KNIT STARS BLOG!

🧶Andrea’s colorwork tips

This is the “do what the Knit Star says, not what I do” edition. 🙃 In Season 3, Knit Star Andrea Rangel shared some simple, but critical stranded colorwork tips. Watch this 2-minute clip for her “stop and spread,” “block before you judge” and most importantly, “colorwork gauge” tips. In my defense, I did swatch before starting “The Owen…
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🧶Bulky yarn goes glam

As beginners, we’re often drawn to bulky yarn. We love the look. Even more, we love the idea of speed. “I’ve got a shot at actually finishing this project!” we think. But I’ve noticed, as we progress in our journeys, we can tend to leave bulkies behind. Thinking they look too beginner or even too…
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🧶 Easy fix for those underarm holes

I finished a thing! Well, almost finished.🥴 I still need to close up those little underarm holes on my new Sipila sweater. But the timing is perfect! Because this week’s Knit Stars video tip comes from Masterclass Season #2 Star Alexa Ludeman of Tin Can Knits. It’s a one-minute fix for neatly sewing up those pesky holes…
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🧶 5 complimentary patterns in our bespoke chunky yarn

Through the years, our Knit Stars have survived some pretty intense filming conditions. But so far, I think Martha Wissing takes the cake! We filmed Martha’s Knit Stars workshop at 15,000 feet, at the Pacomarca sustainable alpaca network HQ. If you own Season 4 of our Masterclass series, watch Martha’s segment closely. You’ll hear the…
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Zooming out. The one about perspective

You may have heard that, when we created the first Knit Stars Masterclass 7 years ago, I was afraid to fly. Especially over the ocean. But ever since that first trip to Amsterdam to film Nancy Marchant, making her tuck stitch brilliance accessible to our Masterclass students around the world…I haven’t been able to stop.…
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🤸🏻‍♀️ The joy of alone.

Last week, I spent four days at the beach. Alone. When my mother heard this was happening, she freaked out. “Oh no! What’s wrong?!” she asked my son when he mentioned it. “In her whole life, I’ve never known Shelley to want to be alone.” At first, I laughed. Of course I like some quiet…
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No cable needle? No problem!

Have you ever found yourself in the middle of a cable project, on the go, and without a cable needle? Sure, in a pinch you can use a paper clip, double-pointed needle or even a pencil. But what if you could work your cables with just your fingers? It’s the knitter’s equivalent of a flying…
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🧣Ambah’s shawl, 9 ways.

Ambah O’Brien from Knit Stars Season 6 shows you 9 ways to wear a shawl. This year I’m resolving… to Wear The Damn Knits. 👊🏽 Tell me if this sounds familiar… I’ve got a closet-full of handmakes. Sweaters, cardis, shawls, scarves, hats out the wazoo… And still I go around most days in leggings and…
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The Scoop has a new look 👀

Watch this video clip from Season 6 to learn Louis’ favorite elastic hat brim technique. Hey happy, yarny New Year to you! Over here at Knit Stars, our resolution for 2022 is to make sure you get the star treatment you deserve. ✨ After feeling not-seen for my first couple of decades as a knitter,…
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Scoop: The one and only 🛒

Finally. It’s the day after… The day you get to relax, maybe make some pancakes, kick back and settle in with your latest project wearing the new Snuggie that Aunt Ruth gave you. And maybe if you’re really lucky, you got a Knit Stars gift card (or 3) in your stocking! That would be perfect timing,…
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🦙 Vicuña Burgundy is here!

Ho ho hoooooooo… Look what’s headed here on Santa’s sleigh! 🤩 Our good friends at Amano have created a new color of their legendary Vicuña fiber. Behold…Vicuña Burgundy. The vicuña is the highly-protected undomesticated relative of the alpaca. Fragile-looking, elegant and extremely agile, the vicuña walks silently and alert through the Andean highlands, almost as…
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🧶Scoop: To speckle or not to speckle?

To speckle or not to speckle? That was the question. When she was working on this *surprise* new colorway just for us, Adella Colvin went back and forth on whether to add speckles. She wrote, “I wanted my new Knit Stars colorway to be light, airy and fun. So I dyed up what I thought was the…
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Scoop: New LolaBean shipment 📦

New shipment of LolaBean “Pinto Bean” in Cygnet, Wedding Day Bouquet, Georgia Peach, Sugar & Spice, Fanciful, and Eccentric. Hi, How’s your December starting out? Maybe you’ve had your head down, stitching away on holiday gifts… And maybe you’ve been following what’s happening in our fiberverse, where once again, black makers have been mistreated, marginalized…
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🔥 BOGO: 2 things every knitter needs

