Since I kicked off the Knitting Our National Parks series in 2017, it seemed only natural to organize a retreat that incorporated a visit to one of the magnificent U.S. parks. I’m excited to let you know that registration is now open for Indie Untangled’s first retreat, which will be held from May 28-31 at Wellspring Spa, near Mount Rainier in Washington State.
You have until the end of 2019 to sign up for next year’s Indie Untangled Where We Knit Yarn Club and sample from among several talented indie dyers (including yours truly!) and four designers.
Sue of Invictus Yarns is bidding farewell to 2019 with an automatic 20% discount on all in-stock items through December 31.
Elizabeth Colorful Eclectic has launched her Murderino Collection, inspired by the hit true crime/comedy podcast My Favorite Murder, and named for its adoring fan base. The collection includes nine colors with a black dappled effect. They include the signature red dubbed “Stay Sexy, Knit a Sweater,” and a chilling green called “Toxic Masculinity Ruins The Party Again.”
And perhaps the best thing about this collection? Through the end of the year, Colorful Eclectic is donating $2 from each skein of the Murderino Collection sold to End the Backlog, an initiative to eliminate the backlog of untested rape kits in the United States.
I have fond memories of celebrating Hanukkah as a child, deciding which present to unwrap each night. Should it be the one that I know is a cassette I’ve been lusting after because of how it’s shaped and sounds when you shake it? Or the large package that has to be a Cricket doll?
With that in mind, I was inspired to collaborate with some fellow Jewish fiber friends — Julia of Pandia’s Jewels, Spencer and Reggie of The Fiberists and Raya of Blissful Knits — on an Indie Untangled Eight Nights of Hanukkah Kit! Kits will include individually-wrapped items from all of these folks, plus a few special surprises.
We’re partying like it’s the 5780s with an ’80s-themed palette inspired by the colors in the skein-menorah above. Preorders are limited and open only until November 15.
Alisa is back after a semester in England for graduate school and debuted sweater-sized bags at Indie Untangled. They are now available in her Etsy shop! There are both drawstring bags and box bags in a size designed to hold a worsted weight sweater quantity of yarn. As always, Alisa will donate 15% of the sale price to RAICES Texas.
Sue collaborated with designer Adrienne Fong, who recently lost her battle with cancer, on a special colorway called Wisdom. She will be donating $10 for each skein sold to the American Cancer Society in Adrienne’s memory.
Prior to this year’s Indie Untangled, Shireen of The Blue Brick embarked on a fall ombré colorway, taking inspiration from her own photo of fall foliage to create leaf peeping in yarn form. Autumnal premiered at IU and it is now available on the Indie Untangled website on Killarney Sock (regular and 800-yard Woolly Mammoth) and Manitoulin Merino Sparkle.
Stephanie of Rock Solid Designs, who creates project bags, is collaborating with other makers for holiday gift sets. Her 12 Days of Christmas and 8 Nights of Hanukkah gift sets include items from Fairy Tale Yarn Co, TurtleMade, One Sock Wonder bags and Me Time Botanicals. Preorders are up now, and packages will ship in late November/early December.
Augusta of adknits just had a shop update filled with gift tags and festive stitch markers for your holiday knitting, new notecards and the latest sticker in the Knitional Park Series.
Kate has opened sign-ups for her Le Societe d’Orsay, a yarn club where each month’s colorway will be inspired by art from the Musee D’Orsay in Paris. She is also once again celebrating Socktoberfest with some amazing giveaways and a 24% off sale.
Laura is once again collaborating with artist Cynthia Frenette on some knit-centric items! Orders open today at 9 a.m. Pacific time and close on Monday at midnight.
Julia of Pandia’s Jewels is opening preorders for her Purple Magic yarn set today.
I have a soft spot for Mount Rainier in Washington State as it’s the first national park I ever visited, almost exactly 10 years ago. Fittingly, Heather of Early Grey Fiber Company, based in the Pacific Northwest, chose this photo of a purple-y winter sunrise over Naches Peak, taken by parks volunteer JD Hascup. The Highest Peak will be dyed on Darjeeling Sock, a 75/25 blend of Superwash Merino and nylon that comes in generous 463-yard skeins. It’s available to preorder on Indie Untangled through August 23 and will ship at the end of September. As always, 10% of sales will be donated to the National Park Foundation.
