulder.

People always ask me what the advantages are of this style compared to the American and German styles. In my opinion, with Portuguese knitting:

1) Purling is easier than knitting—and I know a lot of knitters who avoid purling! In fact, in Portuguese knitting, the purl stitch is so easy to perform that many people who knit in the Portuguese style make the purl stitch the dominant stitch, enabling them to work hats and garments inside out.

2) It requires very little maneuvering of your hands. You do not have to keep your index finger straight up and tire out your left arm as in the Continental style. Likewise, you do not have to move your right arm and right shoulder with every stitch like in the English style.

3) Even for beginners, tension tends to be even because you wrap the yarn around the needle consistently.

4) Vision-impaired knitters rejoice that they know exactly where the yarn is at all times during their knitting.

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(Click here to watch the video on YouTube.com if you can't see it within this blog post.)

I hope you enjoy this video clip of me knitting in the Portuguese style from Knitting Daily TV Series 300. I demonstrate this stitch with a very easy beginner’s project—these adorable baby booties that I originally designed for PieceWork magazine, now available for free download on Knitting Daily.

My DVD has the same title, The Portuguese Style of Knitting, and it covers the knit stitch, the purl stitch, ribbing, increases, decreases, knitting with beads, and knitting with two colors—plus many basic knitting techniques.

Although I have been teaching all over the country and abroad, this was my first time teaching on TV. It seemed so intimidating at first but it was a very good experience! The hosts are great and made me feel very comfortable and welcome. Behind the scenes, I met the most interesting and inspiring knitters. I hope you are inspired to learn more at www.andreawongknits.com.

Yours in knitting,
Andrea Wong

Free Pattern: Big Stitch Pillow by Becca Smith

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:58:00 GMT

Our guest blogger this week is Becca Smith, who owns the family-run company The BagSmith, known for its specialty notions, oversized knitting needles (think sizes 20” – 32”), oversized crochet hooks (sizes S and U), and Big Stitch Alpaca Yarn. Becca is also the author of Big Stitch Knitting and Big Stitch Crochet, and lucky for us, she works ten minutes from our TV studios in Beachwood, Ohio and has been a frequent guest on Knitting Daily TV. Curious? Wait until you see her needles in action in today’s featured video on her Big Stitch Pillow! Now here’s Becca…

Hi Knitting Daily readers. I just returned home from the Midwest Fiber and Folk Fair, which was lush with ideas; I found a yarn that incorporated shredded money, and I can hardly wait to use it in my next “stash project.”

Many of our customers were just fascinated with the idea of working with their stash and finding unusual combinations. We had two blankets on display, one knitted and one crocheted. Both were made from stash yarn, and both had one yarn that was carried through the entire piece; using a base yarn throughout while adding lots of odds and ends will give consistency to your projects.

The knitted blanket had eleven additional fibers, some very thin and some more of a DK weight. Some of the stash was worked in for several rows, other parts were short and made it through only part of a row on size 50 needles. The base yarn was a yarn standard 5 (worsted).

In the crocheted blanket the base yarn was two strands of DK weight (yarn standard 4) and we used various weights of stash yarns—four strands in addition to the base yarns—on a size S hook. It has a light, open feel to it and the range of colors is quite attractive.

If these projects appeal to you, organize your stash according to color. Make your piece all one color group with many variations of textures or mix everything up as you go. You can create wild and crazy stripes moving from one color group to another. The length of the yarn has to be 18 inches or more in order to make it across an entire row. When a yarn runs out, just replace it with another of approximately the same weight.Use up that stash so you can buy more yarn!

For another great big stitch project idea, download the free Big Stitch Pillow pattern, as seen on Knitting Daily TV Episode 104, "Quick and Chunky." This pillow requires 120 yards each of a sport weight, worsted weight, and bulky weight yarn and you’ll need size 50 (25mm) 16” or longer straight needles. You can watch me demonstrate how to knit with size 50 needles in the video clip below. Enjoy!

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Thank you for supporting Knitting Daily TV on PBS, and I hope you’ll tune in to the new season, where I demonstrate The Big Softie rug using Size U Big Stitch Tunisian Crochet Hooks.

