Posts by Mandy Sieja

I’d almost forgotten what this feels like. The unadulterated thrill of holding a freshly-minted pattern book in my hands. Not just a pdf printout or a leaflet, mind you, but an honest-to-goodness book. A full three hundred and sixteen pages, no less. Don’t get me wrong. I love the digital age. I love the instant…

Happy Sunday! Before I get into this week’s message, I want to make sure you know about the free live zoom event that’s today at 3pm CT. All 15 Stars from Season 10 will be there, sharing stories from their filming, and we’ll have some sneak peek clips and prizes too – including exclusive kits…

Today I’m going to get a little personal (well who am I kidding, I’m always pretty personal here) and share about my own TV habits, and how I’m trying to get more intentional about evolving them. So when Luke is in town, the TV is on a lot more than when he is traveling for…

The other night was one of those most magical nights where I live, along the Gulf Coast. I was walking Charles Barkley on the powdery white sand beach, thinking about something I recently learned. The secret of the famous sand is Silica Quartz, which makes up 97-98% of our sand. It’s cool to the touch,…

For the last few months, I’ve been saving a story I wanted to share with you. And now that filming of Knit Stars Season 10 is complete, and it’s just you and me here, the time has finally come. And given this week’s news, it seems especially important to share right now. It’s about my…

“Jingle Jangle Socks” by Twin Stitches Designs   “All of our bodies are beautiful,” says upcoming Knit Stars Season 10 Star Julie Ann Lebouthillier. “They’re also very different in terms of feet, body, chest – everywhere.” “And a lot of times, we are taught how to knit a sock, but not how to properly fit…

Special note to my readers: This week, we debuted a freshly-renovated Knit Stars YouTube channel. To celebrate, I recorded a podcast with more stories from my Maine adventure with Clara Parkes. You can watch it here. Here is me, driving the three hours from Alicia Plummer’s house in Maine to my next destination. It may…

Well, the sun is beginning to set on the epic filming adventures of Knit Stars Season 10. I’m freshly back from my first-ever trip to Maine, where I spent time with Alicia Plummer, Clara Parkes, Brad, and lots and lots of lobster. First, a fun fact: Remember earlier this year, when I teased that Season…

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…

Hey friend 👋, it’s been awhile since I did a personal update. So, before I get to this week’s “picture postcard” from Season 10 filming, here’s what has been up with me. First, on the knitting front, the double-size anniversary edition of my Rising Scarf in Koigu’s 10th anniversary pencil box is getting…so…close…! Just 4…

How is your summer going? Are you making much progress on your WIPs? If you wish you were making more progress, try flying to film 15 masterclasses all around the world in a few months. You’ll get a ton of plane knitting done! 😅😅😅 This past week was D+D week…Detroit and Des Moines. At the…

This week, I wish I had room in this newsletter for 1,000 pictures… Because every single one of your snapshots from last weekend’s Big Knit Stars Meetup brought a big Cheshire-cat smile to my face! More than 100 in-person meetups took place around the world. On SIX continents! (We tried to get some penguins to…

In this week’s installment of Picture Postcards from Knit Stars…take my hand and join me on a surreal journey where we head over the river and through the woods to a little barn that used to house boilers… And casually hang out, sip Diet Coke, and nibble salmon wraps alongside a name that commands reverence…

I’m writing to you late Tuesday night after a very full day of filming our 8th cinematic masterclass of Season 10 with Samantha Brunson. This one was really special, for a bunch of reasons… For starters, I had a feeling it was going to be amazing when I found out Samantha has a supremely lovable…

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…