I love that feeling when a WIP becomes an FO and I can slip it off my (loom, hook, needles, hoop, etc). Sometimes the project has taken me a few hours and other times it’s taken a few days, months, or years. But the feeling of joy is still the same. I almost always put it on and run to the mirror to see that the two dimensional object that I’ve been staring at for hours has become a real FO. It’s no longer two flat pieces or one long piece it’s now the top I’m going to wear to x’s birthday on Saturday. I pat myself on the back, take the sweater off, and do a little happy dance before I realize that Saturday is still a few days away… hmm. So I start thinking about all of the errands that I have to run that day and how I really should wear the top before Saturday just in case it’s itchy or there’s a loose thread that I didn’t see before. Really wearing it ahead of the party is the responsible thing to do. So I head out wearing the top and I wait patiently for someone else to notice my

“I embroider because I want to understand something from the stitch, the idea, or yes, just to understand something from myself"

L ast week I had the opportunity to attend the NYC launch event for two new yarns from Red Heart® and Bernat®. I have to admit that I didn’t know what I was walking into when I stepped into the very corporate looking midtown skyscraper. I had received an email telling me where to go and that there would be yarn on the other end of the journey. But I hadn’t done my due diligence on who was sending me this email. It occurred to me as I stepped off the elevator that if anyone ever wanted to kidnap me all they had to do was dangle a skein of yarn in front of my face and I would gladly get in the van. Luckily, the elevator doors opened and I was greeted by super friendly people, champaign (this was 10 am, so obviously I said yes to it), and most importantly yarn! As I walked up to the table I was instantly drawn to the Bernat® Alize® EZ Wool™ , a line of pre-looped needle-less yarns. I am a big knits person. The chunkier the yarn the better. This yarn was right up my ally. It’s

“I learned that I always need to be confident in myself, my vision, and my design abilities to be able to fearlessly pursue my ideas” -Shay

“I like the freedom I have with tufting. I can jump around my canvas without a plan and work more intuitively."

“L earning to knit gave me something productive to do with my hands and my mind"

"I f I want something my first thought isn’t where can I buy it but how can I make it"

"I love making patterns because it makes me think about how I can simplify a subject matter so much that it can be expressed through a few hundred little crosses"

I t’s not easy to find a pattern that is flattering on so many different body types. The Ripple Bralette by Jessie Mae Martinson has become ‘the sisterhood of the traveling pants’ of the knitting world. I’ve always felt a little left out when patterns like this become popular. Mostly because of my own self imposed limitations. After spending hours praying to grow boobs and repeating the Judy Bloom song “I must, I must, I must increase my bust”, my boobs came in with a vengeance at around the age of thirteen. Unfortunately, so did the feeling that certain outfits were no longer for me. I would look at tops in magazines or on the runway and think “that would be so cute on someone else”. I had to work really hard to get to a place where I accepted my body and even harder to get to a place where I love it. Honestly I thought that was a milestone that I had passed several years ago… until the Ripple Bralette. It popped up randomly in my search feed. So did the negative inner dialo