Here’s another cause worth stashing for: Christina has channeled her feelings of frustration about current events into two a new collection called Meaningful Action. 25% of sales of these two colorways, Bleeding Heart and No More Thoughts and Prayers, will be donated to the Southern Poverty Law Center and Everytown for Gun Safety.
Advent calendars from BigFootFibers are available to preorder now! They come with 24 individually-wrapped and numbered minis, one full-sized skein to open December 25, a Christmas-themed, shawl-sized bag by SouthernSparrowHandmade, and more!
Laura of Slipped Stitch Studios is having a ready-to-ship shop update today at 9 a.m. Pacific with some old favorites, including her exclusive Knitting is my Happy Place design and Knitmare on Elm Street.
Amy of Summit Rd. Fibers has special fall knit kits available for preorder through August 12. The kits feature the Archer’s Beanie design by Lacy from Two Arrows & Co. There are two colorways to choose from and enough yarn to make two beanies!
Joan of White Lies Designs has created unique kits for those of you who don’t want to knit a whole sweater. Hybrid Tee kits come with a 100% cotton, A-line tee and organic cotton yarn. Choose your color and then decide which style to knit.
Inspired by her latest infatuation with A Court of Thorns and Roses, Gabby of Once Upon a Corgi presents An Advent of Wool and Minis.
Have you decided what to wear to Indie Untangled and Rhinebeck yet? You’ve got plenty of time — at least that’s what I’m telling myself since I want to knit three sweaters! — but if you want more instant gratification there’s still some of Aimée’s Indie Untangled exclusive Kingston and Hudson colorways on Merino Aran in the Indie Untangled shop. If you’re the ambitious type, I’m also taking preorders for the colorways on her Merino DK and Super Sock bases to ship in September.
Mary Annarella’s latest shawl, Square Root, looks complicated, but it’s actually the perfect summer vacation knitting — a completely seamless shawl in three colors that begins with three separate squares that are gradually connected to each other. It’s also 30% off with the code takethesquareroute through July 22.
Liz of HighFiberArtz is getting ready for cooler weather with some new colorways and kits, including the Spooky Donuts Halloween Kit and the 12 Days of Seuss Winter Holiday Kit, which include goodies from two other makers, Charmed and Dangerous and One Sock Wonder Bags.
Stephanie of frabjous fibers & Wonderland Yarns also has some fall colors that are perfect for her own Secret Staircase Shawl pictured above, and also some that are perfect to fade.
Heather of Sew Happy Jane’s delicious 2019 Holiday Gift Sets are inspired by the patisseries of Paris. Both Hannukah and Advent sets will be available today on her website.
For the latest Slipped Stitch Studios update, which goes live today at 9 a.m. Pacific, Laura’s making you choose: Friends or Golden Girls? (That’s easy: Sofia, Dorothy, Blanche and Rose!) In a fun twist, every order of a Friends or Golden Girls item is a vote and Laura will announce on Tuesday who the winner is. Everyone who ordered an item from the winning team receives a free gift!
I’m giving Sandra of Duck Duck Wool back her Glacier National Park-inspired yarn for her to bring to a trunk show, so if you don’t want to miss out on Glaciers & Wildflowers or her new Night Hike, grab them by Sunday, when they’ll be gone from the shop forever!
Mona’s Frida Kahlo-inspired For Frida pattern, originally published in the February 2019 issue of I Like Knitting magazine, is now available for individual sale in her shop. Enjoy 25% off the pattern through July 24, no coupon code needed.
Seathra of Stravaigin Yarn Co. dyed up some summer-inspired colors using Quebracho Red, Cochineal and Hibiscus. They are dyed on her Auchentoshan (OKH-en-TOSH-en) base, a 100% Canadian Rambouillet yarn that hails from the fields of Alberta.
