Winner + Sneak Peek: New Knitter's Pride Products!

We've got three lucky winners for our Knitter's Pride Shawl Pin giveaway this month: AMyers, knittingdancer and sherryglover1, we will be contacting you via Ravelry PM to arrange for the delivery of your prize. Congratulations!

Our newest needles and accessories will soon be arriving at a shop near you - below is a sneak peek of just a few of the exciting new products to join the Knitter's Pride family:

Nova Cubics

Our crowd-pleasing cuboid shaped needles are now available in shiny brass! These new needles will be available in Single Point, Double Point, Fixed Circular and Interchangeable and will also include sets for these options!

Karbonz 

Enjoy expanded size options for Interchangeable, Double Point and Single Point Karbonz needles! Our high-tech carbon fiber needles with brass tips are a real crowd-pleaser, and now you can choose from several Karbonz DPN and Interchangeable sets to add to your needle collection.

Bamboo 

Our newest range of knitting needles and crochet hooks is made with the finest Japanese bamboo! Our Bamboo circular needles all feature 24k gold plated connectors, giving us a "gold edge" over other bamboo needles on the market! Choose from Single Point, Double Point, Fixed Circular and Interchangeable knitting needles and Single Ended and Tunisian crochet hooks. We also have knitting and crochet sets in this exciting new line!

Waves 

Our new color-coded aluminum crochet hooks with soft grip handles are vibrant and trendy. They're available in thirteen individual sizes or as a set featuring 9 hooks in an attractive pink or green case.

Comby Set II

Get to know Knitter's Pride with our new sampler set which includes interchangeable tips from our Karbonz, Bamboo and Nova Cubics needle lines!

Blocking Mats

We are introducing a range of lace blocking accessories this fall, from wires and T-pins to interlocking mats. Now it will be easier than ever to achieve a beautiful project from start to finish with Knitter's Pride products - be sure to ask about our other new accessories at your LYS, too!

Summer Shawls + Giveaway!

In the Northern hemisphere, summer is heating up. What's a knitter or crocheter to do?! There are lots of small projects that are ideal for the dog days of summer, but our trip to the TNNA Trade Show last month has filled us with plenty of inspiration for summer shawls. They're great for keeping warm on cool summer nights (or in air conditioning, as the case may be!), and they're also a wonderful way to accessorize!

Veera Valimaki's Color Affection is still the #1 shawl we see when out and about, but she has many other creative patterns that will delight knitters of all persuasions!

Veera Valimaki's Color Affection

Another popular shawl pattern is Martina Behm's Hitchiker, which is part of an ebook contain four unique shawl patterns, all of which are great destash projects!

Martina Behm's Hitchhiker

We also spotted plenty of Stephen West shawls at TNNA: from Daybreak to Rockefeller, Stephen has a shawl design that is sure to suit your taste and skill level!

Stephen West's Rockefeller

When it comes to crochet shawls, Aoibhe Ni continues to stun with her crocheted creations using the Tunisian crochet technique! Many of her patterns are available for free on Ravelry, too!

Aoibhe Ni's Pax

July Giveaway

We've got three chances for you to win a Knitter's Pride Shawl pin this month! Simply leave a comment on this post telling us which shawl you are currently working on (or what's at the top of your shawl-knitting queue) for your chance to win! Don't forget to tell us your Ravelry ID or email address in case you win, too. We'll randomly select 3 lucky winners to announce on our next blog post!

Cat Bordhi, Cubics & June Giveaway Winners

Earlier this month, we blogged about the many ways there are to knit and crochet socks (click here to read our last post if you missed it). In today's post, we'd like to spotlight one of our best-loved products by sock knitters: Knitter's Pride Cubics DPNs. Even Cat Bordhi, who is known for disliking double-pointed needles, has praised our Cubics DPNs and given us the ultimate compliment: they are the only DPN she will use!

Cat is a prolific designer (click here to view her designer page on Ravelry), and her sock designs are as revolutionary as they are unique. Her books and e-books (such as New Pathways for Sock Knitters, pictured at right) feature a wide variety of techniques and patterns that will challenge knitters of all persuasions on their sock knitting journey.

Of course, it's always good to start any journey out with the right tools, and Cubics DPNs are a great choice for many reasons: first, their ergonomic shape provides a more comfortable knitting experience; second, there is no roll-away to worry about should you drop one of your DPNs while knitting; finally, the cuboid shape yields uniform stitch definition!

To get a closer look at these needles (which includes a guest appearance from Cat Bordhi herself), you can watch our short YouTube video below!

