Lisa - Indie Untangled

A peek inside Woolyn Brooklyn, my new local yarn shop

In a few weeks, once I make it through our kitchen renovation and packing up or purging 11 years worth of stuff, I will officially become a Brooklynite. Tonight, I got to attend the friends and family celebration for what will become my new local yarn shop. I couldn’t think of a better welcome to my new borough.

I first heard about Woolyn when owner Rachel Maurer came to last year’s Rhinebeck Trunk Show to scope out indie dyers to carry in a new yarn store….

Untangling: Stephannie Tallent of Sunset Cat Designs

I didn’t know very much about Stephannie Tallent of Sunset Cat Designs when I started working with her as part of the inaugural Indie Untangled yarn club, other than the fact that she does wonderful things with lace, cables and textured stitches and that she is a fan of craft beer.

So, I did a little reporting before sending her some questions and discovered she had quite an interesting pre-designer history….

What to stash this week: In rainbows

The latest patterns from Casapinka are a refreshing respite from the craziness of world events. Bronwyn designed Rainbow Warrior to honor her LGBT friends and colleagues after the tragedy in Orlando in June, while her most recent design, Painted Windows, pictured above, is another brilliant way to show off even the flashiest hand-dyed yarn.

The folks at Bijou Basin have again teamed up with Minnesota-based indie dyer ModeKnit Yarn for 12 new gradient colorways….

Let the knitting begin

Tomorrow night marks the start of something I look forward to every four years — the Ravellenic Games! Yes, I do also love the games that start with the letter O (as a business, I do have to watch my wording), but I am more partial to winter sports, especially figure skating.

What I like about Ravelry’s Ravellenic games is the idea of challenging yourself as a knitter….

John Arbon Textiles and its indie flock

Earlier this year, Linda Lencovic of Kettle Yarn Co. posted to the Indie Untangled marketplace about her new custom yarn base. Baskerville, a fingering-weight blend of two British wools — Exmoor Blueface and Gotland — plus silk, was born of a collaboration between Linda and John Arbon Textiles, a small worsted spinning and processing mill in North Devon, on the coast of southwest England.

Linda described the process on her blog,…

Knitting and yarn: There are apps for that

With the seemingly overnight sensation that is Pokemon Go, and virtually everyone more obsessed than usual with their smartphones, I thought it was an appropriate time to write about the knitting and yarn apps that I love and use fairly regularly (and yes, that is yarn wallpaper on my phone).

Countmeme
Usually when I’m knitting, my phone is by my side, but not (always) because I need it to look at yarn on Instagram or at patterns on Ravelry….

What to stash this week: Colors and clubs

Karen of Round Table Yarns is back with another yarn club, really a monthly color option that you can preorder if you’re in love. Preorders for this month’s colorway, a vivid purple called Ynys Avallach (you’ll get the story with the yarn) run through July 12.

Peggie of ColorPurl has unveiled some more new naturally-dyed colorways on Finnegan, her popular BFL Donegal Tweed yarn….

What to stash this week: Blast off into summer knitting

Sign-ups for the SpaceCadet SpaceMonster Mega Yarn Club are now open! The club offers exclusive colorways on worsted or bulky bases, perfect for quick knits, a note on the colorway inspiration from dyer Stephanie and serious swag every third package. Hurry — sign-ups close July 10.

Indie dyer Melanie of Go Knit Yourself has a yarn subscription club called Wool Box that sends out two skeins three times a year in a surprise base and color….

What to stash this week: Updates and intros

Suzanne of Groovy Hues Fibers has a shop stocked full of awesomeness, including I Don’t Need Saving, her new Arya-inspired colorway that’s dyed to order, and Some Like It Hot kits that come with a spicy project bag and chili pepper stitch markers from Otterly Adorable Knits and sock yarn in Suzanne’s Buffalo Wing and Celery colorways. If that tempts you, you get 10% off of any Groovy Hues order with the code UNTANGLED10….

What to stash this week: Curves and color

Rookwood is a collaboration between designer Mindy Wilkes and Jeanne of Ohio-based Destination Yarn. The colorways and Japanese stitch patterns in this two-color shawl are inspired by the colors and curves in pieces from the iconic Cincinnati company, Rookwood Pottery. Kits with a few different color combinations are available from Destination Yarn and the pattern is also available on its own on Ravelry.

The crew at Slipped Stitch Studios has created a combination that will leave you dead of cute overload: Dia de los Muertos kitties AND puppies….

Author: Lisa