The crew behind the Rosé and Rambouillet kit was waiting to unveil these gorgeous photos of Tamy Gore’s Dusky Rose shawl from Cat Reading. Kits with the Rambouillet yarn from The Dye Project, a digital copy of Tamy’s shawl pattern and a rose gold and glitter sheep pin from Nerd Bird Makery are available to preorder on Indie Untangled only through today!
Heather Jane of Sew Happy Jane has a knack for combining colors and this week she is featuring the Walking On A Dream sock pattern from Kalurah Hudson of While They Play Designs. There is a fresh batch of sock sets perfect for knitting this, or any pattern that uses contrast, all ready to go in her shop.
Dawn of Fairy Tale Knits is embracing that throwback with the “Christmas In July” version of her yarn Advent-style calendar. The set includes a full-sized, 463-yard skein skein Dawn’s 75/25 Superwash Merino/nylon Pegasus base and 24 92-yard speckled Pegasus mini skeins, all individually wrapped and inspired by a different cartoon character or show. They include the aforementioned Alvin & the Chipmunks and Muppet Babies, and a mix of other classics like Bugs Bunny, Sylvester & Tweety, the Jetsons, Care Bears, Smurfs and Rugrats.
Laura of Slipped Stitch Studios is shipping out her Steampunk-inspired bag and accessories preorders and so the extras will be live in her shop and ready to ship today at 9 a.m. Pacific time.
Happy birthday, America! Indie Untangled is celebrating this nation’s natural beauty with a Flash Sale! Get 15% off Knitting Our National Parks tote bags and Glacier National Park-inspired yarn from Duck Duck Wool through midnight EDT tonight with the code AMERICATHEBEAUTIFUL.
The next Eden Cottage Yarns update takes place today at 7 p.m. UK time and feature Titus Lace, a Superwash Merino/silk yarn that’s perfect for summer weather. It also includes the second release of the Four Seasons Collection, a collaboration with designer Jaya Lakshmi.
Augusta of adKnits has new gift tags infused with a little fiber-related snark, as well as new notecards, including those with her popular knitted mountains illustration. Plus, she’s also released the first two sets of her new line of stitch markers.
Back by popular demand is Duck Duck Wool’s popular Glaciers & Wildflowers colorway for the Knitting Our National Parks project, available on a Merino/silk single fingering and Merino DK. This Glacier National Park colorway is joined by extremely limited amounts of two new complementary semisolids — Night Hike and Peony For Your Thoughts. I just finished a Tegna sweater in the original colorway and I am in love with it.
Selena of Sweater Sisters knows what makes for the best summer project. Her Sedona Lace Scarf Kit, inspired by the red rock mountains in Sedona, Arizona, is everything a summer knitting project should be. Kits come with a generously-sized skein of WayfaringYarns’ Shangri-La Lace (75% extra fine Merino/25% Mulberry silk) to knit the squishy garter scarf with an easy-to-memorize lace pattern. And there are five color choices, including Apex, a bright coral inspired by Selena’s childhood home, and also Pantone’s color of the year.
Speaking of summer knitting, here’s a bit of a more rustic project that also meets all the requirements, and comes with some bonus sparkle. The Dye Project’s Rosé On Rambouillet colorway is pictured here with the makings for my favorite summer drink. Rosé and Rambouillet Kits also include the pattern for designer Tamy Gore’s Dusky Rose shawl and a rose gold glitter sheep pin from Nerd Bird Makery. Preorder your kit by July 5.
Jen of Porterness Studio has beautiful new sterling silver Yarn Twist earrings and necklaces inspired by hanks of yarn, plus a new Knit necklace if you want to be less subtle. Get 20% off your order through Monday with the code TwistedIU20.
If you want to be really obvious about your fiber love, grab one of Christine of Treasure Goddess Yarn’s Pirate Sheep Shirts in charcoal gray or light teal, which are on sale for $20 through July 8. Have too many T-shirts? She also has pirate sheep pins and keychains.
Joining her Suavest Sheep and Lovable Lambs, Michelle of Crafty Flutterby Creations’ new Sensational Sheep are ready to tackle your next colorwork project. These 3D-printed notions come in two sizes for 5 to 8 yards of fingering-weight or 5 yards of worsted-weight yarn.
