Best Knitting Quote Ever

We just had a non-knitter make this comment while listening to some of our club members talk about our Secret Garden KAL:

"this sounds so extremely cool. I've never seen knitting to be so... Exciting!"

Welcome to our New LYS's!

Guess what happened at Sock Summit? We made a few new friends who just happen to own yarn shops! We'd like to announce that you can now find Unique Sheep yarn at:

Middleford Yarn & Stitchery Shoppe located in Medford Oregon. They took home quite the stash of Gradiance yarns, plus some single skeins, patterns and other goodies. They are even planning some classes using Unique Sheep yarns, so if you are in the area you'll want to sign up for their newsletter and keep an eye on the website. It sounds like Middleford Yarn & Stitchery Shoppe has some really nice knit-nights and help sessions and is the type of yarn shop that builds a community around it!

Diva Yarn is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Unlike your average yarn shop, this shop has a large selection of trims, buttons, cords, sequins and other glitzy stuff to make your eyes glow in addition to the ordinary yarns, needles and patterns. An armload of Gradiance sock sets went home with Lois so if you are in the neighborhood please stop by and give them a look and a squeeze!

Sock Summit Review

I had grand plans to blog every day of the Sock Summit. That didn't happen, did it? Instead, every evening as soon as I sat down at the laptop I fell asleep. I spent most of the week in the booth, of course, so I didn't get to see much of what was happening outside of my small corner of the marketplace. This article has a nice overview including a photo gallery with a number of good photos from the Sock Museum.

We had a wonderful time. I really don't think there is much that I would change-- my only regret is that I didn't have time to take classes with any of the incredible instructors. That and I wish I'd eaten more vegetables-- my body isn't used to a diet of donuts, hamburgers and beer!

Its not hard to imagine how fun it is to be surrounded by knitters, dyers, designers, crocheters, instructors, etc (plus all the yarn, patterns, needles, accessories you can dream of) for a week. And it was just as wonderful as you'd imagine. Better, even. I always love meeting knitters and they never really feel like strangers, you know? But this was the first time we've gone to an event and every time we turned around we would see someone else who we have talked to online, sold yarn to, followed the blog of, taken a class from, read a book by, etc. People came to Sock Summit from all over the world, and yet it felt like such a small community of friends.

If I add too many photos to this blog post the formatting gets awkward, so I'm including a few of my favorites but you can see more on our Flickr account. You can also see a short interview with me, and a lot of other great shots of the Sock Summit marketplace and reviews with other vendors here and even more about Sock Summit (and a photo of my Thigh's the Limit stockings) on the Knitting Daily blog!

Thank you Laurel!

I cannot thank Laurel, and her family, enough for being such wonderful hosts to me this week. I was always coming home late, whining like a baby about having to wake up early and made more of a mess than her three young children combined. Everyone in the family- from babysitting Grandma (who I just realized I know only as "Grandma" though I'm sure she has another name...) to the visiting sister, Crystal, to Laurel's own children and husband- was SO kind. The Sock Summit itself was wonderful, but my experience was made so much richer by having a quiet, comfortable place to come home to at night and a bowl of handmade granola to start each morning off with. Thanks to Joel for sharing his wife, his house and his coffee. Thanks to the kids for reminding me how to play. And the biggest thank you of all to Laurel for letting me into her home during a time when she was already so busy as a teacher at Sock Summit, not to mention a very pregnant mother, wife, daughter and sister. I couldn't have asked for a better place to stay and I cannot thank you enough.

Set up Day at Sock Summit

After hanging out with Laurel's wonderful family all morning, we arrived at the convention center with a van full of boxes and only the vaguest of plans. Several hours later and its starting to look like something! We still have all of this morning to finish up the details and run errands and hopefully they we'll be ready when the marketplace opens to the public this afternoon!

After setting up yesterday I had a special treat- Chelsea (YarnGeek) had just arrived in town with a friend (her LYS owner) and so we went out for a lovely dinner. Afterwards we stuck our feet in the hot tub/pool at their hotel and chatted for hours. Its so fun to finally meet people in person who I've spent so much time talking to online!

See You at Sock Summit!

Thanks to Tamsie for the fun graphic!

New Patterns

I'm pleased to introduce a handful of new patterns that you can order from our website. Like most of our patterns, they are available as both PDFs and as print copies.


The Woven Checkerboard Laptop Bag and Purse are easy enough for beginner knitters and knit up quickly in garter stitch and worsted weight yarn. For those of you headed back to school, the large bag would be perfect for carrying your books or laptop while the small bag is just the right size for life's little necessities (wallet, phone, lipgloss and sunglasses)!



Before we know it there will be a chill in the air as we head towards fall. But there is no need to pack away your summer skirts- just slip on a pair of The Thigh's The Limit thigh-high stockings! They are also great layered under pants for an extra layer of wooly warmth once the winter freeze sets in. This pattern is written for our Gradiance collection.



For those of you attending the Sock Summit next week or celebrating this historic event from afar, here is a sock pattern for you! Peaks and Valleys has a mountain range inspired pattern that is fun to knit and ideal for multicolored yarns. You can really get in the Sock Summit spirit by knitting it in our Ascent colorway which was inspired by the Sock Summit logo!