--Becca Smith

Free Pattern: Cleo Kitty Slippers

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 05:00:00 GMT

Welcome to the Tuned In to Knitting Daily TV blog! This week we invited Kristen Rengren, author of Vintage Baby Knits (STC Craft), to guest blog about her Cleo Kitty Slippers, a project she demonstrates in the new Series 300. Plus we have a treat for you! This adorable pattern is now available for free download, along with 30 other free patterns from the new season! Now here’s Kristen to talk about those cutie-patootie booties, and we have a video showing her finishing techniques.

A lot of people have asked me how I chose the patterns in Vintage Baby Knits. Choosing was incredibly difficult, which is one way I ended up with more than forty patterns in the book; it would have been easy to write three books based on this material! In order to find each design, I literally looked through thousands of patterns. My collection of vintage patterns consists of hundreds of booklets, all published from the 1920s to the 1950s. I spent almost a year poring through these books, considering which designs would look best knit up in modern yarns.

My process for choosing patterns for Vintage Baby Knits was fun but rather laborious. First I sketched out all the garments that caught my eye, and then I used those sketches to winnow out my favorites. It’s a process I use all the time when deciding what vintage knits to adapt—in part because I love sketching so much and in part because the process of going through each book and then through the stacks of drawings helps me think.

For Vintage Baby Knits, I cut out each one of the hundreds of drawings I made, and spread them all out on the floor at once, mixing and matching different patterns until I got a mix I liked—a process that took weeks. My husband, who is an amazingly patient man, would frequently come home to discover me on the living room floor surrounded by piles and piles of pattern books and drawings, racking my brain over which patterns to choose.

Among the dozens of patterns for booties the Cleo Kitty Slippers stood out. (Who could resist little kitty booties? Download the free pattern here.) Originally titled *** Cat Slippers, they were first published in a book called Paragon Baby Book #10, which was printed in New Zealand in the early 1950s. Since they’re knit flat in garter stitch and made in one piece that’s then quickly seamed, they couldn’t be easier and they’re the perfect last-minute baby gift.

Watch the video of Kristen demonstrating the finishing techniques for these slippers from Knitting Daily TV Episode 302, Babies and Children:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Here’s another tip for knitting the Cleo Kitty Slippers: The directions given for the ears are as they were written in the original pattern, and will give you long-ish kitty ears, which I just sewed on at the desired length to get the short-eared effect shown in the slippers in the book. To make them shorter, simply sew them on at the desired length, or if you’d prefer to seam at the edge, knit only one row before starting your decreases, instead of six. If you would like bunny slippers, make them a little longer by knitting eight or ten rows before you start decreasing. (Or to make puppy slippers instead, simply knit longer ears, then place them further apart so that they droop a little bit, and then omit the whiskers when you knit the face.)

I hope you enjoy knitting this pattern and many more from Vintage Baby Knits! You can find out more about the book here on the book's website.

My publisher, STC, is also hosting a giveaway for a free copy of the book, which you can read about here.

And if you would enjoy reading more posts from my blog tour, or if you’re just curious about vintage knitting, please visit me at my blog. I write there often about vintage knits for children and for adults, as well as about my original design work and about knitting in general–and occasionally, I even write about cake!

--Kristen Rengren

Throw a Knitting Daily TV Viewing Party and Enter to Win a Live Chat with the Hosts!

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:20:00 GMT

Welcome to the new Knitting Daily TV blog!

What's better than relaxing on your sofa with your knitting while watching Knitting Daily TV? Throwing a party, so you can watch it with all your friends! And if you have friends or relatives who want to learn "what this knitting thing is all about," you can combine the viewing with a learn-to-knit event!

It's easy to host a viewing party, and to make it even more enticing for you, Knitting Daily TV is offering four groups a live video chat with one of the hosts after their viewing party. That's right, your group could be one of the lucky ones drawn to win a live video chat via Skype with Eunny, Kim, Liz, or Shay to get all the behind-the-scenes details about the show. Plus, each of the four winning groups will win a collection of the Knitting Daily TV DVDs from Series 100, Series 200, and Series 300--that's 12 DVDs in all!

Here are some tips for hosting a Knitting Daily TV viewing party:

Step 1: Record the show on your local PBS station. The show airs on Saturdays on about 40 percent of the stations that carry it, so you could do it "live," but if you have Tivo or a DVR you can plan your party anytime! Or you can buy the DVDs. Some libraries also have the DVDs-just check in with your local branch. Each episode is under 30 minutes but you could host a marathon-viewing slumber party (we want pics of sleeping bags and hair in pink curlers)!

