KNIT STARS BLOG!
🧶 Nothing in the way
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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?
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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!
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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? 🎢
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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!
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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…
| Knit Stars
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…
| Knit Stars
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 
🧶Back in the saddle
| Knit Stars
Hello dear reader, How’s it going in your creative world? These past few weeks have been even more whirlwind-y than usual for me, as Knit Stars Season 9 filming has kicked into high gear. I made a commitment to go to all the filmings this year, which means I’m up in the air, upside down,…
Read More 
🧶 Nothing in the way
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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?
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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!
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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? 🎢
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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!
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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
| Knit Stars
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…
| Knit Stars
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…
| Knit Stars
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
🧶Back in the saddle
| Knit Stars
Hello dear reader, How’s it going in your creative world? These past few weeks have been even more whirlwind-y than usual for me, as Knit Stars Season 9 filming has kicked into high gear. I made a commitment to go to all the filmings this year, which means I’m up in the air, upside down,…
Read More Posts
🧶 Who’s the next Hot Loops dyer?
Have you heard the news? We wanted you to be first to know…the featured dyer for the Fall 2023 Hot Loops Wall Reveal is going to be none other than… 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁… Ross Taylor of Twisted Ambitions Yarn! If you’ve been following all the building anticipation for our upcoming Knit Stars Masterclass Premiere, you know that…
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🧶Mood booster
Happy Sunday Mandy, This past Monday wasn’t so much a Monday as a MONDDDAYYYYY. Ever had one of those? So by Tuesday I was really in need of a mood booster. Then voila, I opened up our Facebook Masterclass group and there was this cool new feature called Mood Booster Chat. I started up the…
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🧶Yes you can!
This week I’m having an I CAN week. (You know, one of those weeks where it seems like maybe I can’t, so I look for little positive reminders that YES I CAN.) So I thought it would be a great time to help you have an I CAN week, too. I started the week out…
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🧶So GG, Casapinka and Joji walk into a yarn shop…
So GG, Casapinka and Joji walk into a yarn shop… OK, it may sound like a joke, but I assure you it’s REAL. Three living yarn legends – Gaye Glasspie, Casapinka and Joji Locatelli! – are all going to be part of our upcoming Season 8 Sneak-Peek Screening event, September 9 from 1-5pm ET.And did…
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🧶She talked him down from $10,000
WHOA y’all! The first day we opened registration, we had more than 1,000 yarnies sign up! (And lots of you added the All-In VIP package, too – thank you! ❤️) In case you missed it, here’s what is happening the weekend of September 9th… 📽FREE 4-hour Masterclass Premiere Screening Party – sign up for the…
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🧶Level up your yarn game – it’s on us!
Happy Yarnday, Mandy! I don’t know about you, but it’s not often I finish a Work In Progress ahead of schedule… 😅 But that’s exactly what’s happened with our next Knit Stars Masterclass Premiere Season! The Stars of our upcoming Premiere Masterclass Season and our stellar production team have truly leveled up this year. The…
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🧶An ode to a yarn car
She was such a good girl. I got her in May 2010, on a car carrier from California. She only had a few thousand miles on her. I knitted a swatch with bulky white yarn. Brent scanned it and designed a wrap. And the Loopsmobile was born. I had never really been a “car person.”…
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🧶Knitting and the north…pole?
Sometimes our Stars have hobbies outside of fiber arts that surprise us in the best possible way. During our pre-production meeting with upcoming Season 8 Star Hélène Magnússon, I casually asked what she does when she’s not knitting up gorgeous traditional Icelandic lopi sweaters. Her answer surprised and delighted us. “Well, there’s the pole!” Hélène…
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🧶Sneaking in stitches
Have you ever snuck away to a hiding place to knit, dear reader? The car…the craft closet…maybe even the bathroom? When my kids were small, I would make deals with myself. I’d allow myself to knit after all the laundry was done (but is laundry really ever done???) or if I got the kids in…
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🧶Your closet’s new favorite accessory
A few months ago, Sophie took the world by storm. It was easy to see why. She was classically chic. Feminine. And simple, in the best possible way. Photo by PetiteKnit The Sophie Scarf by PetiteKnit is worked back and forth from tip to tip, in simple garter stitch (all knit stitches) with an easy,…
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🧶 A rookie mistake we can all learn from
Hello dear reader, This is so embarrassing! After 30 years of knitting sweaters – due to an absolute brain fart – I made a rookie mistake and had to completely start over on my Balloon Cardigan. 🤦♀️ I know a bunch of you have cast on to make your own beautiful Balloon Cardi along with…
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🧶Is it time to make your mark?
What’s on your summer reading list right now? I just finished up “Lessons in Chemistry” by Bonnie Garmus which was a fun and feminist beach-read break from my usual nonfiction reads. To me, the long, lazier days of summer are a great time to depart from the norm and read something you wouldn’t usually…
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🧶Cast on with me?
Hot Luke and I are not moving to Montana, y’all. Not that there’s anything wrong with Montana. It’s just that, for more than a year, we’ve lived in a 300-sq-ft temporary space in South Florida where I didn’t know a soul, and he left each morning before sunrise and returned after sunset from the…
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🧶Summertime and the knittin’ is easy
This past week, I was in Tulsa, hanging out with the awesome Flagship crew. If you haven’t been in lately to chat with my kind and helpful teammates, pet the new Hot Loops projects and get a heapin’ helpin’ of inspiration, you’re overdue! ⏰ To give our team a bit more ease and flow…
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🧶Fabulousness and Fuwa Fuwa
If you take nothing else away from this week’s newsletter, let it be this: Go follow the fabulous Nancy Ricci @gettingpurlywithit. This woman knows how to squeeze the most juice out of life! For the online debut of the new Hot Loops Wall collection last week, Nancy put on a knockout black gown and mixed…
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🧶The new Hot Loops Wall is here! 🔥
It all started 18 years ago this week, with a dream and an idea. A dream to build a more modern, friendlier yarn shop. And an idea to build a whole wall of yarn where you could find a great project, fast. Last night we debuted our 35th Hot Loops Wall. And thanks to the…
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🧶 Ode to a reluctant model
This week, as we’re scurrying around preparing to reveal our 37th Hot Loops project wall… The “OG” Hot Loops model is graduating from college. Since we opened the doors of our first yarn store in 2005, you’ve watched my youngest, Mallory, grow up. Funny story: Mal has always been a bit of a reluctant model. At…
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🧶 Guess who’s the featured dyer for the spring Hot Loops wall
Hello yarn lovers! Call me smitten. Call me a proud mama. Together, we’ve done it again – we’ve created quite a stir in the yarn world! Hundreds have joined the new Knit Stars Yarniverse since we rolled it out. I love what Ash has to say… “It is so refreshing and humbling to be a part of…
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🧶Shortest newsletter of the year
Hello fellow Yarnie! I hope this week’s newsletter finds you well and ensconced in at least one delicious project. Personally, I must confess I’ve made exactly zero stitches this week. The reason… Last week, Hot Luke and I packed up and moved from South Florida to Northwest Florida, and this week, his boss wants us…
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🧶The BIG reveal…
This past week Instagram has been abuzz as the yet-to-be revealed Knit Stars Masterclass Season 8 Stars dropped cryptic hints on their feeds. Did you catch any of them? It’s been sooo delightfully difficult to keep it all under wraps for the better part of a year – all the hush-hush planning, the squeals of delight, and…
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