KNIT STARS BLOG!

🧶Meet the fearless Corinne

Corinne: ā€œHello?ā€ Me: ā€œHi Corinne! Am I pronouncing your name right?ā€ Corinne: ā€œYes. Wait…who is this. It sounds like…Shelley?ā€ Me: (laughing) ā€œIt IS Shelley! How did you know?ā€ Corinne: (laughing now too) ā€œI was watching Ginnifer Goodwin’s workshop yesterday, and you talk a lot in it…so I recognized your voice! But why are you calling…
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🧶The story of the cracked pot

Hi from somewhere in Nebraska, where we celebrated Thanksgiving with Hot Luke’s extended fam. Dear reader, I hope this email finds you rested and relaxing after a busy week. A couple weeks ago, after a particularly challenging hot yoga session where I had been a bit disappointed in my balance and ā€œperformanceā€ that day, my…
Read More

🧶How far would you walk uphill for inspiration?

When Olga Buraya-KefelianĀ @olgajazzy was growing up in Belarus, she would save up money each month to buy a Cosmopolitan magazine. She and her mother, a seamstress, would pore over the pages together. They couldn’t afford to buy the clothes, but her mom would sew and Olga would knit. Then Olga married her enlisted spouse, and…
Read More

🧶A tale of two hats

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had more hat-making mishaps than any other kind of yarn disaster. There was the time I didn’t swatch, and ended up with a hat so big it came down past my nose (remember Mushmouth from Fat Albert?) And the time I used the wrong yarn, so my brim…
Read More

🧶 Presenting…your new Hot Loops Wall!

ā€œChase your dreams and never give up! Be your true goofy, authentic self, imperfections and all, because our lives are too short and this life is filled with perfect imperfections.ā€ These are the wise words of Ross Taylor, the featured dyer of the new Fall Hot Loops Wall. Just a few short years ago, Ross…
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🧶Jasmina’s unforgettable story

Have you ever had such a magical experience, you were afraid to share it, for fear the bubble might pop and you’d realize it was all a dream? That’s what my first Rhinebeck felt like. I’ve put off writing this week’s newsletter because I just wanted to swim in the magic a little bit longer.…
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🧶 Finished…just in time!

Can you believe it? It’s my first time. After 18 years in this amazing business…my very first Rhinebeck! So I’m writing your newsletter a couple days early this week, and it’ll be a bit shorter than usual since I’m busy packing (and freaking out a bit with all the excitement!) Before I forget, since I’m…
Read More

🧶How to support 12 indie makers all at once

We all have our favorites. Each of us follows lots of different independent dyers and makers. Every day my feed is full of new colors and fibers, each handmade as a true (and often backbreaking) labor of love. Each with its own story of a beautiful, creative human who brought it to life. I try…
Read More

🧶The pattern Beth makes on repeat

Apparently you Yarnies are into trivia! šŸ˜Ž Last week’s Knit Stars Trivia was such a hit, we’re doing it again…this time with questions about our upcoming Masterclass Season 8 Premiere. This week’s winner will receive an updated ā€œNice Ice Babyā€ package of Season 8 exclusive yarns, kits and extras…including this new, commemorative Koigu Pencil Box…
Read More

WAVE 2 – COMING SOON!

Ā  Ā  Ā 
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Trivia time (win a Joji bag!)

This week, we’re winding down our sale on Knit Stars Masterclass Seasons 1-7… And I thought, let’s finish the sale on a fun note! So this is your chance to test your Knit Stars knowledge. ✨Knit Stars Trivia ✨ To enter, follow these simple steps: STEP 1: Hit reply to this email STEP 2: In…
Read More

My Love Letters to Knit Stars Seasons 1-7

Editors Note: To access Knit Stars Masterclass Seasons on sale (or join the waitlist for the next offering), go here. People often ask (especially during our sale weeks), “Shelley, what’s your favorite Knit Stars season?” It’s like asking me, ā€œWhich is your favorite child?ā€Ā  So I thought it might be helpful, to those of you…
Read More

🧶 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… šŸ„šŸ„šŸ„šŸ„šŸ„ā€¦ 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…
Read More

🧶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…
Read More

🧶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…
Read More

🧶Meet the fearless Corinne

Corinne: ā€œHello?ā€ Me: ā€œHi Corinne! Am I pronouncing your name right?ā€ Corinne: ā€œYes. Wait…who is this. It sounds like…Shelley?ā€ Me: (laughing) ā€œIt IS Shelley! How did you know?ā€ Corinne: (laughing now too) ā€œI was watching Ginnifer Goodwin’s workshop yesterday, and you talk a lot in it…so I recognized your voice! But why are you calling…
Read More

🧶The story of the cracked pot

Hi from somewhere in Nebraska, where we celebrated Thanksgiving with Hot Luke’s extended fam. Dear reader, I hope this email finds you rested and relaxing after a busy week. A couple weeks ago, after a particularly challenging hot yoga session where I had been a bit disappointed in my balance and ā€œperformanceā€ that day, my…
Read More

🧶How far would you walk uphill for inspiration?

