This Sunday, come along with me as we take a little peek inside Ann Shayne’s house and behind the scenes at the filming of the first-ever encore Knit Stars masterclass.

Last year, Ann + Kay of Modern Daily Knitting approached me with an unprecedented ask…

“Can we be in Knit Stars again? We already know what we want to teach!”

And if you’ve ever spent much time around Ann + Kay, you know how easy it is to say YES to them. They are just so much fun! 🥳

But this time, I said…I want to see take our viewers inside at least one of your homes. So we drove to Nashville, where Ann kindly obliged… ​​​​​​​

A rare sight…Ann Shayne’s stash! (Well, at least part of it).

As you would expect, there were little handmade touches everywhere…

Charles Barkley got to come on this trip, too. He was mostly well-behaved.

And books. Lots and lots and lots of books! Including Bowling Avenue…Ann Shayne’s first novel. Did you know she wrote one??? I didn’t!

Little lovely surprises were everywhere, including evidence of another talent of Ann’s (charcoal drawing!) and her penchant for colorful housewares.

After capturing loads of “b-roll” in Ann’s house, it was time to buckle down for the masterclass filming. So we shuffled over to MDK world headquarters. They really rolled out the red carpet for us. Check out this cute banner…

And they had swag ready for us. I quickly personalized my new KNITTER hat…

And then Ann + Kay went on to (as my daughter would say), Slay the Day with their masterclass on log cabin knitting. By the end of the day, I was feverish with anticipation to cast on a log cabin (or wait, was that fever from the kidney infection I had brewing but didn’t yet know I had? Probably both, lol!)

“Fussy Cuts,” a log cabin blanket Ann once made for charity.

Anyhoo…the class is amazing. I can’t wait to debut it this fall, along with the 14 other Season 10 masterclasses. Just one more filming trip to go…here we come Alicia, Clara and Julie Ann!

xoxo,

P.S. Not yet signed up for Knit Stars Season 10? Join the waitlist here.

So funny story…when I was in the hospital getting treated for my kidney infection, I met a nurse named Logan. He saw me working on my Rising Scarf between blood draws, and said he was a knitter, too. Well that led to a long chat and we exchanged numbers.

Logan told me his favorite thing to knit is sweaters, but the bane of his existence is blocking. “I just hate doing it,” he said. “I’m not ever sure what I’m doing.”

So I hooked Logan up with Knit Stars Season 2, which includes the masterclass that rocked my blocking world – Andrea Mowry’s class on fades. When I learned her “burrito technique,” something clicked for me, and now I love to block!

That’s why a link to Andrea’s blocking video is included in all of our Knit Stars blocking mat sets. And this week, in honor of Logan we’ve put our Knit Stars blocking mat sets on sale 50% off, while they last. Get yours here.

You probably know Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner from their website, ModernDailyKnitting.com, and their uber-popular Field Guides.

But did you know they have some great patterns available on Ravelry, too?

“The inspiration for the New Ancestral Christmas Stocking came into Ann’s life many years ago as a tattered photocopy of a mimeograph of a cuneiform stone-incised recipe for an oversized stocking, complete with intarsia image of a lumpy Santa.

“Ann filled in all the blurry parts, deciphered many handwritten notes from unknown relatives, and redesigned her family’s treasured stocking for Christmas in the Modern Era. What we love about this stocking:

“Capacity. You can cram a lot of Toblerone and horehound candy in this baby. The leg is long and the toe is virtually bottomless. This hardworking sock is not just for decoration; it’s for cargo.

“Tradition. Lumpy Santa is gone, but there’s no mistaking the Christsmassyness. Snowflakes! Elf stripes! Argyles (for your preppy elves)!

“Modernity. The lines are clean and the font for the duplicate-stitched name is simple and unadorned. We like our Christmas real classy like that.

Find the pattern on Ravelry here.

Photo credit: HeatherRoss on ravelry

These tiny baby “jeans” knit up quickly and are the absolute hit of the baby shower, every time. The pattern by Kay Gardiner and Cristina Bernardi Shiffman is free, here.

Photo credit: Nokkis on ravelry

And if you were around back when Ann + Kay’s first book came out, I’d almost bet you made at least one of these Ballband Dishcloths. Such a fun pattern, and great gift! Grab it on Ravelry here.

Photo credit: Julia Gartland for The New York Times Cooking

Sweet and Salty Frozen Grapes

Here’s a fun, refreshing recipe from New York Times Cooking that’s perfect for the last dog days of summer. But Charles Barkley says, be careful! Grapes are toxic to dogs. (Frozen bananas, on the other hand, make a great treat for your pooch!)

Ingredients:  

• 1½ pounds red or green seedless grapes off the stem, washed and dried
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (optional), plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon Aleppo chile flakes or other mild chile flakes like Urfa (See Tip)
• Kosher salt

Instructions:

1. Add grapes to 1-gallon zip-top bag (1½ pounds of loose grapes fit perfectly in a gallon-sized zip-top bag, allowing them to freeze in a single, even layer—no need to transfer them from a baking sheet to a storage container).
2. In a small bowl, combine lemon zest (if using), lemon juice, sugar, chile flakes and 1 teaspoon salt, and whisk very well to combine.
3. Pour the lemon mixture over grapes, seal the bag, and shake well to thoroughly coat each grape.
4. Lay the zip-top bag flat in the freezer and freeze for at least 6 hours (ideally overnight), until grapes are frozen solid. Remove from the freezer and toss around to loosen them in the bag before tipping them into a bowl. Serve immediately. (Frozen grapes can be stored in the freezer for up to 6 weeks.)
5. For a sharper heat, use ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper or ½ teaspoon Italian crushed red pepper in place of the mild chile flakes.