Twist Collective Blog

Twist Out & About: Stitches

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Published on Thursday, 29 October 2009 12:56

Julia here.

Hard on the heels of Rhinebeck, I found myself able to go with friends to Stitches East, the biggest retail show in the business right in my own backyard (practically) in Hartford, CT. Once there, I quickly happened across Stephanie of Handknit Heroes and Allison of The Knit Princess sharing a booth.

I purchased a kit for a superhero mask from Stephanie, hoping that I might have enough time to get this knit by Hallowe'en. I mean Hallowe'en, 2010.  You can get one too on her website.

Neato, huh? 

The rest of my Friday in the big market was spent reeling from one fantastic booth to the next, admiring the goods of local (WEBS) and not-so-local retailers (Modern Yarn), yarn manufacturers (Kollage), indie dyers (Ivy Brambles), and handmade yarns by the spinners of Indie Spun, all while renewing my acquisitive interest in things like a complete set of dpns from Signature Needle Arts, a Boye electic ball winder from Yarn Bazaar (helloooo Santa),

and actually buying two of these goodies for knitters on my own Christmas list, Knit-out boxes from Lantern Moon that I had originally seen at TNNA.

I also got to knit on The Big Sock. I look a little demented in this photo, but it is an action shot, after all.  I mean, that knitter is moooving.

Seen and Noted: Got Knitting?

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Published on Monday, 26 October 2009 12:56

Have you knitters out there seen this yet?  It's Quebec's answer to the Got Milk? campaign, complete with knitting grandmother and a cursor smashing knitting game. 

Click on the different icons to the lower left to zoom in on the room to see such things as a knitted wall art, rolling balls of yarn, and my personal favorite, the knit telephone cozy, complete with curly i-cord.

It's interesting to know that someone with creative power somewhere still thinks of knitting exclusively as the province of slightly daft grandmothers who knit superhero outfits for themselves (however fun the idea of knit superhero outfits might be. See the cape and mask on the mannequin?  Do I have time before Hallowe'en to duplicate that?  Maybe it's because I'm more of a daft grandmother than I would care to admit). Watch the tv commercials on the French version of the site to see Grandma in her superhero outfit, complete with tricked out Vespa.

Design Process: Urbanite

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Published on Thursday, 22 October 2009 19:39

by Cher Underwood Fosberg, originally posted to her blog, The Amazing Adventures of Tom and Bel

My dad is the world's biggest clotheshorse. Seriously: the man must look good at all times.
His basement is like a one guy department store. It's completely amazing.
When we lived in the same city, we were shopping buddies. We often joked that if we had a family motto, it would be "Never pay retail."

Unsurprisingly, with a fellow like Dad for inspiration, the design had to handsome, practical and not too costly to knit. So as I noodled around with a lovely fluffy yarn, Harrisville Yarns Orchid (with Cashmere), for a ladies' pullover

it occurred to me that this might be a good man's sweater as well. Having borrowed many of my dad's (and these days, my husband's) sweaters over the years, I figured I had a pretty good grasp on what makes a good one: a long, lean look, attractive details like saddle shoulders and interesting-to-knit cables that are still understated, and a quiet color that didn't scream "look at me." Luckily for me, Twist's editors agreed.

After conferring with Kate, we decided to make the sweater a crew neck rather than the turtle I'd originally conceived (my husband and pop are both rather warm-blooded, so this made sense to me), and she selected the Soft Brown color in delicious Valley Yarns Amherst. I'd never knitted with this yarn before, but it is lovely. Soft and smooshy (yes, that's a technical term), easy on the hands, yet it shows off complex stitchwork beautifully. I am a big fan of yarns you can knit by touch, and Amherst delivers on that score. It's reasonably priced, too, which rocks my socks.

I can't wait for Urbanite to come back home just so I can wrap myself up in it. Though I may have to fight off the husband -- I think he's got his eye on this one, too.

Twist Contributors at Rhinebeck

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Published on Thursday, 22 October 2009 14:33

Julia here.  I carried my camera around the New York Sheep & Wool festival fully intending to document every familiar face, and the day started out well enough.  Right away I ran into Cheryl Burke (designer of Cottage Garden) with her pal, Nicole.

And had a lovely chat with Gudrun Johnson (responsible for Vaila and Audrey in Unst) and her friend, Julia. Who are they talking to here?

Why, it's Mary Jane Mucklestone (designer of Luke's Diced Vest and Cinquefoil)!  I always love to see what Mary Jane is wearing.

I hung out with Alison Green Will (Tiveden), found Margaret Atkinson (Botanical Lace), Anne Hanson (Artichaut), Véronik Avery (Papineau), and Clara Parkes (Swatch It!), but that's about when I forgot to take pictures.  It wasn't until sometime during the Ravelry party, where I spotted Kay and Ann of The Problem Ladies, and heard tell of Pam Allen (Vaganova) knocking about the place, that I remembered myself, and got Team Rav together, all sporting sweaters featured in Twist!  Don't they all look fantastic? Jess, you need to make a blue Vaila: Gudrun's really set off your lovely eyes. Three words: Malabrigo Azul Profundo.

And now for two of the most photographed things of the weekend: the Ravelry party cupcakes:

And Bob.  No doubt you've seen Ysolda's Bob head on the blogs by now, but Irene got some special attention while we were waiting for the bus . . .

a special Bob kiss.  I love this shot.  I may make it my desktop for the next month. Cheers!