Who's Worthy of a Handmade Gift?

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From the Woolery Guy: "It’s that time of year when friends, family, and sometimes even acquaintances might start hinting that they would like (or perhaps even expect) a handmade gift under the tree. Sure, they see you spinning, weaving, hooking or knitting, and they might have some idea of all the time and effort such a request entails – but are they truly worthy of a handmade gift? We’ve created a handy flow chart to take the guesswork out of this process for you so that you can enjoy your fall and winter crafting stress-free."

A printable PDF version of the chart can be found here.

Superwash Wool

Krista McCurdy (Pigeonroof Studios) shares some insights on superwash wool and how the process has revitalized the American wool industry.

To Be or Not To Be a Hypocrite: American Superwash Wool.

Positive Ease

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Positive ease is a phrase that mystifies many knitters. Louet's post (What's a Positive Ease?) explains exactly what positive ease is, and how to choose your ideal garment size based on your personal preferences for fit.

Kitchener Stitch in the Round

Knit Purl Hunter shows how to Kitchener Stitch two ends of a tube. Her tip for reducing the hole or gap at the end is worth watching.

Knitulator Tool

The Knitulator is a free online tool that is a handy and fast way to calculate how to increase or decrease a certain number of stitches evenly throughout a row of knitting. If you’ve ever been stumped by a knitting instruction that reads something like ‘increase x number of stitches evenly throughout row’, simply plug in your starting stitch count, the number of stitches you wish to increase or decrease by, and hit the ‘knitulate’ button.

The Knitulator can be found here

Happy Thanksgiving

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Fremont Fiber Arts Guild 

wishes you and your family  

Happy Thanksgiving

p.s. Crafting Chicks shares how to create the yarn wrapped pumpkins here

Weaver's Guide to Wool Yarn

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Liz Gipson at Yarnworker gives weavers some valuable information on selecting wool for weaving. She reminds weavers that most of the yarn rules regarding looms apply to looms with shafts. Those rules may not apply to the rigid heddle weaver since this loom doesn’t put as many demands on the yarn.

She states that in general, using the simple pinch and pull test will allow a weaver to determine if yarn is strong enough for warp. Virtually any yarn can be used for weft, however, weavers still may want to consider how well it will wear over time and under the rigors of its intended use.

Liz's post, A Weaver's Guide to Wool Yarn, is a good source for rigid heddle weavers.