You know that feeling when you finally break through a big block? The custom blocking mats we’ve been working on for more than a year have finally, finally arrived! Whew and woohoo! And to celebrate, we’re giving them away. 🎉 No seriously… For a limited time, when you buy our exclusive Needle Keeper for just…
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🎁 Scoop: Gift with purchase

Happy Scoop Day! I’ve got a really fun treat for you this week. It’s a longstanding Loops (and now Knit Stars) tradition. The “kinder, gentler” Black-Friday-week-Surprise. No 4am doorbusters or mobs. Just a fun, easy approach to the holiday season, along with some crafty, freebie goodness. I’m really into stickers right now – on my…
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💗 A radical holiday knitting plan

Shop this Birdie Parker “Bling Box” and our other holiday Countdown Calendars here I’m starting to feel that familiar pressure build. Maybe you feel it, too? That time each year when the holidays creep closer, and I start to do the mental math. “If I make one hat a week that’s 6 gifts…”   “Hmmm if I…
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211031 Scoop

Welcome to our first-ever Scoop takeover! 🤗 We invited Adella Colvin, the genius behind LolaBean Yarn Co to guest-write the lead article for this week’s Scoop, and of course she came through, big-time! Read on to learn about how Knit Stars and LolaBean came together for first-of-its-kind collaboration. “Everything started roughly two years ago. Shelley had approached me…
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👨🏼‍🎨 Know these 15 indie dyers?

Wowza…we’ve had so much fun with our first-ever Knit Stars Free Preview week! The free previews have been shared far and wide…and just as we’d hoped, they’ve spread creative joy and hope throughout – and well beyond – the fibersphere. 🌎❤️ (Heads up: If you haven’t had a chance to watch the free videos, you…
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Imagine if everyone watched these…

A few weeks ago, I was chatting over Zoom with my friend Michael who lives in Queensland, Australia. I was telling him about the upcoming Season 6 of our Knit Stars Masterclasses, trying to convey how amazing the documentary videos were turning out. I couldn’t find the words. “Is it okay if I just show…
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Beans have been spilled 😜

The beans have been spilled. And it took everything I had not to spill a few tears, too… After a very full year of dreaming, signing on lots of dotted lines, and taking leap after leap of faith…it’s here. The Knit Stars Flagship Store is finally open. The magical stardust is still floating in the…
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🧶Get your needle life together

Do you remember when you first learned to knit or crochet, and you thought just ONE pair of needles or hook was all you needed? 🤣🤣🤣 Those were the days, right? Ignorance is bliss! Who knew you would amass so many tools…circulars, double points, interchangeables, all different kinds of materials from bamboo to metal to…
Read More

🧶 Nothing in the way

The funniest thing happened this past week, and I think it might hold a valuable little nugget for you. I took Charles Barkley out on an early morning beach walk like we usually do. It’s his favorite part of the day. Dogs are allowed on the beach in the early morning and late afternoon. So…
Read More

🧶The Sunday Yarn: Mattie’s Story

Last week I talked about a rollercoaster of emotions, but that was nothing compared with this past week. Wherever you may live in the world, and whatever your beliefs, no doubt you have felt the intensity of emotions in the wake of the US elections. So in this week’s Sunday read, I would like to…
Read More

🧶C’mon take a ride with me

On our first beach walk after flying back from Tulsa, Charlie just sat and watched the sunset. How’s your week been? For me it’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. 🎢 The day after I flew back home to Florida from Rhinebeck, I hopped on another plane to Tulsa, where my dad had just…
Read More

🧶How to take a compliment

My whole life, I’ve struggled with compliments. Not the giving part (I love love love making others feel good), but the accepting part. And to get really vulnerable for a minute…I’ve spent a lot of time in therapy over the years trying to understand why. My therapist has a couple strong theories, going back to…
Read More

🧶The most important one

This feels like the most important newsletter I’ve written all year. I really want to get it right…for you to feel what’s in my heart and for it to touch your own heart, deeply. So here goes… (deep breath)… This past week I met with some dear friends from around the world. We are a…
Read More

🧶The no that launched thousands of yeses

Pull up a chair and get comfy, because this week I have a little longer yarn that I’ve never shared publicly before. When was the last time you had to build up your courage for weeks to ask something of someone you really admired, and they told you no? Or even worse, just ignored you?…
Read More

🧶Revive your whole wardrobe

Happy Sunday! Is there one compliment you love getting more than any other kind? Over the past 9 years of producing Knit Stars Masterclasses, there’s one customer comment that’s my absolute favorite to read… “This workshop alone was worth the price of admission for the whole Season!” And of course I feel that way about…
Read More

🧶Is this a “crazy” idea?