When Olga Buraya-KefelianĀ @olgajazzy was growing up in Belarus, she would save up money each month to buy a Cosmopolitan magazine. She and her mother, a seamstress, would pore over the pages together. They couldn’t afford to buy the clothes, but her mom would sew and Olga would knit. Then Olga married her enlisted spouse, and…
Read More

🧶A tale of two hats

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had more hat-making mishaps than any other kind of yarn disaster. There was the time I didn’t swatch, and ended up with a hat so big it came down past my nose (remember Mushmouth from Fat Albert?) And the time I used the wrong yarn, so my brim…
Read More

🧶 Presenting…your new Hot Loops Wall!

ā€œChase your dreams and never give up! Be your true goofy, authentic self, imperfections and all, because our lives are too short and this life is filled with perfect imperfections.ā€ These are the wise words of Ross Taylor, the featured dyer of the new Fall Hot Loops Wall. Just a few short years ago, Ross…
Read More

🧶Jasmina’s unforgettable story

Have you ever had such a magical experience, you were afraid to share it, for fear the bubble might pop and you’d realize it was all a dream? That’s what my first Rhinebeck felt like. I’ve put off writing this week’s newsletter because I just wanted to swim in the magic a little bit longer.…
Read More

🧶 Finished…just in time!

Can you believe it? It’s my first time. After 18 years in this amazing business…my very first Rhinebeck! So I’m writing your newsletter a couple days early this week, and it’ll be a bit shorter than usual since I’m busy packing (and freaking out a bit with all the excitement!) Before I forget, since I’m…
Read More

🧶How to support 12 indie makers all at once

We all have our favorites. Each of us follows lots of different independent dyers and makers. Every day my feed is full of new colors and fibers, each handmade as a true (and often backbreaking) labor of love. Each with its own story of a beautiful, creative human who brought it to life. I try…
Read More

🧶The pattern Beth makes on repeat

Apparently you Yarnies are into trivia! šŸ˜Ž Last week’s Knit Stars Trivia was such a hit, we’re doing it again…this time with questions about our upcoming Masterclass Season 8 Premiere. This week’s winner will receive an updated ā€œNice Ice Babyā€ package of Season 8 exclusive yarns, kits and extras…including this new, commemorative Koigu Pencil Box…
Read More

WAVE 2 – COMING SOON!

Ā  Ā  Ā 
Read More

Trivia time (win a Joji bag!)

This week, we’re winding down our sale on Knit Stars Masterclass Seasons 1-7… And I thought, let’s finish the sale on a fun note! So this is your chance to test your Knit Stars knowledge. ✨Knit Stars Trivia ✨ To enter, follow these simple steps: STEP 1: Hit reply to this email STEP 2: In…
Read More

My Love Letters to Knit Stars Seasons 1-7

Editors Note: To access Knit Stars Masterclass Seasons on sale (or join the waitlist for the next offering), go here. People often ask (especially during our sale weeks), “Shelley, what’s your favorite Knit Stars season?” It’s like asking me, ā€œWhich is your favorite child?ā€Ā  So I thought it might be helpful, to those of you…
Read More

🧶 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… šŸ„šŸ„šŸ„šŸ„šŸ„ā€¦ 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…
Read More

🧶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…
Read More

🧶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…
Read More

Posts

🧶5 favorite things

Sometimes in life, you just want to keep things simple. In fact, I believe that the appeal of simplicity is the very thing that brings most of us to knitting to begin with. Taking sticks and string and a simple repetitive motion and creating something beautiful. That’s why we’re all here together, isn’t it? Over…
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🧶The sweater you’ll wear 24/7

“I want to help you make that sweater you’ll wear out to lunch – not just to that knitting festival.ā€ – Amy Herzog, Knit Stars Season 2 Raise your hand if you’ve ever cast on a sweater design just because everyone else on Ravelry was making it? If you finished it, how often did you…
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🧶The joy of the shift

