Designer Spotlight: Allyson Dykhuizen + Giveaway

Allyson Dykhuizen is an American knitwear designer  and knitting teacher based in Chicago, IL. Her patterns have been published in Interweave Knits, Knitscene, and knit.wear magazines, among others. Her fun, fashion-forward approach informs both the design she self-publishes and blogs on her website The Sweatshop of Love, along with those of Holla Knits, an online knitting magazine which she created and edits.

Knitter's Pride has donated prizes to the Holla Knits KAL which is currently underway; you can follow Allyson on Twitter @AllysonKnits, the Sweatshop of Love on Facebook, and AllysonDykhuizen on Instagram, and email her at allyson@thesweatshopoflove.com.

New Girl, from Holla Knits
Fall/Winter 2012

How long have you been knitting, and how did you get started designing? I learned to knit when I was a senior in high school, so 13 years ago now! I learned and just never wanted to stop knitting. I started teaching in 2006 and quickly discovered I wanted to design patterns to make it easier to teach my students certain techniques and skills, so that's what inspired me to start designing. From there I started designing for magazines and independent publishing. 

Where do you get inspiration? I love looking at fashion-y pieces and trying to figure out how to make that piece with knitting. I also like to take a challenge, like working in drop stitches or horizontal cables, and building a sweater design around that. I rarely go a day without searching for inspiration and other knitwear designs around the internet! Other designers are a great inspiration for me, too. 

How did Holla Knits come about? The knitting industry doesn't think you can be an advanced knitter without having been knitting for 30+ years. I've been knitting for 13 years so I know what I'm doing, but all the 'fashion forward' or more youthful designs are easy patterns. So I started Holla Knits to fill that hole in the industry. It's fashion forward, challenging knitwear design with a focus on building that community. 

Fire Opal Tee, from Knitscene
Spring 2014

How do you balance your own design/teaching/blogging career with curating Holla Knits? Umm I don't really! But I think that's ok. It all kind of goes together and builds and thrives together. I put too much into building Holla Knits, so I was having a hard time just worrying about my own designs and working on my own stuff. 2015 will see me taking a small step back from being so wrapped up in Holla Knits and a small step forward with my independent design, and teaching. 

Speaking of time management...in addition to knitting, you also crochet, embroider, and sew (are we leaving anything else out?). Do you have any helpful hints for ways to maximize crafting time for those who are pressed for time? Hahaha no I think you got everything! I do embroidery, cross stitch, and sewing as hobbies, where knitting and crocheting are my job because they help me make money, and this is an important distinction for me because I'm a workaholic who is constantly working on finding a work/life balance. I know I can't sit and do nothing. I just can't! So when I need to take a break from working I pick up a cross stitch or embroidery project - something I can do just for me. Sewing I LOVE but it's impossible just to pick it up for a little while! I clear a weekend and sew my face off for 48 hours. 

Block Island Sweater, from Knitscene
Fall 2014

A helpful hint about maximizing crafting time would be to just take the pressure off yourself! I feel like a lot of crafters get focused on PRODUCING, when crafting is about the process, and taking time to do something for yourself. It's not your job to produce, it's your job to take the time to do something you enjoy to make yourself happy. Craft make yourself happy, and do it at your own pace.   

What are you most looking forward to in 2015? So much! I'm getting back to teaching and will have not only my own classes but other teachers on board to help create a full class schedule for crafters in Chicago. I've got how to videos coming out with CraftDaily.com. I'll be the featured designer in the Knitscene Summer 2015 issue! 2015 is so young, but there is already so much to be excited about for me. 

Do you have any knitting horror stories/mishaps? Daily! This knitting and designing thing is hard and I'm always screwing up. I mess up a lot with Holla Knits, publishing patterns that aren't popular and choosing the wrong colors and styling. It's great when you are your own boss and when something is successful, it's successful because you made it that way, but the flip-side of that is when someone isn't successful, it's unsuccessful because you made it that way, too. I learn ALL the time. I mess something up, I think about it and try to learn something, and I try again. 

