Knitting News

They celebrate with every fiber | The Arizona Daily Star

They celebrate with every fiber
The Arizona Daily Star - October 30 2006

Northwest Sider Kathy Withers doesn't have black sheep, but she has plenty of wool. Yes sir, yes sir, more than three bags full.

And on Saturday, she'll be opening her eight-acre ranch of "fiber animals" — emus, goats, rabbits and sheep — to the public for her second annual Wool Festival, featuring demonstrations on knitting, felt-making, weaving, shearing and how to dye natural fibers. Vendors will have tables set up to exhibit their handiwork.

Throughout the day, Withers will conduct tours of the animal areas while fellow members of the Tucson Handweavers and Spinners Guild demonstrate all nature of ways to work with wool.

Last year's festival brought in more than 350 people of all ages who spent the day petting the animals — about 35 goats and sheep in all — and generally learning about where their favorite sweaters come from.
This year, Withers says people should budget at least two hours into their schedules if they want to come and get up close and personal with a table loom, an Inca loom, bags and bags of sheared wool, and of course, the animals. [more]

Nothing woolly about price of alpaca fleece! | The Huddersfield Daily Examiner

Nothing woolly about price of alpaca fleece!
The Huddersfield Daily Examiner - October 25 2006

A Netherton family has become Huddersfield's first alpaca breeder.

The Barber family started breeding the animals, which originate from South America, two months ago at their second home in Leyburn, North Yorkshire.

Now the family have five alpacas with two of them, Tupac and Oregano, at Hinchliffe's Farm Shop in Netherton today and until tomorrow lunchtime.

Breeder and knitting expert Sally Barber said: "They're very unusual but they're becoming more popular in this country. [more]

"No Sheep For You" | Treehugger

"No Sheep For You"
Treehugger - October 26 2006

I can’t draw you a diagram of how it happened, but knitting has become a choice medium for stylish, radical, TreeHuggers. The DIY movement is alive and well and it’s got needles. Knitting has lent itself to displays of guerrilla art, symbolic activism, and graffiti. A new book, “No Sheep for You: Knit Happy with Cotton, Silk, Linen, Hemp, Bamboo, and Other Delights” is right in this vein, it would seem. It is the work of Amy R. Singer, a magnate of hip knitting and editor of Knitty. [more]

You Spin Me Right Round Baby, Right Round | Chicagoist

You Spin Me Right Round Baby, Right Round
Chicagoist - October 24 2006

Think you’re hip there with your knitting needles and your little scarf? Aw, that’s cute. But really, just about everyone is knitting these days. Want to stay hip? Get into spinning. No, not that kind of spinning, we’re talking about spinning your own yarn, and all the cool kids are doing it.

Shannon Okey, aka knitgrrl, and author of “Spin to Knit” will show you how it’s done on Saturday, Nov. 4, at Arcadia Knitting (1613 W. Lawrence). “Think knitting is hot? Spinning is hotter,” according to the folks at Arcadia. “All the new knitters are taking their fiber art one step further: by making their own yarn.”

We say why stop there? Why not go out and buy yourself some sheep and stop screwing around? Amateurs. [more]

Woman spins wool into fun, big bucks | The Noblesville Ledger

Woman spins wool into fun, big bucks
The Noblesville Ledger - October 23 2006

Imagine living on a sheep farm, spinning yarn from your animals' wool and creating clothes to wear from that yarn.

Though spinning yarn from wool may be reminiscent of scenes at Conner Prairie, it's close to reality for one 25-year-old who teaches the craft in a downtown Westfield shop.

Though Kate Larson no longer lives on a farm, she and her husband hope to again someday. For now, the spinner is content turning wool into yarn using a newer, smaller version of the great wheel. [more]

Alpaca fashions: Big, hairy deal | Journal Gazette

Alpaca fashions: Big, hairy deal
Journal Gazette - October 1 2006

What started out as a love affair with a cute, exotic animal has turned into a business venture for many across the country.

Local alpaca farmers shared their love affair with the public Saturday during the third annual Autumn Alpaca Affair at the Whitley County 4-H Fairgrounds.

