Love is Love

Our newest color, Love is Love, is a thank-you to all of the brave individuals in the knitting community and in our families and friend circles who have the courage to be who they are and love the person who makes them happy.

We believe that rights of LGBT individuals are human rights and that, when they are able to perform their best at school, work and home, without restriction, discrimination or threat, we all benefit. So in perpetuity, we’ll be donating 10% of the purchase price of this colorway to the Human Rights Campaign.

This colorway was tricky to create; the more colors in a gradient that are very different from each other, the more difficult it is to apply the dye without areas of muddy overlap. The red, yellow and orange bit isn’t too hard, but there’s just no way around it; green and purple make an unappealing brown.

There was no way around it, we thought, but then we came up with a different solution; applying the green as two separate colors, blue and yellow layered over each other. Voila! Now we could create a rainbow with all of the colors in the right order, all caked up and ready to go.

We hope you love this color as much as we do.

Jaala

Knitcircus Podcast #110

In which Amy gallivants around the state and Jaala gears up to gallivant around the Midwest.

Listen on Libsyn or iTunes

Mentioned this podcast:

Rattan Shawl

Lemon Cookies

Fiona Hippo Video

How I Met Your Mother (tv show)

Spreadsheet by Ted

 

Guest Blog Post: Yarn and Pattern Pairings

Hello, fellow Friends of Knitcircus!  My name is Beth, and I’m a knitter from outside of Portland, OR.  It’s a fiber lover’s paradise here in the Pacific NW, with more than a dozen LYS that participate in our local Yarn Crawl, the same number of independent dyers, and many designers.  Many of the local dyers do gradients, but none of them catch come close to the beautiful skeins that come from Jaala and Knitcircus crew. 

Just as the wand chooses the wizard, I firmly believe that the yarn chooses the pattern.   I don’t claim to be a yarn whisperer, and some yarns are more selective than others.   When I try to knit something other than what the yarn wants, the project just doesn’t work out, and ends up getting frogged.  Along the way, I’ve noticed that many of the Knitcircus yarns appear to have a sense of humor when it comes to selecting their patterns!   Jaala asked me to share some of their ideas with you.

It started with a skein of Over the Rainbow Gradient Speckle that insisted on becoming the Emerald City Shawl by Shannon Squire.

After that things just took off!  Some of the projects currently lined up in my queue:

A skein of ‘Starry Night’ wants to become the ‘Summer Sky’ shawl by Janina Kallio

‘Space is Big, Really Big’ wants to be ‘Don’t Panic’ by Monika Evans

‘Mallard’ is insisting on becoming the ‘Dodo’ shawl by Heidi Alexander

‘Evergreen’ is begging to be the ‘Timberline Lodge Shawl’ by Kay Hopkins

‘Toasting Marshmallows’ chose the ‘Flame Keeper Shawl’ by Laurie Beardsley, and

‘Fruit Kabob’ jumped at the sight of the ‘Bosc Pear Shawl’ by Tetiana Otruta.

What does your yarn want to become?

–Beth Root

Jaala’s note: We are thrilled to have Beth write this blog post for us! I just love her inspirations! Many of the colors mentioned are exclusive Yarn Club colors, because she’s that kind of awesome. To see all of the current available colors for your yarn and project ideas, please check out the Knitcircus site.  Happy knitting!

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy is one of the new Impressionist Speckled Gradients. We are all in love with these gradients with pops of unexpected color throughout.

This new dyeing process started one day when Elizabeth and I had been hanging out at beloved yarn/coffee shop The Sow’s Ear. On the way home I told her about some dyeing experiments I’d been working on and described some of the pitfalls.

Bug got so excited that she used her finely-honed style sense, picked out the Cancun Boxy Lace Top and knit it up within a week!

One of the first Speckled Impressionist Gradients was Just Have a Little Faith. You guys know I’m a little obsessed with the TV show Prison Break, with its suspenseful, clever plot and self-sacrificing hero. The grays and blues of the first season begged to be made into a speckled gradient!

The next one, with its rich greens and blues, had to be an homage to some more favorite characters. You guys loved Frog and Toad as much as we did!

Every time we create a new color of the Speckled Gradients, it generates a lot of excitement in the studio. We’re all trying to get dibs on the yarn first! It’s really fun to knit, because you keep asking, “Which color will this stitch be? How about the next one…”

Happy knitting,

Jaala

 

Knitcircus Podcast #103

Knitcircus Podcast #103

The podcast in which Jaala and Amy make each other laugh (for a change)!

Listen on Libsyn or iTunes

Topics of note:

Knitting Tools: Zing Needles

Knitting Patterns: Sugar Sprinkles Shawl, by Sharyn Anhalt

Dyers: The Plucky Knitter

Artists: Jennie the Potter

Artists: Pawley Studios

 

Knitting Pattern: Summer Camp, by Laura Aylor

Knitting Pattern and Givaway: Bromeliad Shawl

Artist: Katrinkles

Knitting Tools: Cotton Candy Scissors

Direct download: Podcast_103_done.mp3

Help Us Choose a Birthday Colorway!

We’re so excited about our Second Birthday in the Knitcircus Studio, we’ve decided to do a special colorway to celebrate.  Last year, your votes picked a wonderful, deep, saturated colorway for the party and I hope this year we’ll have something just as exciting and fresh.

Please help us choose by leaving a comment here or on the Pinterest Board by this Friday, May 12th.

Here are a few of my favorite contenders (sources noted):

1. In Color Balance
2. Russian Color Palette site
3. Design Seeds
4. EmptyFantasies on Pinterest
5. From Design Seeds

Please let me know which you like best or point me to a favorite color combo of yours!  We’ll be working up both a Gradient and a Speckled Handpaint for double the fun! One person who votes for the winning color will be randomly chosen to receive a free Speckle Handpaint of the color.

BIRTHDAY PARTY

Celebrate with us at the Studio, 634 Grand Canyon Drive! June 16th join the fun for a party with live music by the Arbor Ensemble, cake and a pop-up shop with bags by Daddy Sews.

Saturday, take the adorable Hedgie class, NEW Smooth Operator Socks Class or Both with designer and yarn maven Susan B. Anderson.

 

 

 

Second Birthday Celebration June 16-17

It’s our birthday and you’re invited! June 16th 5-7:30 join us for a party at the Studio, 634 Grand Canyon Drive in Madison, Wisconsin.  We’ll have live music, prizes, a pop-up shop from a local maker, and cake!

Saturday June 17th we’ll have classes with Susan B. Anderson, a sidewalk sale and and more pop-up-shop action. Both days you can win prizes when you visit us. More class details coming soon!

We’re so happy to be in the Studio and hope you can join us to celebrate.