How to Knit on Circular Needles (video)

An easy, up close, demonstration of how to knit on circular needles by Judy Graham, Knitter to the Stars, who’s knits have appeared in movies, TV, and concerts for over 30 years and who has been hand knitting for over 50 years.

Yarn Addiction (by The Woolpack)

What’s so addictive about yarn? Everything – With so many choices and uses, it’s the perfect collectible.

Yarns today are being made from so many fibers-natural and synthetic.  Natural fibers include sheep, llama, goats, buffalo, alpaca, angora, musk ox, possum, cotton, silk, corn, soy, bamboo, and milk fibers.

Our yarn supply is a truly global economy:  Italy, Australia, South America, Turkey, China, USA.  Many US distributors work with small cooperatives in developing countries helping regions to become self-sustaining. 

Today’s synthetic fibers like  modal, viscose, tencel, courtelle,  nylon, and acrylic are spun using high tech spinning equipment to produce yarns far removed from the acrylic yarns of the 50’s and 60’s.  Many acrylics feel like natural fibers and are wonderful to knit with.

Hand spinners are turning out artful yarns in small quantities and hand dyers produce rich, deep or delicate colors using many natural fibers as their canvas.

You can knit, crochet, weave, felt, embellish and craft with yarns.  You can put them in a basket like a bouquet of flowers and just admire them. 

Yarns are spun finer than human hair and as thick as your finger.  Yarns can be a single strand or ply and many plies twisted together.  Sometime they are even constructed of plies of plies twisted clockwise and counterclockwise (for a Z twist or an S twist). Some are smooth while others are highly textured.

You can make a collection of yarn from a particular designer, fiber, color, gauge, or even collect yarns as a souvenir from your travels.  You can swap yarn like trading cards, buy on ebay and yard sales or make donations to worthy causes.

People buy yarn who have no earthly idea what they are going to do with it, some don’t even knit or crochet.  They are seduced by the color, the feel.  It might remind them of a place or a person.  The texture might be soothing and calming to the touch.  The colors may brighten your spirits.  You just know that if you don’t buy this yarn, it may not be there the next visit.  That if you don’t buy this yarn, you will think about it for days.  That life is full of regrets and this shouldn’t be one of them.

Introduction to Spinning, Part 2 (video)

Introduction to Spinning, Part 1 (video)

If you’re interested in spinning your own yarn, this video provides you with all the information you need to get started. Park and draft with a drop spindle with this tutorial!

Types of Knitting Yarn (video)

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