Giveaway

This month, we're giving our blog readers a chance to win a Karbonz Midi Interchangeable Needle Set! To be eligible, make sure you like us on Facebook, then leave a comment telling us what's on your needles or hook right now! Be sure to also include your email address or Ravelry ID so that we can contact you if you win. We will randomly select a winning comment to announce on Friday, February 27. Good luck! 

Treat Yourself: The Knitter’s Pride Holiday Gift Guide

What Knitter's Pride set is on your wish list this holiday season? This week's blog post have 5 great gift ideas for festive holiday gifting, whether you treat yourself or surprise a friend!

1. For Karbonz Lovers: Our Holiday 2013 limited-edition interchangeable needle set will be arriving at a store near you this month! The Karbonz Box of Joy is comprised of our carbon fiber needles which have earned rave reviews since their launch last year, and we're pleased to introduce the ultimate set to give and get this year.

This Karbonz interchangeable needle set is packed in an attractive box with a laser-cut "tree of bloom" design, giving you a peek at the Karbonz needle tips contained inside. The set contains nine sizes for your knitting pleasure: US sizes 4, 5, 6, 6, 8, 9, 10, 10.5 and 11 (3.5, 3.75, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 6.5 & 8.0mm) along with 4 cords (one each of 24” & 40” and two of 32”), 1 set of cord connectors and a complimentary Shawl Pin from the new Azure Charm range.

Only 2,500 sets will be made available (click here to find a Knitter's Pride retailer near you); once they're gone, they're gone!

2. For sock knitters: We have plenty of DPN sock sets to suit every knitter! Our newest set is the Nova Cubics DPN Sock Set, which combines the strength of our Nova brass needles with an easy-to grip cuboid shape which provides excellent stitch definition. Each set is available in your choice of three popular needle lengths - 5", 6" or 8" - and contains 9 needle sizes ranging from US 0 to US 6.

3. For warmth & luxury: Our Deluxe Japanese Bamboo Interchangeable Set is great for those who prefer the warmth of wooden needles. Made from the finest Japanese bamboo, these needles are lightweight yet durable. The interchangeable needles feature 24 Karat gold plated ferrules and connectors, giving them a touch of luxury. The Deluxe Set includes 10 needle pairs and accessories in an attractive green zipper case; we also offer a Starter Set, Chunky Set, Single-Ended Crochet Hook set and Tunisian Crochet Hook set in this line!

4. Merry & Bright: Our new Waves Crochet Set features a colorful rainbow of handles that are easy to grip for hours of comfortable crocheting. If you love the smooth finish of our aluminum soft grip crochet hooks, you'll love the color-coded handles in our newest line, Waves. Each set includes 9 frequently-used sizes packaged in an attractive fluorescent pink or green zipper case, making it great for gifting!

5. The Gift of Organization: our new faux leather Thames bags come in five fashionable colors; they're perfect for the on-the-go knitter (or crocheter) on your list! Each handmade bag is designed to accommodate small projects, knitting needles, crochet hooks, and other notions in separate compartments so that your essential tools are always within reach.

Giveaway + Needle Tasting Party Photos

All summer long, yarn shops throughout North America have been hosting Knitter's Pride Needle Tasting parties, giving their customers the chance to try the full range of Knitter's Pride products before they buy them. It's been great fun seeing photos from these events, so we thought we'd share some of them here with you! 

Unraveled Yarn & Gifts

Cricket Cove

Mrs. Hudson's Yarn and Teas

The Spinning Room of Altamont

Unraveled Sheep

You can view more event photos here on our Facebook fan page! There are still plenty of events happening this month - click here to see the calendar of events in our Ravelry group. For those of you who didn't get a chance to host or attend a Knitter's Pride Needle Tasting, we will be announcing details of the next round of events at a later date. Stay tuned!