Step 2: Find a place to host it. How about at your local yarn shop (LYS), at your home, or at one of your knit/crochet/spin/weave circle member's homes? All you need is a DVD player and a screen.

Step 3: Send out invitations. If you're an LYS owner, consider making the viewing parties a regular weekly event on your calendar and announce it online or in your newsletter. Or if you're hosting in your home, try sending an e-vite.

Step 4:Send us your viewing party listing and your group will automatically be entered to win a live video chat with one of the hosts. Email us the following information at knittingdailytv@gmail.com or share it here in the comments section. Note that only public events will be listed on the website, but all groups who send us information will be entered into the drawing. Deadline for submissions is August 1, 2009.

To enter a chance to win the Knitting Daily TV DVDs and live video chat with one of the hosts, submit:

Your name or group name:
Event location:
Address, City, State, Zip:
Date, Time:
Event Public or Private (public events will be posted on our website):
Email, phone or website for further information:

Click here for complete contest rules.

Step 5: Get creative with your food, decorations, and entertainment. A pyramid of yarn is an easy and fun centerpiece you can make with your stash. With food, keep it simple and low-mess: popcorn, raw vegetables, or bite-size deserts are perfect for nibbling while knitting. And at the end of the show, share and learn with each other by inviting your guests to play the role of host and demonstrator to teach their favorite knitting tip, trick, or technique!

Here are some other fun ideas for yarn centerpieces:

(Special thanks to Sophie's Fine Yarn Shoppe in Louisville, Ky for hosting the yarn centerpieces photo shoot!)

Finally, let us know what you think of the show! We want to know how your viewing party went and we'd love to see your pictures!

Have a great week!

* * * *

Knitting Daily TV's Win a Live Video Chat with the Hosts Contest Rules

No Purchase Necessary. Knitting Daily TV's Win a Live Video Chat with the Hosts Contest starts on July 15, 2009, at 8am MST and ends on August 1, 2009, at midnight, MST. Sweepstakes is open to residents of the 50 U.S. (and D.C.), 18 years and older. For official rules go to KnittingDaily.com. Void where prohibited. Sponsor is Aspire Media, 201 East Fourth Street, Loveland, CO 80537.

Our Hosts' Favorite Moments

Knitting Daily TV — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:28:00 GMT

The Knitting Daily TV hosts are on hiatus right now, that term used in television scheduling to refer to a break between seasons. So we thought it would be a good time to catch up with them and look back at the last three series’ tapings and their favorite memories. Not surprisingly, the recurring theme was those small, behind-the-scenes moments. And it’s true. . . we end up spending many, many hours and days together and with our guests, knitting, crocheting, laughing, sharing ideas, talking about our lives, and eating way too many cookies. The tapings are intense because we work ten- to twelve-hour days and end up spending ninety percent of our time together for an entire week (but at least we like each other)!

Here are some of the hosts’ favorite moments. We’d love to hear yours, too!

Kim: My favorite segment was when Laura Bryant (with Barry Klein) demonstrated how to make order out of color chaos in Series 300. It was brilliant, and one of those things that only works on video. It was wildly fun to tape, too. And another favorite segment was when we hosts and some of the producers modeled different body types in Series 200. That felt pretty awkward but behind the scenes we had a really great time. It was sort of like the final icebreaker for us and we all seemed far more relaxed and familiar with each other after we taped that segment. Really, the best moments were behind the scenes, getting to know guests I'd never met before or chatting with old friends and colleagues. And of course, Shay bakes cookies for every taping. Homemade “Shay cookies” are the fuel that gets us through a busy, busy week! (Please visit the site to view this media)

Watch the video of the hosts modeling garments from Tahki Stacy Charles below or over in our videos section of the website:

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Liz: Sitting down with Andrea Wong during season three to refresh my Portuguese knitting sills (which I first learned from Abby Franquemont’s father) is just one example of the connections that we make behind the scenes. Abby herself was there, and we had yet to meet in person and swap spinning stories. There are other connections, too, like explaining to the janitor why you need a corner of his storeroom to brew a foul-smelling indigo pot, or the high-fives and the “that-a-girls” shared when you and the guest get off the set, which make you feel like you just scored a goal for the home team. And, it is the grace shared under pressure that really makes the set feel like we are sitting down with you in your living room and talking about the things we all love—yarn and all the things we can make with it.