Melanie of Baad Mom Yarns is giving her yarn a money-back guarantee with her new Wish To Squish Program. If you don’t think the color matches the photo or the yarn isn’t soft enough for your princess skin, you can send it back within three business days.
Shanna of Lambstrings Yarn has limited quantities of two new colorways available in her shop. Zodiac is a dark and moody colorway with pops of brightness and Petunia is a light peach speckle. Her shop is stocked with plenty of other lovely skeins.
Amy of Summit Road Fibers’ is taking preorders for Advent calendars that come with more than 2,500 yards of hand-dyed deluxe sock yarn, all individually wrapped and ready to count to Christmas, plus a full-size skein to open on Christmas Day.
If you’re planning to go to Stitches United in Atlanta next weekend, make sure to head to Booth 623 to check out Lolabean Yarn Co. and snag some of Adella’s most popular colorways (plus an adorably delicious peach pin designed by Shelli Can). If you’re not planning to attend, Adella is having an online event starting this Wednesday, May 29, and running to June 2. All of her colors will be available for preorder on several different bases.
Every month, Jennifer of Spirit Trail Fiberworks creates colorways inspired by an image suggested by one of her newsletter subscribers. May’s colorways are based on a photo of a jewel-toned tile that newsletter subscriber Cindy sent. As always, all four of them work well together for colorwork, as well as individually. They are available to preorder until this Sunday.
After debuting her Suavest Sheep — an adorable 3D-printed notion that can be used to tidy your cast-on end, hold yarn joined in the middle of your project or just show off some yarn — Michelle of Crafty Flutterby Creations decided to expand her sheep family and create smaller Lovable Lambs for both thinner and shorter loose ends.
Heather of Earl Grey Fiber Co. is opening the second round of sign-ups for her yarny Advent Calendar tomorrow at 10 a.m. Pacific. This year’s calendar will be a mash-up of her Great British Baking Show yarn and charm club and her Afternoon Tea Collection. Yum!
If you’re in or near NYC and around next weekend, you do not want to miss these events with designers Thea Colman and Kirsten Kapur at mYak’s Here Now Space in the West Village. Thea, also known as BabyCocktails, will be teaching a cable workshop and a design workshop, and Kirsten will be teaching a color block class. On Saturday evening, they will team up for Aperi-Knit cocktail party. Of course, the mYak shop will be open and if you mention Indie Untangled you’ll receive 10% off all yarn and kits.
In what has become an Indie Untangled holiday tradition, I am thanking the knitters who invite me into their inboxes each week with a special holiday giveaway.
For the 2018 Newsletters to Santa and Hanukah Harry giveaway, I’ve gathered together some amazing prizes from several artisans, some who were new to the Indie Untangled community this year and others who are favorites, and doing a string of giveaways (eight plus one) starting this Monday and running through Christmas Day.
Here are the rules: Sign up for the Indie Untangled newsletter by 9 p.m. EST and you will be eligible to win that day’s prize (anyone already on the mailing list is entered to win). After 9 p.m., I’ll pick a winner via random number generator and send out an email. The winner will arrange shipment with the dyer/artisan. The grand prize will be a very special package of yarn and knitting stocking stuffers that I will ship out to the winner.
PLEASE NOTE: Winners must respond within 48 hours of when the notification email is sent to claim the prize. If not, another winner will be selected.
One other winner will also receive a set of four OOAK skeins of DK-weight Selene from Spirit Trail Fiberworks and swag from this year’s Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk Show.
It’s official: holiday knitting season is now upon us! Bronwyn of Casapina has you covered with her gorgeous Winter Light collection. It includes six patterns — two cowls, two hats, a set of mitts and a pair of socks — that are for sale individually or together for a discount in an e-book. There’s also a freebie that’s perfect for your leftovers. And, in true Casapinka style, each pattern is paired with six winter cocktails or mocktails to warm you up during your knitting breaks (though she’s not responsible for any dropped stitches this may cause).
