Monday

Announcing Knitting Kits for May Platypus!

by Joanna
https://www.etsy.com/shop/slatefallsknits?section_id=12530532&ref=shopsection_leftnav_4

We are pleased to announce our brand-new knitting kits! Today we are featuring our kit for May Platypus, the adorable doll from our book Freddie's Blanket


 Each kit contains the required yarn for your very own May Platypus doll: Brown Sheep Company Serendipity Tweed in three colors. Also included are the notions: 100% wool felt eyes, embroidery thread, and ribbon, along with a stationery set of four blank cards featuring a beautiful illustration from the book.


Additionally, the digital pattern PDF for May will be delivered to customers via email. Our favorite part? Everything comes in this winsome Goodnight Moon knitting bunny project bag. We love these bags! They are based on Jeni's pattern, and are the perfect size for small to medium sized projects: toys, socks, kids garments, shawls, and accessories!


Visit the kit section of our Etsy store here to view our new kits! We will be featuring our new kits on the blog here throughout the week. Happy Stitching!

Friday

Book Review~ Everyday Lace by Heather Zoppetti


This week I am pleased to bring you a review of Heather Zoppetti's new book, Everyday Lace. I first met Heather a few years ago at TNNA, the yarn industry's trade show for retailers, manufacturers, publishers and designers. From the time I met her, I have been deeply impressed by Heather's artistry, passion and aesthetic. Heather and I were also able to visit together "after hours" last winter at the filming of Knitting Daily season 13. I have been eagerly waiting since then to see her new book and I was not disappointed!

all photos courtesy of Interweave

Why Lace?
Heather has a wonderful intuitive sense of how to employ the unique qualities of handknit lace. Whether for drape, texture, accent, or structure, Heather inserts the perfect stitch pattern for each design's silhouette and form. 


What to Love
I love that this book is organized into three categories: Warm, Transitional, and Cold. As a Colorado girl, I love the variety of seasonal knits, and the way Heather has created a truly year-round collection of knits. I am not a "foul-weather" knitter- I love making and wearing handknits year-round; my favorite part of Everyday Lace is that the patterns are exactly that- perfect for every day of the year!

Another side note: the book was photographed at the Loveland Feed and Grain, which is located in historic downtown Loveland, just blocks from my neighborhood, so I especially enjoyed the great photography in this collection!


What to Knit
With five accessories, two pairs of socks, and 11 garments including cardigans, pullovers, and vests, Everyday Lace offers up a wonderfully curated collection of handknits perfect for a variety of fibers, styles, and skill levels. 

Vital Stats
Everyday Lace
By Heather Zoppetti
Interweave/F+W; $24.99
142 pages
18 projects

To learn more about Heather and her work, please visit her website here:

A review copy of this book was provided to me by Interweave/F+W




Tuesday

Spinzilla~ The Godzilla of Fiber

by Joanna

I was recently honored to be a guest blogger at the Spin-Off blog. The topic of my post? Spinzilla! Are you in? I have been hoarding curating a collection of fiber all year to prepare for this year's competition. I will be blogging all about it in October, and sharing lots of spinning photos on my Instagram, find me as joannajohnson if you want to join in the fun!

photo courtesy of Fancy Tiger Crafts

In the meantime, you can head over to the Spin-Off blog to read about my Spinzilla adventures last year with Team Fancy Tiger. I wonder... will they return for a second win and retain the Golden Niddy Noddy? I can't wait to find out!

Wednesday

Christopher Robin Pullover

Inspiration
A. A Milne’s witty and tenderly crafted stories have become a part of our family treasury of favorite stories. The various animal characters, with their distinct personalities, quirks, and foibles, are both endearing and unforgettable. As we watch our children grow up, as we hear from our readers who have created the knitted and sewn storybook characters from our books, and as I reflect on the magic of the world of Winnie-the-Pooh, I see how the real life of a children’s book plays out in the imagination of the child. It is in the fertile mind of a little boy that a homely collection of odd stuffed animals becomes a world of fun, adventure, challenge, and delight.
Pattern Overview
Inspired by the beloved Winnie-the-Pooh stories, the Christopher Robin pullover is a sweater created from very simple shapes and techniques. Inspired by the stylish play clothes of the 1940′s, this square neck pullover is the perfect no-fuss three-season sweater for outdoor play. Worked in Amy Butler’s beautiful Belle Organic Aran, which is a soft blend of 50% organic cotton and 50% organic wool, it is an all-natural fiber that is a pleasure to knit with and easy to care for. The sweater is created from just two pieces- a front and a back- and seamed together with a simple single crochet stitch. If you are a beginning knitter and have never made anything more complicated than a scarf, this would be a wonderful first sweater for you to try. The back of the sweater is a simple T shape, and the front is exactly the same as the back except for the square cutaway neckline.

For more information on this pattern please visit our Ravelry page:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/christopher-robin-pullover








Tuesday

Teaching the Timber Mittens at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery

by Joanna

I recently had the pleasure of teaching a Buff Knitting class at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. This was done as a part of their Stitches in Time Series. If you are local to the area and interested in fiber arts, I encourage you to look into this great series. Earlier this summer I took a class on natural dyeing and it was incredible! The teaching space is beautiful, the instructors were a wealth of knowledge, all materials were included, and at $25 per class you simply can't go wrong!


Here you see the materials table for my knitting class. I first became interested in Buff Knitting about three years ago. While visiting family on the east coast, my mother and sister and I started looking through an old issue of Adirondack Life magazine that had an in-depth article on this unique regional technique. After some time of reading, research and swatching, I was asked to write an article for Knitting Traditions magazine about Buff Knitting in the Adirondack High Peaks Country. 


The Fort Collins Museum reached out to Interweave this winter to set up a historic knitting class for their stitches series, which is how I was invited to teach. After working with a variety of yarns, needles, and stitches, I developed my interpretation of the Buff Mitten into the sample you see above, called the Timber Mitten. In this pattern, I combine a respect for the traditional natural or "buff" colored wooly mitten, along with a more modern stitching style that requires working with just one strand of yarn at a time. The Timber Mitten pattern is now available for sale in my Ravlery shop in case you are interested in trying your hand at it. The pattern includes written instructions, a colorwork chart and an instructional video on working the loop stitch.

To create a buff mitten, you knit a loopy stitch mitten and then cut the loops. The cut loops are then "shagged" to create a thick and warm carpet like mitten, which was perfect for the loggers and teamsters of the north country to wear while working long hours outdoors in the winter. I am looking forward to wearing my mittens this winter on my long walks around the lake!