KNIT STARS BLOG!

🧶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

🧶Back in the saddle

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

🧶 Gratitude – in any language

Toto, we’re not at the beach house anymore. We’re near the ‘beech house” in Cork, Ireland! I snapped a pic of this charming home with a spectacular garden, just up the road from Knit Stars Season 9 Star Carol Feller’s house in Cork, Ireland. Every Knit Stars Season is a wonderful adventure, and this year…
Read More

🧶Now he’s dancing with his fingers

We talk a lot around here about how yarn can change lives. We’ve seen it in action a million times over, in small ways and bigger ways. But this week’s story…well, this one hits differently. Yarn didn’t just change Thomas Gregory’s life. It saved it. Thomas Gregory (@gregorystitch) came to my awareness last year by…
Read More

🧶Behold, the future of patterns

Are you a sticky notes knitter? A highlighter hooker? Or maybe you’re a washi-tape wonder? 🤩 At various points in my 4 decades as a Yarnie, I’ve been all of the above. As I’ve progressed (and my eyesight has regressed) I find myself using all kinds of tricks to keep my place and track the…
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

🧶Back in the saddle

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

🧶 Gratitude – in any language

Toto, we’re not at the beach house anymore. We’re near the ‘beech house” in Cork, Ireland! I snapped a pic of this charming home with a spectacular garden, just up the road from Knit Stars Season 9 Star Carol Feller’s house in Cork, Ireland. Every Knit Stars Season is a wonderful adventure, and this year…
Read More

🧶Now he’s dancing with his fingers

We talk a lot around here about how yarn can change lives. We’ve seen it in action a million times over, in small ways and bigger ways. But this week’s story…well, this one hits differently. Yarn didn’t just change Thomas Gregory’s life. It saved it. Thomas Gregory (@gregorystitch) came to my awareness last year by…
Read More

🧶Behold, the future of patterns

Are you a sticky notes knitter? A highlighter hooker? Or maybe you’re a washi-tape wonder? 🤩 At various points in my 4 decades as a Yarnie, I’ve been all of the above. As I’ve progressed (and my eyesight has regressed) I find myself using all kinds of tricks to keep my place and track the…
Read More

Knit Stars

Meet the Knit Stars Fiber Artists

Click here to meet the Knit Stars Fiber Artists….
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Touch. This. Cashmere❣️

Shelley came home from filming in NYC with a new cashmere obsession… The Clinton Hill Cashmere Company is the brainchild of knitwear designer Rebecca Kevelson. After almost a decade in the knitting industry, Rebecca launched the ultimate cashmere yarn company. This 100% cashmere yarn hails from one of the most prestigious cashmere mills in Italy.…
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Hey Santa…😘

Do you have any of these people on your list? 1. Yarn lover 2. Creative person 3. Aspiring entrepreneur 4. Someone who needs hope 5. Someone else who needs hope 6. Yet another someone who needs hope… (Don’t we all, right now? 💙) Simply put, I wrote this book to give you hope. Hope for overcoming…
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Tweedy 2-skein taster project 😋

Have you been tempted to try the new Loops palette of New Tosh Tweed, but want to start with a super-simple project? This easy cowl is a great project to knit in your next Zoom meeting and makes a great gift… “Fake a Fade” is a signature pattern here at Loops! Holding two colors of fingering…
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1-skein project bliss 😇

One of the most magical things about yarn… Sometimes a mere *1 skein* of a very special yarn can be enough to help you feel lighter…more optimistic…more cared for. Clinton Hill Cashmere just released a new 1-skein pattern for their Bespoke 100% cashmere yarn. “Mini Sophia” is an ultra-simple ribbed cowl that knitters of all levels will love…
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Fun, Fast and Free 🎁🎁🎁

We know of a place… A place where knitters support…laugh…learn… A safe place to show off your creativity, and to be inspired. You’ve had the power to go there all along 👠 – you just have to believe in yourself… And join us in LoopsClub! This week *only* we are opening signups for LoopsClub…it’s the…
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This one’s a keeper 💞

Often in this space, I talk about “effortless” projects. I’m a big believer. We can can pick them up easily, while juggling all the other balls of life. They widen the circle, allowing stitchers of all levels to play along together. Easy projects show off the yarn. And they’re wearable – simple is often the…
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Why not you?