Tamy just released a set of new accessory patterns, Inseparable and Ravenhill (pictured here), designed with the gift-giving season in mind. Both use yarn from Lolodidit and she has lovely kits on her website. You can also get a discount on both the kits and the pattern this week.
You can’t resist some sparkle around the holidays! Big Foot Fibers’ Gingerbread Men is a mini skein set of five colors inspired by the best Christmas dessert. The first update sold out, so grab yours during round two, going on now.
Sign-ups for next year’s Indie Untangled yarn club are open through the end of the year or until the club sells out. Grab your spot now! There’s also an option to give the club as a gift to your favorite knitter.
IU newcomer Humble Bumble Fibers Company has sock blanks.
Eden Cottage Yarns is having their next update on Wednesday featuring Pendle Chunky.
I’m thrilled to open sign-ups today for the 2019 Where We Knit Yarn Club. This quarterly club, which will begin shipping in February, brings together four dyer/designer dream teams: Life In the Long Grass and Cassondra Rizzardi of Rizzaknits, Martin’s Lab and Justyna Lorkowska of Lete’s Knits, Asylum Fibers and Woolly Wormhead and Fuse Fiber Studio and Mina Philipp of Knitting Expat Designs.
Each pair will collaborate on an exclusive colorway and an accompanying accessory design inspired by their favorite spots to whip out their WIPs. Their inspiration photos are shown in the image above, clockwise from top left; both cozying up with a tasty beverage and travel knitting are represented. (I also got a little peek at the cocktail-inspired colorway that Caroline of LITLG has been working on for the first installment, and can honestly say you do not want to miss getting your hands on it!)
Speaking of awesome yarn clubs, here’s one not to be missed. Diane is collaborating with Louis of Brooklyn Boy Knits, Amanda of Brown Gyrls Knit, Thao of Nerd Bird Makery and Coffee by Kee — all amazing men and women of color who have been dedicated to promoting diversity in craft — for a Winter Solstice Yarn Club. You’ll receive a skein of worsted weight yarn dyed by Diane, an exclusive knitting pattern by Louis, stitch markers by Amanda, an enamel pin by Thao and a choice of coffee or tea, plus a surprise item. Sign-ups close this Wednesday, November 21.
A beloved fabric from Slipped Stitch Studios’ past is back, with a new spin. The Ghastlies have returned, and this time they have yarn! Bags and accessories in these two fabrics, along with yarns from Skeino, vintage embroidery scissors and stitch kits, are available starting today at 9 a.m. Pacific time.
Every day is Small Business Saturday at FiberCrafty! The fiber marketplace is having a full weeklong frenzy, with plenty of shops offering coupon codes, free shipping and other goodies.
Stephanie of Rock Solid Designs did an awesome collaboration with Jenna of Fiberrarium for Knitter’s Day Out in Harrisburg and there are a few of these Sloth sets still available. They include a medium project bag and a skein of Fiberrarium Conservatory Sock (a 90/10 Merino/nylon blend).
‘Tis the season for Julia of Pandia’s Jewels to create another seasonal sock kit based on C.C. Almon’s Peppermint Mocha Sock pattern. Each kit includes a skein of Julia’s Snug base in the Peppermint Mocha colorway, a Ravelry pattern download code and this cute hand-stamped progress keeper.
Victoria has released two new patterns for her lovely yarns. Above is the Laverton shawl, which brings together three Eden Cottage yarns to create a beautiful, wearable piece. There’s also the Gatekeeper cowl, a simple, quick-to-knit cowl designed to make the most of a single skein of Pendle Aran.
No need to be afraid of these three ghostly colorways from Holly and Ivy, inspired by A Christmas Carol. Ghost of Christmas Past is a golden yellow that captures the warm glow of a candle, Ghost of Christmas Present is the rich pine green of the second spirit’s velvet robes and Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is a dark blood red.
Shanna of Lambstrings Yarn also has some holiday colorways, and they are far from traditional. Her two holiday sock sets are mystery packages inspired by either Krampus or Saint Nick. Each set will contain a full skein of Tralala Sock and two mini skeins in contrasting heel/toe/cuff colorways. Preorders close next Friday.
