Crazy for Ewe

What does Mary Shelley have to do with variegated yarn? More than you'd think. A lesson from engineering school that every sweater knitter needs to hear.

Local Yarn Store Day is the one day a year the whole knitting world decides to celebrate that — and I want us to celebrate it together.

Saturday, April 25th, we open at 11am and we are ready for you.

I have been cooking for more than forty years. Last year I learned something so fundamental I was embarrassed I didn't know it sooner. And it changed the way I think about knitting entirely.

When the DanDoh trunk was here for the retreat last month, and Mary, Ginni, and I did what any reasonable group of knitters would do: we tried on every single thing.

All three of us are between 5'8" and 5'10". We are not the same size. Ginni has a 38" full bust, I'm 36", and Mary is 42". We wear the same sweaters differently — and that turned out to be the whole lesson.

I was at a trade show last week — meeting our yarn vendors in person, scoping out their collections for next fall, and looking for bespoke yarns that could become something special for the shop.

A finished sweater looks effortless, but anyone who knits knows that the knitting itself is only part of the story. The real magic happens in the invisible work—choosing, swatching, adjusting, and finishing with care.

Even when two sweaters seem very similar.  A lot of it is in the details.  It's subtle but important.  Here's an example. Tell me what you think in the comments.

That’s the thing. You can look at a pattern photo online and think you’re seeing the sweater. But you’re really just seeing a suggestion. You are free to knit and finish your sweater however you like.

Grandma to the rescue. A week spent navigating a childcare crisis and learning a toddler's unique language reminded me of a profound truth: Knitting is a language, too. There is a world of difference between knowing the vocabulary of stitches and achieving true fluency in fit and construction. 

We don’t all live in the same climate. Or the same body. Or the same season of life. And the weather, literal or otherwise, doesn’t ask permission before it changes.

There’s a persistent idea that sweaters belong to cold places, cold months, or a very specific version of winter. But knitters live everywhere. And we live fully.

Hello from sunny Key Largo, Florida, where I’m visiting my sister, Janet, and helping her open her house for the season. I wish I could tell you that it’s a lot of work, a tough job and all that, but the truth is that she’s been spoiling me something fierce, and even if she weren’t, it’s incredibly beautiful here.

This week I’m starting my first Sophie Scarf. I know, everyone on the planet has already knit a dozen or so, but I’m a little behind on this, ok. Don’t judge.

But I get it. There’s a reason it’s become such a phenomenon.