June Giveaway Winners

Congratulations to this month's blog winners!

Raveler knittybing has won Karbonz DPNs.

Raveler sherryglover1 has won Nova Fixed Circular Needles.

Both of our winners have been contacted to arrange for delivery of their prizes. For more chances to win great prizes this month, click here to enter our Ravelry group giveaway!

Giveaway + Socks Any Way You Like Them!

Socks are a great summer project because they are small and portable, and they can be simple or complex depending on the type of sock project you use. However you like to make socks, we have the right tools for you - below are some tips, techniques and tools to help you explore new ways of sock-making this summer!

Toe-up
Getting started is often the trickiest part to making toe-up socks, but once you master the technique, there's no end to the creative socks you can make! Many knitters prefer this method because they can just keep knitting until they run out of yarn. If you are having trouble getting started, click here to view a video tutorial demonstrating Judy's Magic Cast-On from the talented designer Cat Bordhi's YouTube Channel.

Top Down
A stretchy cast-on is necessary to start your top-down socks off right. There are many, many types of cast-ons that would work well, so you'll want to experiment to find which one works best for your style of knitting. Click here to see a video demonstration of the Channel Island Cast-On from Sockupied on the Knitting Daily blog if you need help getting started!

Cubics Double-Pointed Needles

Socks on DPNs
Many knitters prefer to knit in the round with DPNs; we have several needle styles to suit every DPN enthusiast! For the serious sock knitter, we recommend our Nova Sock Set (for those who prefer metal needles) or our color-coded Dreamz Sock Set (for those who prefer wooden needles). You'll also want to keep your stitches on the needles with our handy DPN tubes, which are especially great for on-the-go sock knitters!

Karbonz Fixed Circular Needles

Magic Loop Socks

If you've ever been knitting while you're out an about and dropped one of your DPNs, only to have it roll away and never be found again, you may want to give magic loop knitting a try! You'll need a circular needle with a nice, long cord (32" or 40" is ideal); Stitch Diva Studios has a great tutorial video here on their website to get you started!

Two-at-a-Time Socks
Once you master the Magic Loop technique, you can use it to knit both pair of socks at the same time! It's a little tricky to get started, but here is an excellent tutorial with step-by-step instructions over on the Knit and Tonic blog.

Two-At-A-Time Socks

Crochet

Socks aren't just for knitters - there are plenty of great crochet patterns out there, too! Our steel crochet hooks come in smaller sizes which are just right for fingering-weight sock yarns. If you're new to crocheting socks, here are eight expert tips from the editor of Crochet Me to make your feet happy!

Steel Crochet Hook With Soft Feel Handle

This Month's Giveaway

This month, we have two chances for you to win Knitter's Pride needles:

First, one lucky blog reader will win Karbonz DPNs!

We'll also randomly select a blog reader to win a pair of US #1 Nova Fixed Circulars!

To be eligible, simply leave a comment on this blog post telling us your favorite way to make socks and which prize you'd like to win from the two choices listed above. You'll also want to give us your email address or Ravelry ID so that we can contact you if you win.

We'll randomly select our winner to announce on our next blog post later this month. Good luck!

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 + Felted Project Inspiration

Dreamz Chunky Interchangeable Set

Thanks to everyone who entered our blog giveaway this month! Our lucky winner is Shala K. who will have her wish to try US #17 fixed circular Basix! We've contacted Shala on Ravelry to arrange the shipment of her prize!

We received a tremendous response to our last post about quick, chunky knits using larger needles, so today we'll be sharing more pattern inspiration with you. Wool yarns and large needles are the perfect combination for your next felting project; we have several chunky interchangeable needle sets which contain needle pairs in US #13, #15 and #17 sizes - all you have to do is choose which type of needle tip you prefer! As we saw in our previous post, our Basix line is another great option for projects requiring larger-sized knitting needles. 

Clockwise from top left: Star Garland by Katie Startzman, Felted iPad Case by Marlene Sigel, Woodins by Anna Hrachovec, Celtica Cushion by Debbie Tomkies, Felted Oven Mitts by Purlbee, and French Press Felted Slippers by Melynda Bernardi.

If you have never intentionally felted a knitted or crocheted piece, here are a few helpful resources to get you started: 

Felting article - Knitty Archives

YouTube Video - How to Hand Felt Knitted Projects

Crochet Doctor Blog - How to Felt Crochet Pieces

If you're ready to give felting a try, click here for more inspiration on our Pinterest board! Feel free to share your favorite felting tips or resources on this blog post, too!