September 2002

Yarns

Ball Winders Demystified

If you've been to a yarn shop lately, you've likely seen an odd little plastic device clamped to a table. The crank handle turns a conical center in wobbly circular rotations much like the Tilt-a-Whirl amusement park rides. What is this odd thing, why do so

August 22, 2002

Tools

Tools for Taming Yarn: Umbrella Swifts

In the universal lexicon of hand gestures, if you stand in front of a knitter and hold out your arms, with your palms facing one another, you've just offered to hold that person's hank of yarn while he or she winds it into a ball. For

August 9, 2002

Tools

Tools for Taming Yarn: Niddy Noddies

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's a

August 1, 2002

Tools

Lorna’s Laces Helen’s Lace

Few companies can produce consistently beautiful hand-dyed yarns in quantities sufficient enough for large-scale distribution. Lorna's Laces is one. The color combinations range from brilliant to bare whispers, with a small line of single colors that still carry subtle variations in hue. Although some catalogs and Web

July 18, 2002

Yarns

The Essentials of Knitted Lace

Finished knitted lace may look brain-staggeringly complex. But lace is essentially composed of two simple elements: increases and decreases. Once you're familiar with those, you can achieve anything.

July 4, 2002

How-Tos, patterns

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The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd

If you've read Interweave Knits in its early years, you may already be familiar with Ann Budd. The managing editor of the magazine, she's also responsible for the encyclopedic "Grand Plan" patterns. Each pattern in the series contains instructions for knitting a simple garment type in

June 6, 2002

Books

Knit Your Own Jewelry

Who says you can only knit with yarn? The truth is, if you can wrap it around your needles and make stitches with it, you can knit with just about anything—from recycled grocery bags to licorice. Knitting your own jewelry can be lots of fun, and

May 9, 2002

How-Tos

How to Knit with Beads

Every once in a while I stumble across a technique that makes knitting fun again. This time it came from adding bright, beautiful beads to my knitting. Whether as eyes for animal motifs, glitter for evening attire, or just a little something extra on a simple

May 2, 2002

How-Tos

2 Comments

Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles By Cat Bordhi

I'd heard so much about this book that when I finally laid hands on a copy I was momentarily confused. Surely this 44-page soft-bound booklet wasn't the same one everyone was talking about? Where was the rest of it? Once I opened it up and started

March 21, 2002

Books

Rowan Kidsilk Haze

Kidsilk Haze belongs on that short list of exquisite, special-occasion yarns. It combines two delicate strands of silk with the very finest mohair fibers an angora goat ever produces. The silk glimmers through the gentle mohair fuzz like San Francisco's city skyline through the fog. Did

January 31, 2002

Yarns

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How to Substitute Yarn

A common misconception is that all yarns are alike, and that substituting one for another is merely a process of swapping needle sizes until it knits at your pattern's intended gauge. At the other end of the spectrum are knitters who live in fear of varying

January 24, 2002

How-Tos

The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth

For most people, the practice of spinning, weaving, and knitting are a luxury rather than a necessity. But during Colonial American times, the home-based making and selling of textiles played a key role in establishing political independence and cultural identity. A Clearer Look at History This book is

January 10, 2002

Books