You’re a maker. You can make anything you set your mind to. So why stop at yarn? Why not make your biggest, most “impossible” dreams come true? They told me, because I had asthma, I’d never be an athlete. They told me girls couldn’t be creative directors. They told me, “You’ll never make a living out of…
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Scoop Tongue Twister – can you say this 5X, fast? 😋

As the holidays approacheth, Amano Yana yarn (can you say that 5 times, fast?!) might be just what you need this week… ☁️ Soft ☁️ 😊 Squishy 😊 ⏰ Instant jumbo yarn gratification! ⏰ Amano’s Yana XL is 100% hand–sorted 21.5 micron Peruvian highland wool, developed and spun in an extremely soft and light-as-Andean-air structure. Ruth knitted…
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Possible is the new impossible

Back when this girl was knitting a sweater for her college boyfriend, could she ever have imagined… That she would open an ad agency and then a yarn shop… That she would have tens of thousands of Loops and Knit Stars friends all over the world… That she would write the story of her crazy…
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My new book + your bonuses 💝

This is a personal invite, from me to you, dear Scoop reader, to join my Tricycle Team. When I was 4, I begged my mom to let me go with her to the grocery. When I heard her keys jangle, I ran to the car… only to be told, nope, you can’t come with me…
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Will you dive deep with me? 🏊‍♀️

It’s finally here. The LAST WEEK OF 2020 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽 This is my favorite week of the year, every year. I call it my Deep Dive Week. A week to sink deeply into a project where I learn something new that I can apply in the New Year. Six years ago, my Deep Dive week led…
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[INVITE] A Possibility Party 🥳

If you’re like me and most knitters I know, you don’t really need “resolutions.” We’re already driven. Goal-oriented. Productive. And often, more than a little hard on ourselves. Sound about right? So instead, I’m going to suggest that we begin this year a different way… Let’s start with a Party…and Possibilities 🥳 This Friday, January…
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[SCOOP] When things unravel

When things unravel, it’s a good time to take a closer look, an honest look at how you knit your piece to begin with. So you don’t keep making the same mistakes. Unraveling is hard. No one likes to go backward. But in the end, it’s really the only way to move forward. This Tuesday,…
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[SCOOP] What you crave

Grab a cuppa. Take a slow cleansing breath. Caravan from Crave Yarn is a yarn that can’t be rushed: an extraordinarily soft, lustrous blend of merino, cashmere, camel, and silk. With a firm twist and subtle, sophisticated palette, Caravan is destined to become your go-to, “everyday luxury” choice when a pattern calls for a sport weight yarn. Melanie…
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[SCOOP] Blanketed with compliments

If you’re like me, your knitter’s mind is in a state of constant motions. The movement of our needles help still our thoughts… And drops us, blissfully, into the moment. Keep that movement in your needles and watch it reflected in Tif Neilan’s “Soulful Blanket Cowl.” This is a piece that stays in place, is…
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[SCOOP] New dyer love

This month we are welcoming Lichen and Lace to our February Pop-Up Shop! An independent dyer from New Brunswick, Canada, Megan has slowly grown her dye studio – from hobby, to passion, to art. Her colors have made her a favorite of knitters across the globe. To introduce Lichen and Lace to you, we chose their single-ply…
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[SCOOP] It’s not selfish if it’s yarn 😉

As we reach the end of “selfish knitting month” we have one more squishy-soft, instant gratification project to share, that you’ll probably want to keep for yourself…. This cowl has been a favorite at Loops. We love the combination of that speckled robin’s egg blue and mustard gold. And these bulky fisherman’s ribs stand up and say, “I’m…
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[SCOOP] Orange you glad…? 🍊

A few months ago, Shelley and her friend, Knit Star Gaye “GG” Glasspie, were chatting about their mutual love of cashmere – specifically, Bespoke 100% Cashmere from Clinton Hill Cashmere! GG was lamenting that Bespoke Cashmere wasn’t yet available in her favorite color… 🧡🧡🧡🧡 Orange! 🧡🧡🧡🧡 Well, Shelley loves a good surprise…so she called up…
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A Kit with Star Power! 🌟

Six years ago, we started a little Club that’s become so much more than yarn… It’s literally a whole world of of support for your personal yarn journey – wherever you might be on the path. 🌎 💙 Daily connection and 24/7/365 encouragement from fiber friends around the world… Concierge support from your favorite local-turned-global yarn…
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