Shay: One of my favorite moments was interviewing Penny Sitler about TNNA’s involvement in Helping Hands Foundation. Penny was accompanied by several Girl Scouts, who had set up a needle arts class at their summer camp and had the older scouts teach the younger scouts how to needlepoint. I thought this was inspiring to all young people and it carries on our mission of passing on the needle arts onto a new generation.

Eunny: I think my favorite memories are of talking to guests who are personal knitting idols—not just what you see in the edited segment, but spending time with them in the green room, knitting together, and talking yarn and fiber and stitch. I learned something new—sometimes many new things—during every conversation with a guest, and had a lot of fun. It’s always a great reminder of how powerful and compelling a bond the passion for a craft can be.

What are your favorite Knitting Daily TV moments? Are you looking forward to Series 300? Leave us a comment and let us know what how-to lessons or guests are most memorable for you. And do let us know if there’s anything you want us to teach or demo in Series 400—we go back into the studios in September!

Welcome to the New Knitting Daily TV Blog

Knitting Daily TV — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:06:00 GMT

Welcome to the new Knitting Daily TV blog! We hope you’re all having a wonderful summer. Are ya? Good! The Knitting Daily TV co-hosts are too… just relaxing by the pool doing their fiber crafts. . . in their handspun, knitted and crocheted bikinis. Right!

We are excited about our website makeover—it’s spiffy and much easier to navigate and one of the best features is that you can now see photos of the free patterns from the show before you download them! It’s the little things that make us happy… you asked for it, and we made it happen. (Kinda like changing those camera angles in the new Series 200 and 300 DVDs. . . it was just that easy!)

Some of our videos clips from Series 100 and 200 now have a new home over on the KnittingDaily.com videos section too, so you can watch great videos like Eunny’s twisted rib stitch tutorial, Liz’s lesson on dyeing sock yarns, Shay’s interview with Girl Scouts who are teaching the needle arts at summer camps, or Kim’s tips for taking your own measurements (remember Sandi’s blog posts about this last year—they now come to life on TV). Go ahead, watch them right after we’re done here.

The co-hosts are geared up for the Series 300 launch at the end of July. It’s going to be a big one and we’re excited about some of the changes we’ve brought to the show with the new season: longer how-to lessons that cover more of the fiber crafts techniques you want to see, designer interviews with some of the industry’s hottest designers and authors, like Jil Eaton, Abby Franquemont, Shirley Paden, Kristen Rengren, Kathy Merrick, Kathy Zimmerman, and Kathy Elkins (it was an invasion of the Kathy’s at the tapings).

More Back-to-Basics Tutorials

You'll also find in Series 300 a new opening segment for each show with Eunny teaching core “Getting Started” techniques. These lessons by Eunny will be great for beginners, but even you experienced yarn crafters will learn something new each week. You won’t want to miss her instructions on different methods for increases and decreases, how to cast-on for reversible ribbing, cast-on and bind-off methods that are used in different parts of the world, and much more! In fact, there are 10 more other tutorials with Eunny in Season 3 alone—but we have to leave you some surprises!

What more can you expect from the new "Tuned In to KDTV" Knitting Daily TV blog? You’ll get more previews of Season 3’s free patterns and video clips, more behind-the-scenes, and you’ll hear more from our special guests and sponsors. This show wouldn’t be possible without the generous underwriters—say thank you!

We hope you’ll tune in to Knitting Daily TV each week on your local PBS station. The show is now airing on more than 340 PBS stations in cities big to small, from New York City to Little Rock, Arkansas. And we heard the exciting news last week that the show is now on Oregon Public Broadcasting, Saturdays at 12:30 pm Pacific and on New Hampshire Public Television (which reaches much of Boston) on Mondays at 11:30 am Eastern. Hurrah, hurrah!

Not sure if Knitting Daily TV is on the tube in your market? Visit this webpage and enter your zip code, or click on “Get Listings/View All Schedules” to see all the places where the show airs. Please note that each individual public television station chooses when and if to air the program in their local markets. If it is not airing in your area, please call, write, or email your local station and let it know that you are a viewer of the station and would like to see Knitting Daily TV. You can make a difference and help bring Knitting Daily TV to your local PBS station.

Coming up next on the "Tuned In to Knitting Daily TV" blog: How to host a Knitting Daily TV viewing party!

Have a great week!