June is shaping up to be fun, fun, fun! Not only is it the debut of a new Noro Magazine (more below on this) it’s also Worldwide Knit In Public week June 9-17th!
What in the World is WWKIP?!
It started out as just World Wide Knit In Public Day several years back. Today it’s become Worldwide Knit In Public Days from June 9-17th. (WWKiP for short).
The goal is to promote the community aspect of knitting and the fiber arts. In the past people knitted quietly at home, all alone. This awareness-raising event wants to get us out into the fresh air, mingling with each other and showing off our mad-skills to the world. I didn’t know there’s this whole stigma-thing with the whole “knitting in public.” Now it explains all the funny looks I’d get while sitting by the pool, knitting on socks!
The goal is to promote the community aspect of knitting and the fiber arts. In the past people knitted quietly at home, all alone. This awareness-raising event wants to get us out into the fresh air, mingling with each other and showing off our mad-skills to the world. I didn’t know there’s this whole stigma-thing with the whole “knitting in public.” Now it explains all the funny looks I’d get while sitting by the pool, knitting on socks!
Come join us every week, year-round as we get together Thursday nights in the shop from 6-9ish. Bring a project (all crafts welcome). Just be warned: bring an easy project because there’s lots of chatting, distractions and laughing so it’s very easy to mess up and have to repair things once you get home. ;)
The goal is to promote the community aspect of knitting and the fiber arts. In the past people knitted quietly at home, all alone. This awareness-raising event wants to get us out into the fresh air, mingling with each other and showing off our mad-skills to the world. I didn’t know there’s this whole stigma-thing with the whole “knitting in public.” Now it explains all the funny looks I’d get while sitting by the pool, knitting on socks!
Come join us every week, year-round as we get together Thursday nights in the shop from 6-9ish. Bring a project (all crafts welcome). Just be warned: bring an easy project because there’s lots of chatting, distractions and laughing so it’s very easy to mess up and have to repair things once you get home. ;)
O Noro, noro! wherefore art thou Noro?
We love Noro here at the shop. Glorious, vibrant colors that do the striping for you? What’s not to like! Some find it too woolly (granted Kureyon is a rough, scratchy woolly-bully yarn) but adore the other softer lines (Silk Garden, Taiyo, Karuta) and the sophisticated colorways. It just calls out to us, “cast me on now please!”
Now it’s the launch of a new magazine! This is heaven for a magazine junkie like myself. 35 new patterns all in Noro!
Noro is my “go to yarn” when I need instant gratification knitting. One hank of the sock yarn, some big needles and you’ll have a beautiful scarf or stole with little effort. The yarn “tricks” me to knit longer so I can actually finish something before it’s abandoned for the newest shiny object in my line of vision.
The magazine promises a wide variety of patterns too. I’m loving those crochet slippers and look….stuff for guys!
This magazine is a great inspirational jump-start for gift knitting season. I might have to dust off my crochet hook and make up those slippers! So cute in the noro colors. Watch for the magazines to arrive in shop any day now.
In the meantime…here’s a cool pdf booklet all about how Noro is produced, From Farm to Product. The file opens slowly so go fix some tea while waiting for it to pull up…but it’s worth it!
Now for some yarn inspiration and a big reveal at the end (so keep reading!)
Taiyo Yumminess
Alas it’s summer….that means it gets hot and knitting with wool is just no fun when the mercury soars. Never fear This summer we have Noro’s Taiyo yarns to keep us busy! It’s a blend of cotton/silk/touch of wool. Very soft, nubby but with a cottony feel, perfect for when temps rise. Not woolly at all, or scratchy like other Noro yarns.
I’ve made 3 fast shawls with this Taiyo worsted…well I’ve finished one -Down & Dirty. The second is nearly done, Show Your Colors, and the third, Des Marais is hibernating a bit while I decide if I like it.
Big needles, 2 balls and you’ve got a lovely square shawl or even a baby blanket. All garter stitch or throw in few rows of eyelets. Bim, bam, boom! Finished shawl in no time.
My down and dirty Taiyo shawl recipe:
#11 circular needle, 2 balls Taiyo worsted
CO 3. Knit 1 row. *Knit across the row, m1, K1*. Just keep repeating this ea row, always increasing (m1) right before the last stitch every row until 1st ball used up. Then it’s time to decrease: *Knit across the row, k2tog, K1* until you get to last stitch left. Now you’ve got a big square shawl (or lap blanket, baby blanket).
Want a triangle? Use this recipe for Simply Luxury Scarf.
Taiyo Sock
The skinny version of Taiyo is just a lovely as its big sister. Taiyo Sock blends cotton (50%) with wool, nylon and silk. Knit up it has a dry, cotton-hand and no scratchy-scratchies.
Truth-telling time. I did cast on another (that makes it about four shawls…but whose counting…) Mambu Shawlette in Taiyo Sock and I’m loving it. It’s my t.v. knitting project (well…one of them at least…there are multiples. I should say it’s my current favorite of last few days).
It’s a very pointy triangle shawl in a bamboo stitch pattern. Drapes great, light & airy. Perfect for a summer shawlette to throw on when the nights turn a bit chilly, or the a/c is cranked on high. *disclaimer: that’s not me modeling my shawl by the way, just in case you thought I’d changed my hairstyle, hair color and dropped quite a few pounds….but my colorway #8 is pretty darn close to the model’s:
The pattern is in Wendy Bernard’s latest, Custom Knits Accessories. She is probably my favorite designer….ever! All her books are so well worth the splurge because of her fantastic design tips and patterns. If you’re not familiar with her blog, Knit and Tonic check it out and have a gander at her other books: Custom Knits and Custom Knits 2. Then come see me and I’ll wax rhapsodic about her. She’s that good!
Patience is Rewarded
Ta-Da! Let’s have a Celebratory Noro Yarn Sale! From June 9-17th Noro yarns will be on sale. Bring in your coupon and get 15% off your purchase. Help us spread the Noro-Love and WWKiP awareness all at the same time!
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I just found your site (a friend referred me to the Ravennic Games site) and have to share a funny bit about knitting in public - while attending yet another post- 30th reunion happy hour with my husband's highschool classmates, I took my knitting because I can only chit-chat so much. The fat, dorky barfly who's probably never had a girlfriend saw me from the other end of the tables and said "What's she doing? Knitting! That's SO not HOT!" as if pleasing his type was important... I'd rather have another scarf.
ReplyDelete[…] The one on the left is screaming to be cast on. The one….well…. looks suspiciously like my last summer’s Noro shawl that’s still (ahem) on the needles. But I’ll get it done this summer! Promise. (I dug it out, […]
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