Giveaway

We're giving one lucky blog reader the chance to win a brand-new Comby II sampler set, which contains needle tips from our Karbonz, Nova Cubics and Japanese Bamboo needles! Simply leave a comment on this blog post telling us which of these needles you are most excited to try out (don't forget to mention your Ravelry ID or email address so that we can contact you if you win). We'll randomly select one winner to announce in our next blog post. Good luck! 

NEW! Comby II Sampler Set

Winner + Caring for Wooden Needles

Congratulations to our winners for this month's blog giveaway!

Raveler EvilSquirrel said, "My crafting plans are to whip up a few pairs of super bright socks for my hubs (since he will now only wear hand knit socks in bright bold stripes) I love Taat on 2 circs! And there will be a scarf OTK for me when I start school this September to be a Nurse!! Hot pink of course."

Renee said, "I would be happy to have a set of double point needles. I have several projects to work on from socks and fingerless mitts to shawls and shawlettes."

Both of our lucky winners have been contacted to arrange for the delivery of their Karbonz needles. Join us next month for another great giveaway right here on our blog!

Caring for Wooden Needles

Dreamz needles: image courtesy of
WEBS - America's Yarn Store

Wooden and bamboo needles get naturally moisturized by the oils in the wool yarn (lanolin) and your hands, thus becoming smoother with every use. However, it is a good idea to clean and moisturize your Dreamz, Cubics and Basix needles a couple of times in a year. Here are our top recommendations:

Clean your needles with a clean, dry muslin or paper towel, then apply a very thin layer of natural bees wax. Allow it to dry and then buff it with soft muslin or chamois cloth. This can also be done using a small amount of cold cream as most cold creams contain bees wax. Alternatively, rubbing your needles with wax paper is also a good option.

Whatever method you are using for moisturizing the needles, make sure you wait at least 24 hrs before using them again for knitting!

Giveaway + Don't Take a Vacation from Crafting!

Make sure that your knitting or crocheting isn't the only thing going on vacation this summer! Whether or not you're planning to travel, there are plenty of great projects to keep your needles and hooks happy during the warmer months ahead.  

Shawls are a great project choice; they can be used on cooler summer nights and will also be handy when the temperatures cool down in the fall. Choose lightweight yarns with cooler fibres such as bamboo, cotton or silk for your next project; here are a few popular patterns from Ravelry.com which you might enjoy!

From L-R: Hitchhiker by Martina Behm, Venus by Aoibhe Ni, and Happy Street by Veera Välimäki.

Small projects such as socks, hats and handwear are also great to work on during warmer months - you'll be glad you did when winter's chill arrives! They also are easy to take with you on-the-go, and using circular needles for magic loop means you don't have to worry about losing one of your double-pointed needles while you're out and about! Below are a few popular hat patterns from Ravelry to get you inspired! 

From L-R: Catkin Hat by Kate Davies, Bonnie Beret by Rachael Oglesby, and Bräcken Convertible Cloche by Kalurah.

Finally, small toys are fun to make and are also great gift ideas! Here are a few knit and crochet toy pattern ideas to make your summer extra-fun!

From L-R: Amigurumi Dragon by Stacey Trock, Knit Hedgehogs by Purl Soho, and Huggy Monkey by Sayjai Thawornsupacharoen. 

Enter our May Giveaway

This month, we'll be giving away Karbonz needle to two of our lucky readers! Simply leave a comment on this post telling us your summer crafting plans and which type of Karbonz (single point, double point or fixed circular) you'd like to win! Don't forget to also leave a way for us to contact you if you are the winner (Ravelry ID or email address works just fine). 

We'll randomly select two winners (one for each prize) on Friday, May 24th! Good luck!

Winner + Knitter's Pride in Action

We received a tremendous response to this month's blog giveaway! Thank you to everyone who left their comments on our last blog post; we thoroughly enjoyed reading each one. Congratulations to Julie, who was selected via Random.org as this month's prize winner (we will contact you to arrange for the delivery of your Karbonz DPNs). Julie said, "I would love to try out the size 2s and 3s DPN. Pretty much all my sock needles are bent, would love to use something that wouldn't do that.."

