City of North Vancouver to spend thousands on guerilla knitting

Exta! Extra! Read all about it!

Forget socks, knit shoes!!

Check out Nike’s new shoe – knit like a sock!

Tiny Sweater-Wearing Penguins Are Finally Released Into The Wild

Read this update of The Worldwide Campaign To Knit Sweaters For Penguins - it's sure to bring a smile to your face.

Thanks for the update KR!

Margaret Atwood knits penguins

National Post article of Atwood's "foray into a new artistic genre."

A yarn store in New Zealand has put out a call for penguin sweaters ...

Story from George Stroumboulopoulos, CBC.

The Fine Art of Yarn Bombing

From Time photos, yarn bombing.

Knitted hug for Japan

Hello knitters,

I came across this DanDoh [Warm Earth] scarf pattern while surfing the net and thought I'd share it with you.

It's designed by a Japanese designer as a way of connecting with her people during this difficult time.

Looks quite attractive and is easy to knit.

Enjoy, EM

New group project idea

Hi,

I don't know how far we are with ideas but, just in case, I thought this mitered square quilt block looked like it had potential. The knitting is pretty basic but it's the colours and how they are organized that will make all the difference. Psychedelic Squares Afghan: Stocking St Version.

Cheers, Sharon

Knitting podcasts!

Check out Cast On website for podcasts about knitting, as well as other fun knitting info.

Thanks for the tip Sharon!

Knitting blog: Yarn Harlot

The award winning blog was suggested to us by Irene.
Check it out!
Thanks Irene!

Digital Resources from the Knitting Reference Library WSA

From the University of Southampton website:
The Richard Rutt Collection at Winchester School of Art

Richard Rutt is a scholar and former bishop who is widely known for his classic book 'A history of hand knitting', published by Batsford in 1987. Rutt’s library of books, journals, magazines, patterns and cuttings specifically on knitting is held at Winchester School of Art Library. This follows his wish to donate his library to the University of Southampton in order to join it with Montse Stanley’s Knitting Collections as an acknowledgement of their shared interest in knitting and their consequent long standing friendship.

In the Loop

Fun! The University of Southampton has a knitting group, with a great website, AND they host knitting conferences.

Welcome to our website. We aim to be a focus for all those interested in the culture and practice of knitting whether for education, research or outreach to the local and internet community.

Clock Knits Time Into a Scarf

One Berlin-based designer dreams up a poetic (and crafty) way to tell time.

This here's a clock that knits time in 3-D.

Online shopping

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know about two very successful ventures I've made into online yarn shopping ;-) In the event you ever want to get your hands on a foreign language knitting book - most especially Japanese or German - I can highly recommend Needle Arts Bookshop. This is a Canadian company so you don't have to worry about duties. I got my stuff from them very quickly, beautifully packaged, with some nice freebies as well. The company also distributes some yarn/pattern kits which are quite nice as well.

My other big success was buying a Hanne Falkenberg kit online from a British yarn shop - Cucumber Patch. Falkenberg is a Danish designer who only sells her patterns as complete kits with the yarn and unfortunately for me I saw one of her designs in a British knitting magazine and couldn't rest till I got it ;-). I ordered my kit last Monday and Canada Post just dropped it on my porch this morning. The only caution I'd make is to avoid Cucumber Patch's eBay Canada store and order from their own website instead. The shop assistant I emailed told me that their prices are higher on the eBay site as eBay charges a lot to retailers.... I saved $30 by ordering direct.

Cheers, Shawnna

Cheryl Niamath's blog

Some of you may know Cheryl as partner of Paul L., but she is also an incredibly talented crafts woman, and author of Fetching Knits.

Welcome to the online home of Fetching Knits. Here you will find patterns, help with techniques, and occasional knitting news. This site is a work in progress; check back soon for new patterns & news.

World Wide Knit in Public Day

"World Wide Knit in Public Day was started in 2005 by Danielle Landes. It began as a way for knitters to come together and enjoy each other’s company. Knitting is such a solitary act that it’s easy to knit alone somewhere and sink into your work without thinking about all the other knitters out there. Neighbors could spend all their lives never knowing that the other knits. This a specific day to get out of your house and go to a local event (with your knitting in tow) just for you and people like you. Who knows you might even bump into your neighbor! Consider this a spark, to ignite a fire; getting all of the closeted knitters out into fresh air."

Knitwits, shall we participate Wed June 16th?

Crocheting book wins odd title prize

http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/03/27/odd-title-crochet.html

LONDON (AP) — A book charting the frontier between handicrafts and geometry on Friday won Britain’s quirkiest literary award, the Diagram Prize for year’s oddest book title.

Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes by mathematician Daina Taimina beat runners-up What Kind of Bean is This Chihuahua? and Collectible Spoons of the Third Reich.

Prize overseer Horace Bent said "the public proclivity towards non-Euclidian needlework" proved too strong for the competition.

"I’ve never won any prizes before. This is my first prize and it’s wonderful," said Taimina, an adjunct associate professor at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y..

The winning book’s title may be odd but the subject is serious. Taimina uses crochet to create hyperbolic planes, surfaces on which lines curve away from each other instead of running parallel, as on a flat plane, or converging, as on a sphere.

Previous champions include Bombproof Your Horse and Living With Crazy Buttocks.

Knitwits new project: Big Blanket

Hi all,

We have made a great start on our Big Blanket project!!

Edita bought 14 skeins of yarn yesterday, and today we wound it into balls. I have two balls not yet claimed - navy blue, and a purpley blue one. We are quite certain that each ball will make at least 2 squares. Leftovers from your first square will be used in solid coloured squares or mixed up for multi-coloured squares.

I have attached my list of the folks who are participating. Once I have confirmed the number of us participating, I'll ask you to reimburse Edita for a portion of the yarn expense (it's going to be less than $10).

To remind you of the inspiration for our Big Blanket, check out the photo on the blog shown below. This is not a pattern so we're on our own for figuring out squares. If you're unsure about a pattern - reply to the Knitwits and someone will be able to help you figure out a pattern.

Getting started:

We are going to aim for our squares to 10" by 10".

You'll need to do a swatch to check your tension and to try out your pattern. Do your swatch in stocking stitch (or the pattern that you intend to knit) at least 4" by 4". Use 4.5mm or 5mm needles. (Use 5mm if you are doing cables or twists.)

To determine how many stitches you'll need to make a 10" by 10" square, count how many stitches you have per inch on your swatch. Multiply that by 10 and you'll have the number of stitches to cast on. Based on Edita's sample you should have about 42 or 44 stitches. (If you knit tightly you'll more, if you knit loosely you'll need fewer).

Our wonderful collection of Cascade yarns


Tracking our colour choices


A getting started lesson


Turning skeins into balls using wheel


We used two wheels to get the job done

The Knitwits consider a new project

Hello knitters,

I mentioned today during our knitting session that I saw a blanket made by many people and sewn together on a blog.

Here is the link to that blog. It looks little bit like the beautiful sweater Sara showed us today.

Just another idea to consider:

http://cmeknit.blogspot.com/2009/06/many-hands.html

Edita

A new link: Ravelry is a knit and crochet community

Hello all,

This is a link Sheryl pointed us to. Ravelry.

Ravelry is a free site. There are currently 543,850 registered users.

ORGANIZE - Organize your projects, stash, needles, and more.

SHARE - Show off your work. Share your ideas and techniques.

DISCOVER - Find new designs & yarns. Make friends. Try new things.

Cheers, Meg