This week, let’s talk a bit about “crazy” ideas. Knit Stars Season 5 was the high Season of COVID. I had planned the ultimate travel bucket list year, with plans to film in Australia, Japan, Mallorca, Copenhagen and points all across North America. It all fell away in a heartbeat as all the countries closed.…
Read More

🧶Join the inner circle

You know how last week I talked about dissolving the “nots” in our knitting? Well this week, it’s confession time. Because there was an insidious “not” that ensnared my first couple decades as a maker. I was NOT going to touch circular knitting! I made dozens of adult and baby sweaters, all seamed. I was…
Read More

🧶Goodbye, nots!

Lately I’ve been doing some deep thinking – about knots. You’re a Yarnie, so you know the feeling. You’re flowing along in the zone on your project, and all of a sudden you hit a dreaded knot. You have to stop, decide whether it can be undone or cut, leaving two more ends to weave…
Read More

🧶Your next capsule wardrobe

It’s that time of year when my WIPs begin that eternal battle with one another… Crank out one more crochet crop for those last dog days of summer…Or cast on a new knit sweater in fall hues??? Right now for me, the latter is winning out – especially after I took a peek at the…
Read More

🧶Do you wanna go faster? 🎢

The year was circa 1978. It was my first time visiting Bell’s Amusement Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was nervous to ride Zingo, the big wooden roller coaster. So I decided to work up my courage on an easier ride first. “The Himalaya” was one of those rides where the cars fly around in a…
Read More

🧶A different kind of love story

I’ve been a dog lover for as long as I can remember. Our first pup as a young family was Lucy the Lhasa Apso. Longtime readers will remember my beloved Purl, who survived a horrific attack and went on to grace our home with so much love, wiggles and furry hugs, that before we knew…
Read More

🧶What a surprise!

Striking my best Olympic pose after finishing my new crochet top! Hey there, If you’re like me, now that the Olympics is over, you’re looking for your next escape. I’ve been thinking, and it’s occurred to me that every Knit Stars Masterclass is like three of my favorite escapes, all rolled into one. There’s the…
Read More

🧶Turn stash into kindness

Dear reader, this week I’d like to introduce you to a real life Soap Star. 🤩 Stacy Wiener is the founder of S.A.C.K. – Supporting A Community with Kindness. She was nominated by TWO of our Yarniverse members to be a Rising Star – and in the exact same month that I found out about…
Read More

🧶 Get to know Emma

I first saw Emma Fassio’s name many years ago, on a pattern my friend Gina Hills was working on. Many of you might remember Gina, a manager at our Loops stores for more than a decade. Gina was (still is) a style inspiration of mine, a big fan of iconic Italian fashion houses like Missoni.…
Read More

🧶Catching the Doodle bug

Jamie Lomax took up knitting in 2020 as a COVID hobby. She was working as a senior project manager for a large retail and food service company in Seattle at the time. “We all got sent home, and I was on Teams calls all day every day. I have ADHD so I was struggling to…
Read More

🧶Something new is blooming…

Happy Sunday, beautiful reader! Do you ever have those moments like I do, when you’re scrolling social media, and an image makes you stop and audibly gasp – causing anyone else in your household to run in and see if you’re ok? This past week I had one of those moments, and (after assuring said…
Read More

🧶Sprinkle that stuff on everything…

TW: This week’s newsletter includes sensitive mental health topics. Sending all of our love our beautiful readers, family and friends ❤️.  “I had two options. I could either let it wreck me and disrupt my life, or I could inspire myself and others, share my story, and use it to help raise awareness.” These are the wise words of…
Read More

Posts

🧶Get your needle life together

Do you remember when you first learned to knit or crochet, and you thought just ONE pair of needles or hook was all you needed? 🤣🤣🤣 Those were the days, right? Ignorance is bliss! Who knew you would amass so many tools…circulars, double points, interchangeables, all different kinds of materials from bamboo to metal to…
Read More

🧶 Nothing in the way

The funniest thing happened this past week, and I think it might hold a valuable little nugget for you. I took Charles Barkley out on an early morning beach walk like we usually do. It’s his favorite part of the day. Dogs are allowed on the beach in the early morning and late afternoon. So…
Read More

🧶The Sunday Yarn: Mattie’s Story

Last week I talked about a rollercoaster of emotions, but that was nothing compared with this past week. Wherever you may live in the world, and whatever your beliefs, no doubt you have felt the intensity of emotions in the wake of the US elections. So in this week’s Sunday read, I would like to…
Read More

🧶C’mon take a ride with me

On our first beach walk after flying back from Tulsa, Charlie just sat and watched the sunset. How’s your week been? For me it’s been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. 🎢 The day after I flew back home to Florida from Rhinebeck, I hopped on another plane to Tulsa, where my dad had just…
Read More

