rhinebeck 7 - Indie Untangled

Pre-Rhinbeck Untangling: Pam Maher of FiberCrafty

This is the first in a series of blog posts featuring the fabulous sponsors of the 2017 Rhinebeck Trunk Show.

I decided to create Indie Untangled a few years ago after hearing from dyer and maker friends about how it was getting more and more difficult to stand out online. My initial idea was for a handmade marketplace just for yarn and fiber, but I was daunted by what it would take to launch such a site without having any programming skills whatsoever….

A 2016 IU Year in Knitting Review

Considering the year we’ve had, most of the looks back at 2016 are not going to be likely to lift your spirits. My hope is that this roundup of Indie Untangled FOs will be the exception.

For my Year in Review, I’ve culled a list of several FOs using yarn and/or patterns from Indie Untangled dyers and designers — or both, in the case of the photo above of my Drops of Honey shawl….

Hashtag this: Indie Untangled 2016

When the Indie Untangled Rhinebeck Trunk Show started two years ago, a dozen or so vendors took up half of the ballroom at the Best Western in Kingston with small displays. The clicker that I used to count attendees showed 235, and I was thrilled.

Fast forward to last Friday, when at least 700 shoppers, including 125 VIPs — and, yes, the Stephen West,…

What to stash this week, whether you’re at Rhinebeck or not

For this year’s Rhinebeck Trunk Show, I played indie matchmaker, bringing together Nikki of Dark Harbour Yarn and designer Jennifer Dassau. The result of their collaboration is Refracted, a two-color shawl with a mix of stitches that refract at a central point. Jennifer used two skeins of Nikki’s Starboard, a wonderful single-ply blend of Merino and silk that I used for my Trunk Show Shawl….

Indie yarn and pattern pairings from Yarn Culture

This is the eighth and final post in a series of blog posts with the generous sponsors of the 2016 Rhinebeck Trunk Show.

Though there have been many times when I’ve impulse bought beautiful hand-dyed skeins without an idea of what they’ll become, I generally try to shop for yarn with patterns in mind. If you also find it helpful to have suggestions, I asked Patti Odinak,…

What to stash this week: A yarny journey

Starshowers is the third installment of her Silk Road 2016 Shawl Club: Explorer. A six-skein gradient set and a contrasting color create an asymmetrical crescent shaped shawl that uses short rows to evoke what Simone calls “the illusion of sweeping stars and star showers above” and “the night sky with just a hint of light at dawn, and the milky way still visible overhead.”

If you’re allergic to wool,…

Rhinebeck indie yarn & sweater pairings from Amy Herzog

This is the sixth in a series of blog posts with the generous sponsors of the 2016 Rhinebeck Trunk Show.

After the interview I did with designer and knitting techie Amy Herzog last year, I decided to ask her to pair yarn from some of the indie dyers at the trunk show with her sweater patterns. I’m looking forward to showing off my Acer cardigan —…

Get to know the yaks, and yarn, of Bijou Basin Ranch

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts with the generous sponsors of the 2016 Rhinebeck Trunk Show.

Yaks aren’t the first animals knitters think of when we think about yarn, but Carl and Eileen Koop, the owners of Bijou Basin Ranch, have boosted the long-haired bovid’s reputation among the knitting community. The animals produce a fiber with a softness similar to Cashmere,…

What to stash this week: Rhinebeck preorders, pirates, clubs and mini skeins

To make shopping at the third annual Rhinebeck Trunk Show easier, some of the vendors have been working with indie designers and are debuting special kits, a few of which will be available to preorder through the Indie Untangled website. The first of these special dyer/designer collaborations is the Whisp cowl. This two-color brioche cowl was designed by Lesley Anne Robinson of Knit Graffiti Designs and uses yarn from Alice of Backyard Fiberworks and Laurie of Feel Good Yarn Company,…

Untangling: Pom Pom Quarterly

This is the fourth in a series of blog posts with the generous sponsors of the 2016 Rhinebeck Trunk Show.

Although I run a knitting website, I still do a lot of writing for print, and so I have always appreciated the joy of flipping through a paper publication. When it comes to knitting magazines, Pom Pom Quarterly is by far one of my favorites. It has the feel of a small book and features beautiful patterns (my Waterlily,…

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