Posts by Mandy Sieja

Something has been on my mind lately… I’m curious, do you tend to knit + crochet alone, or in groups? As I look back, almost my entire making life has been a pretty solitary endeavor. I know, it’s surprising, considering that I’ve spent the last 20 years creating places and ways for Yarnies to connect……

It’s really happening! 💃🏻🕺🌎🧶🎉 The first-ever Big Knit Stars Meetup is coming together the weekend of July 18-20, and you’re officially invited. We had nearly 200 Knit Stars fans around the world raise their hands to host an in-person Knit Stars meetup! Many of them have secured their locations, dates and times, and have added…

This week, I’m rounding out our European picture postcard series with the sweetest ending…our pastry-filled journey through Lisbon, Portugal, with Season 10 Star Filipa Carneiro. After wrapping with Cecilia Losado in Sitges, Spain, I flew (along with cinematographer Brad and his wife, Cindy) to Lisbon, Portugal. We had been forewarned by Filipa that the Portuguese…

Wow…y’all blew up my inbox over last week’s newsletter! I’ll be honest, this “travel postcard” format was born from necessity, because I was so wiped out from the trip that I needed the newsletter to rely on photos from my phone, and not too many words… But apparently you loved it! 🥰 So thank you…

I’m writing to you at the tail end of our 2-week filming trip through Paris, Barcelona, and Lisbon, and have decided that for the next three weeks, I’m going to write you three newsletters that depart just a bit from our usual weekly format. They will be sort of extended picture-postcards of filming in each…

This week I’m headed to Paris to film with Franklin Habit, then Spain with Cecilia Losada, then Portugal with Filipa Carneiro, all for Knit Stars Season 10. But it won’t be the “postcard Paris” you can get on the Travel Channel or one of those river cruises… The Stars always put lots of thought into…

Happy Sunday! Well, actually, if I’m totally transparent and a little vulnerable here, I’m not feeling my usual happy self as I write this. How about you? How would you rate your wellness right now, 1 to 10? To be honest, mine has been hovering around the bottom of the scale, at the opposite end…

Something magic happens when Yarnies meet up IRL (In Real Life). It’s why I opened a yarn shop just over 20 years ago…I loved the connections and conversations that unfolded on our comfy couch. And now that we’ve built this global community with Yarnies in 65 countries and counting… I find myself craving that in-person…

One of the greatest joys of this wild ride of a life that I’m on, this improbable thing I get to do for my “job,” is all of the fascinating, brilliant and creative people I get to spend time with on a deep and connective level. All of the airports, all the logistics, all the…

One of the greatest joys of my life is this worldwide community we’ve all built together over the past 10 years. To think that there are Knit Stars owners in 65 countries and counting absolutely blows my mind! It reminds me of my favorite quote of all time, that I first read in a tiny…

You did it, dear readers. You did it! 💃🏻🕺🏆🎉 On our opening day of Season 10 Earlybird signups, you broke the internet. For the first time in 10 Seasons, there was so much enrollment traffic, our site went completely down, then as Season 10 Star Clara Parkes posted, “limped along while the people with passwords…

Dear friend, I’m writing this from Sa Pa, Vietnam, as Mallory, Brad and I prepare to embark on the long journey home from filming the first cinematic masterclass of the historic Season 10. By bus, air and car, the trip in total will take 50.5 hours – and that’s if everything runs on time! But…

I don’t know about you… But my whole life, I’ve listened to tropes, the stereotypes, the passive-aggressive digs. “Knitting? Where’s your rocking chair?” “Oh look at you with your yarn, that’s so cute. I thought that was a lost art.” “I could never sit still that long.” So, I AM READY. Ready to show the…

Our first look at the commemorative superkit Koigu is developing to celebrate Knit Stars Season 10. The final version will have sparkles too! This week I got a reminder that just when we think we know everything about ourselves and our own origin stories… We’re reminded of how intertwined our lives are with one another,…

Does it feel like there’s a stumbling block in your way right now? 🪨 If you’re like most of us, there’s at least one… So maybe this will be helpful to you. These past few weeks, my good friend and yoga teacher, Tina, was in Germany visiting her mom, so I decided to try out…

This past week, I’ve been having a ball photographing the yarns, kits, and bags for Knit Stars Season 10…all just with my phone, next to a window that looks out over the sea. It’s been awhile since I did this. In the first decade and a half of Loops, I did pretty much all the…

Lizzie Shriner, owner of The Mermaid’s Purl in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, wearing her “Girdwood” design by Caitlin Hunter. As you probably know, last year after almost 20 years of owning a yarn shop, I shifted my focus from “selling yarns” to “telling yarns” full-time. I am so grateful to get to live my dream…

Sherry, mom and rancHER of Mitchell Wool Co pictured with Luke, her son and “lifter of heavy things” at their family farm   Imagine this… You’re chugging along nicely with life when you read a book. And this one book makes such a huge impression on you that you decide to make a radical change and…

This past week, I flew to New York City to attend opening night of “Redwood,” the new Broadway musical starring Idina Menzel. The show was memorable in so many ways, from the groundbreaking technology used to create an immersive forest experience, to the airborne choreography – Idina was trained by Bandaloop, the same group that…

“Have a little fun every day.” My dear friend Karen’s husband, Rick, had this famous catchphrase. But it was more than a motto. By all accounts, he lived it – in the biggest and best possible way. I’m bringing this same energy into this year-long celebration of Season X: Be eXtraordinary. And you can consider…