🧶How to take a compliment

My whole life, I’ve struggled with compliments. Not the giving part (I love love love making others feel good), but the accepting part. And to get really vulnerable for a minute…I’ve spent a lot of time in therapy over the years trying to understand why. My therapist has a couple strong theories, going back to…
Read More

🧶The most important one

This feels like the most important newsletter I’ve written all year. I really want to get it right…for you to feel what’s in my heart and for it to touch your own heart, deeply. So here goes… (deep breath)… This past week I met with some dear friends from around the world. We are a…
Read More

🧶The no that launched thousands of yeses

Pull up a chair and get comfy, because this week I have a little longer yarn that I’ve never shared publicly before. When was the last time you had to build up your courage for weeks to ask something of someone you really admired, and they told you no? Or even worse, just ignored you?…
Read More

🧶Revive your whole wardrobe

Happy Sunday! Is there one compliment you love getting more than any other kind? Over the past 9 years of producing Knit Stars Masterclasses, there’s one customer comment that’s my absolute favorite to read… “This workshop alone was worth the price of admission for the whole Season!” And of course I feel that way about…
Read More

🧶Is this a “crazy” idea?

This week, let’s talk a bit about “crazy” ideas. Knit Stars Season 5 was the high Season of COVID. I had planned the ultimate travel bucket list year, with plans to film in Australia, Japan, Mallorca, Copenhagen and points all across North America. It all fell away in a heartbeat as all the countries closed.…
Read More

🧶Join the inner circle

You know how last week I talked about dissolving the “nots” in our knitting? Well this week, it’s confession time. Because there was an insidious “not” that ensnared my first couple decades as a maker. I was NOT going to touch circular knitting! I made dozens of adult and baby sweaters, all seamed. I was…
Read More

🧶Goodbye, nots!

Lately I’ve been doing some deep thinking – about knots. You’re a Yarnie, so you know the feeling. You’re flowing along in the zone on your project, and all of a sudden you hit a dreaded knot. You have to stop, decide whether it can be undone or cut, leaving two more ends to weave…
Read More

🧶Your next capsule wardrobe

It’s that time of year when my WIPs begin that eternal battle with one another… Crank out one more crochet crop for those last dog days of summer…Or cast on a new knit sweater in fall hues??? Right now for me, the latter is winning out – especially after I took a peek at the…
Read More

🧶Do you wanna go faster? 🎢

The year was circa 1978. It was my first time visiting Bell’s Amusement Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I was nervous to ride Zingo, the big wooden roller coaster. So I decided to work up my courage on an easier ride first. “The Himalaya” was one of those rides where the cars fly around in a…
Read More

🧶A different kind of love story

I’ve been a dog lover for as long as I can remember. Our first pup as a young family was Lucy the Lhasa Apso. Longtime readers will remember my beloved Purl, who survived a horrific attack and went on to grace our home with so much love, wiggles and furry hugs, that before we knew…
Read More

🧶What a surprise!

Striking my best Olympic pose after finishing my new crochet top! Hey there, If you’re like me, now that the Olympics is over, you’re looking for your next escape. I’ve been thinking, and it’s occurred to me that every Knit Stars Masterclass is like three of my favorite escapes, all rolled into one. There’s the…
Read More

🧶Turn stash into kindness

Dear reader, this week I’d like to introduce you to a real life Soap Star. 🤩 Stacy Wiener is the founder of S.A.C.K. – Supporting A Community with Kindness. She was nominated by TWO of our Yarniverse members to be a Rising Star – and in the exact same month that I found out about…
Read More

🧶 Get to know Emma

I first saw Emma Fassio’s name many years ago, on a pattern my friend Gina Hills was working on. Many of you might remember Gina, a manager at our Loops stores for more than a decade. Gina was (still is) a style inspiration of mine, a big fan of iconic Italian fashion houses like Missoni.…
Read More

🧶Catching the Doodle bug

Jamie Lomax took up knitting in 2020 as a COVID hobby. She was working as a senior project manager for a large retail and food service company in Seattle at the time. “We all got sent home, and I was on Teams calls all day every day. I have ADHD so I was struggling to…
Read More

🧶Something new is blooming…

Happy Sunday, beautiful reader! Do you ever have those moments like I do, when you’re scrolling social media, and an image makes you stop and audibly gasp – causing anyone else in your household to run in and see if you’re ok? This past week I had one of those moments, and (after assuring said…
Read More

🧶Sprinkle that stuff on everything…

TW: This week’s newsletter includes sensitive mental health topics. Sending all of our love our beautiful readers, family and friends ❤️.  “I had two options. I could either let it wreck me and disrupt my life, or I could inspire myself and others, share my story, and use it to help raise awareness.” These are the wise words of…
Read More

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