We have another chance for you to win a prize from Knitter's Pride - as soon as we reach 10,000 Fans on Facebook, we'll be giving away a Deluxe Nova Interchangeable Set! Click here to view all the details on Facebook, and don't forget to like our page and recommend it to your friends so that we reach our goal faster!

Finally, we'd like to share the latest Knitter's Pride in Action photos that have been submitted by our wonderful and creative fans. Click here to view & submit photos in our dedicated Ravelry thread; you can also submit via Twitter and Facebook or view our Facebook album here!

L-R: Dreamz Interchangeables (submitted by MrsMommy), Dreamz DPNs (submitted by Kmfox), Karbonz Needles (submitted by @YarnYenta).

As seen on Knitter's Review: Karbonz Needles!

There's been a lot of buzz about our Karbonz needles; most recently, Clara Parkes shared her thoughts on these high-tech needles on the Knitter's Review website. We're quite flattered with her analysis! If you've been curious about carbon fiber needles, click here to get the scoop from one of our industry's finest experts!

Karbonz Single-Point Needles

For more Karbonz reviews, be sure to check out these blog posts: 

• Fresh Stitches Blog
• WEBS Yarn Store Blog 
• Fibre Space Blog

Or watch this quick video courtesy of Jimmy Beans Wool (you can also view our Karbonz product video here on the Knitter's Pride YouTube channel):

Now for the best part: we'd like to give you a chance to try Karbonz out for yourself! Leave a comment on this post sharing why you'd like to knit with these needles for your chance to win a pair of Karbonz DPNs. We'll randomly select one lucky reader to win the prize on Friday, March 22. Be sure to leave your Ravelry ID or e-mail address so that we can contact you if you win! 

Winners + 2013 Preview

Giveaway Winners

Thanks to everyone who entered this month's blog giveaway, we're so excited to see what inspires you on Pinterest! The following readers have won Knitter's Pride Shawl Pins: MaryGildersleeve, Wenchciara and Zandperl! We have contacted each winner via Ravelry PM to arrange for the delivery of their prize. Congratulations!

Sneak Peek!

We're very pleased to share a small preview of our Spring Collection with you today right here on our blog. Since introducing our line of carbon fiber needles last year, we have had many requests from fans and shop owners for an interchangeable line of Karbonz needles. This year, we'll not only introduce Karbonz Interchangeable Circular needles to the line, but we'll also offer expanded size options for single point, double point and fixed circular Karbonz needles as well as DPN and Interchangeable needle sets.



In fact, we'll be introducing many new & exciting additions to the Knitter's Pride family of products at the Handarbeit + Hobby international trade fair in Cologne, Germany next month which will be appearing at a yarn shop near you this Summer - stay tuned for more details!

Karbonz + Operation Turkey Trot

We know that many of our fans were anxiously awaiting the arrival of Karbonz, our newest needles to join the Knitter's Pride family of products. Combining the sharp tips of our Novas with the lightweight, flexible carbon fiber which has an extremely high tensile strength, our Karbonz needles give you the best of both worlds!

We currently feature Straight, Single-Point and Fixed Circular needles in sizes ranging from US #000-US #4.  Click here to find a retailer near you!

For our fans who may not have a nearby LYS to see these needles in person, we'd like to share this video review from our friends at WEBS to give you a closer look at these unique new needles:

We're also excited to share the details of another exciting new product that we developed with the folks at Jimmy Beans Wool. When they asked us to create a one-of-a-kind interchangeable set that was truly "fit for a feast," we came up with this sleek set of Onyx-colored needle tips ranging in sizes from US #4 to US #11 which includes a spiffy case and four cords (one each 24" and 40" plus two 32").  The Holiday 2012 Dreamz Deluxe Set (available only at Jimmy Beans Wool) was inspired by the story of Kirstin Muench, one of our US distributors, and was part of "Operation Turkey Trot" - click here to read all about it!