Ghost Ranch Hat by Andrea Mowry, made by Sunnie. You need 1 skeinĀ Spincycle Dyed in the WoolĀ + 1 skeinĀ Rowan Felted Tweed. Raise your hand if you remember your first skein of color-changing yarn!āœ‹ In the early days of Loops, it was Noro Kureyon. The yarn was scratchy AF, but you didn’t care… Because the way…
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🧶 From our family to you

ā€œMy favorite project I made this year was the Brookline Blouse by Kate (@mezzomakes) inĀ Loops Luxe Plant-Based Princess in the colorway Cottonwood.ā€Ā This project kept my mind calm and hands busy in the days following a bad car accident. It was also my first non-wool project and kept me stylish all summer long. -Sunnie Operations Manager,…
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🧶Curse schmurse

This week I have a bit of a different story for you. Back when I was dating in my 20s, my friend Kristy and I made a pact: to never knit for our partners. Why? Somewhere along the way, we’d heard it was back luck. Superstitions like this abound in knitting. There’s even a book…
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🧶The gift of a lifeline

Isn’t it interesting how much beginners can teachĀ us? I’m reading Michelle Obama’s newest book, ā€œThe Light We Carry.ā€ Or to be more specific…I’m listening to her read the book on my morning walks, then running back home to highlight my hard copy. Even if she didn’t talk about knitting and how it helped her through…
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Zero pressure gift knitting

My latest WIP: “Strata” hat by Tif Neilan from “Worsted” by AimĆ©e Gille, made with LolaBean Cool Beans Worsted.Ā Kits here. I’ve noticed a trend the past few years… More and more people seem to be swearing off holiday gift making. Maybe it was the pandemic, that made people re-evaluate how they spent their free time.…
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🧶 New genius needles šŸ’”

Since many of us are all hanging out in a turkey tryptophan haze… I decided to start out this week’s newsletter with an ode to the premiere of our 7th Masterclass Season, which just finished premiering last week. And what better ode than a blooper reel? 🤪 Enjoy watching the 3-minute clip above, where I…
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🧶 Sweaters, socks and freebies oh my

Paper clips. Safety pins. Yarn scraps. Dental floss. Ever used any of these things as a stitch marker in a pinch? I sure have. We’ve all found ourselves stuck without a stitch marker right when we need it, digging in the couch cushions while lifting up a silent prayer to the notions gods… Amiright? But…
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🧶Making peace with your yarn

ā€œWispy Hazeā€ shawl in custom colorwayĀ ā€œCayanne’s Weddingā€ This week I finished one of the most joyful projects I’ve ever made… But it didn’t start out that way. My niece Cayanne was married this weekend in the Bahamas. I wasn’t there, but I can imagine how stunning she looked walking along that Bahamian blue water, wrapping…
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🧶 Knitting at 32,000 feet āœˆļø

Writing this newsletter at the ATL airport enroute from the beach to TUL. Right now, if it can’t be knit at 32,000 feet, it’s not going on my needles. I’ve always loved ā€œairplane knittingā€ – the portable, meditative projects that don’t require a lot of concentration… (read: can be worked while sipping a Delta bloody…
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🧶An extra-special hat

Last week we told you about our project manager Sunnie and her Noodlyknits Hat Drive benefiting patients at the cancer treatment hospital her uncle runs in Gwangju, South Korea. Now it’s true, the usual thing when making for charity is to use a basic pattern and stash yarn and knock them out ā€œon repeatā€ā€¦ But…
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🧶Did I ever tell you you’re my hero

Make the Ena Pullover with our exclusive colors ofĀ LolaBean Cool Beans Sport. It’s a funny thing… As makers, sometimes we get so busy making things, we don’t even realize how much impact we’re having on the wider world. Our amazing readers helped make a heroic difference last week – and at first I didn’t even…
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🌟You’ve earned it

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to ā€œdeserveā€ something. Here’s why.Ā  Tomorrow is the last chance to sign up for ourĀ 7th Masterclass Event called Texture + Wonder. And all week, I’ve been in the comments online, listening as knitters and crocheters all over the world angst over whether to invest…
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🧶How did I get here?

CLICK HEREĀ to listen to an audio version of this newsletter These days we’re all moving so fast… Many of us live in such a constant state of fight or flight, we actually become accustomed to fighting against what’s possible. When challenges pop up, we tell ourselves ā€œI can’tā€ over and over. And then one day,…
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