Curiosity about the llama-like animals and an interest in staring an alpaca farm brought hundreds to the fairgrounds. About 20 farms from the Northern Indiana Alpaca Breeders participated in the event, displaying their animals, selling alpaca-fiber yarn, clothing and stuffed animals and demonstrating how to turn the wool into yarn. Those who visited about midday were treated to a show of alpaca-fiber fashions and the friendly animals from which the hats, sweaters and scarves are made. [more]

Elliebelly Launches Unique Online Arts and Craft Boutique Featuring Beautifully Hand-Dyed Yarns, Original Artwork and One-of-a-kind Gifts | PR Web

Elliebelly Launches Unique Online Arts and Craft Boutique Featuring Beautifully Hand-Dyed Yarns, Original Artwork and One-of-a-kind Gifts [press release]
PR Web - October 8 2006

Elliebelly (http://www.elliebelly.com), a whimsical online boutique, carves out a unique corner of the web with its offerings of inspiration and one-of-a-kind products for aspiring creative spirits. Beautifully detailed handpainted clothing, gorgeously rich hand-dyed yarns, unique children’s toys and handcrafted journals speak easily to the artist within each of us.

In addition to focusing on original collage art, Elliebelly also offers both experienced and novice artists and crafters a full range of materials including hand-dyed yarns and fibers for knitters and felters and hand-dyed fabrics for creative quilters and sewers.

“I am excited about bringing together all of the things that I love in our exciting new online boutique,” said mixed-media collage artist, knitter and owner Joyce White Vance. “Whether you are an artist, an artist-to-be, or a lover of beautifully hand-crafted items, I have made a special effort to make sure that there is something for you at www.elliebelly.com,” Vance continued. [more]

Celebrate needle arts education this month by learning to knit | Anchorage Daily News

Celebrate needle arts education this month by learning to knit
Anchorage Daily News - October 3 2006

Fall is traditionally a time when our thoughts begin to turn to hot chocolate and cozy, warm fires. This is the perfect time to pull that knitting or crochet project out of your bag and settle in for a long winter of fabulous needlework time.

The Craft Yarn Council and many other national organizations recognize September and October as needle art months, and many guilds and businesses host events to draw attention to these arts.

The first week of October is National Spinning Week, and there are sheep-to-shawl festivals planned from the hills of Appalachia to the Rocky Mountains during the month. This coming weekend is one of the best, the Taos Wool Festival in Taos, N.M. I attended this festival several years ago, but I can still feel the warm afternoon sun, see the colorful dyed yarns draped around little tented booths, hear the bleating of the sheep and smell the pinon fires and smoke from piles of burning fall leaves. [more]

Romance, Russia and billy goat fluff | International Herald Tribune

Romance, Russia and billy goat fluff
International Herald Tribune - September 27 2006

Cashmere and angora are still the fashion staples in the world of luxury knits, but there is now a new rival for the fashionista's wardrobe.

Pookh, or dandelion fluff, as it translates from the Russian, is made of a cobweblike fabric that is woven from the beards of mountain goats that graze on the foothills of the Urals and is heading to the forefront of the fashion world as the signature material of the flourishing designer brand Rodnik.

Richard Ascott, 25, and Philip Colbert, 26, the creative directors at Rodnik, were not discouraged by the challenge of being newcomers when they introduced their label in 2003. They have been unconventional from the start. Colbert, a philosophy major, and Ascott, an art history major, were discussing what they would do after graduating from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, when Ascott saw the fabric on a friend. It struck him as beautiful and unusual.

It was Pookh. With the energy and enthusiasm of novices, they used the fabric to help revive the name Rodnik, taken from an early 20th-century Moscow shop owned by Princess Tenisheva, a patron of arts and crafts, and run until 1905. It was to be the perfect union: Pookh scarves made from the beards of Russian goats and Rodnik, the Tenisheva's Russian arts brand. [more]

Take a stab at Alaska's own yarn, luxurious qiviut | Anchorage Daily News

Take a stab at Alaska's own yarn, luxurious qiviut
Anchorage Daily News - September 26 2006

Cool fall weather is the perfect time to think about knitting a beautiful, warm scarf. Maybe you can knit two, one for yourself and one for that special someone in your life.

How about knitting with qiviut? Have you tried knitting lace? This is the right time to purchase qiviut yarn, learn all about knitted lace and knit your own version of the qiviut scarves made famous by Anchorage's Oomingmak Musk Ox Producer's Co-operative.

[...]Donna Druchunas, author of "Arctic Lace: Knitting Projects and Stories Inspired by Alaska's Native Knitters" (Nomad Press $26.95), will be teaching a six-hour class in knitted lace inspired by her book. Donna's expertise in design and knitting can help you to master lace as you knit swatches in worsted-weight and sport-weight yarns. You'll be ready to knit lace weight with confidence after you learn her many secrets. [more]