News & Upcoming Shop Hiatus

Thank you to everyone who came by to say hello at Vogue Knitting Live in New York City! It was a whirlwind of a weekend, and great fun, even if it was a bit overwhelming at times. If I was distracted, I apologize: there was an awful lot going on!

It’s been a busy winter here in Brooklyn! I have received funding from my graduate program to go abroad for three months to do research on medieval libraries!

This means that I’m going to have to shut down the shop from February 22 to June 1, 2019 — there’s no way for me to fulfill orders from the archives in London, and as a one-woman operation, I don’t have anyone to do it for me.

If you’ve been on the fence, now is your chance to get something before the shop closes for three months. (While I’m gone, those of you in New York can still find my bags and stitch markers at Knitty City and Woolyn in New York City, and at The Endless Skein in Cold Spring, when it opens!)

Before I go, though, I am excited to have some box bags back in stock. These bags are fully lined in white or low-volume print fabrics, have a handle long enough to loop over your wrist or (my favorite) to attach to a clip and hang from another bag, and use long-pull zippers with broad blunt teeth, the better to not snag your yarn.

There are also a variety of sock-size drawstring bags and shawl/sweater-sized drawstring bags: the medium (sock) bags will hold two skeins of yarn, but are most often used for socks; the larger bags are good for larger projects (though perhaps not your bulky sweater-coat, as they top out at about four skeins of yarn unless you shove).

Two drawstring bags and a box bag on a quilting cutting mat

There are also new rainbow llama stitch markers. Do you love coffee? Tea? Wine? There are stitch markers for those interests too.

Four sets of knitting stitch markers featuring silver charms themed around tea, coffee, llamas, and wine

I’m excited about archival research, and can’t wait to share pictures of England with you on my Instagram while I’m gone: @knitspinquilt

Remember — the last day to place an order before I leave is February 22!

Down to the Wire — in the best way!

I’m prepping up a storm right now, because I’m delighted to announce (belatedly!) that I will be a vendor at the Indie Untangled Trunk Show in (eeek) less than three weeks.

Find me at booth 23 with One Geek To Craft Them All!

I’ll have DPN cases and box bags:

Pile of fabric double pointed needle cases in several prints

Photograph of stacked box bags in a variety of fabrics

I’ll also have a lot of drawstring bags, which I’m still frantically sewing up:

Stack of drawstring bags inside out half-sewn with coral fabric and rotary cutter

Come by and say hi! And watch this space later this week for a very exciting announcement!

Collaborative Kit Goes Live!

KnitSpinQuilt is branching out into collaborations with yarn dyers!

IMG_2825This very first kit is a project bag, yarn, and pattern collaboration with Yarn Over New York and Gannet Designs. Customize it and make it exactly what you want: you get a project bag, one or two skeins of yarn, a shawl pattern designed for this yarn, and a stitch marker.

IMG_2813The project bag – a medium drawstring project bag sewn by Alisa of KnitSpinQuilt – is made from a fabric whose pattern was designed by Naomi of Gannet Designs. The lovely, lovely yarn is dyed by Jessie of Yarn Over New York.

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You get to customize the kit in several ways. We’re offering it in three different colors (green, blue, and purple) and two different yarns: Times Square Sock (merino/nylon) or Astoria (alpaca/merino). Choose your color, choose your yarn base. Finally, choose whether you want one skein of yarn, or two skeins of yarn.

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The kit comes with a pattern for a brand new shawl: the Semiramis Semicircular Shawl, designed by Alisa of KnitSpinQuilt using Gannet Designs lace patterns. You can make a shawlette with one skein of yarn, or a large shawl with two skeins. You’ll also get a custom matching stitch marker as a little bonus.

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You can pre-order the kit at Yarn Over New York’s new website. Orders will only be open for two weeks, and the kits will ship by August 20. You’ll receive a Ravelry download code for the pattern as part of your purchase — don’t have Ravelry? We’ll print it and mail a physical copy of the pattern to you with the yarn — just make a note in your order.

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Lady Astronaut-Inspired Bags!

One of my favorite authors, Mary Robinette Kowal, is releasing two lovely books in the Lady Astronaut of Mars universe: The Calculating Stars, and The Fated Sky.

I cannot wait to listen to the audiobooks of these books: Mary is an embarrassingly talented writer, and has been tweeting all kinds of amazing details about her research at NASA for the books.

So when I saw this fabric, I knew I had to make bags inspired by the books:

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These bags are available in my Etsy shop, and as always, 30% of the ticket price will be donated to the Hispanic Federation.

 

Summer Critters Update

Summer critters and news about Puerto Rico fundraising.

KnitSpinQuilt is celebrating the incipient summer of 2018 with woodland creatures! Hedgehogs and owls have simply stolen the show for this particular update.

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These prints — especially the hedgehogs — were really popular at the Moms and Makers Market on May 12 in NYC. If you’re a fan, check the shop out ASAP!

Each bag is fully lined with white Kona Cotton fabric, and each color of top is cut and sewn in batches of four (for the medium bags) or two (for the large bags). When each color of these bags is gone, it’s gone until the next batch is sewn up, so grab them before this shop update sells out!

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As always, 30% of the purchase price for everything you buy from KnitSpinQuilt is donated to the Hispanic Federation for Puerto Rico disaster relief efforts, which are still sorely needed even after all this time: The projected deadline for 100% restoration of power in Puerto Rico has passed, and restoration of power has really not been achieved.

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Celebrities such as Lin Manuel Miranda (author and star of Hamilton) have been championing this cause: I figure it’s the least I can do to donate a bit to the cause of helping people get their homes and everyday lives back. I’ll be posting an article about the situation in Puerto Rico later this week: keep your eyes peeled, because it’ll include other ways people can help out, as the next hurricane season approaches all too soon.

KnitSpinQuilt & Indie Untangled

KnitSpinQuilt is now an Indie Untangled vendor — you can find a link to my shop on the Indie Untangled website, and I was featured in the newsletter last week.

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This pussyhat bag was featured in the newsletter and is now only available for pre-order — I sold out of all the fabric I had in stock! This is fabulous news, because it means I can donate more to the Hispanic Federation this quarter — 30% of shop purchase prices will go to the Hispanic Federation’s Puerto Rico disaster relief efforts in 2018.

New manatee bags for FlintKids.org

While I was abroad this summer I visited the Wollmeise store in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm: I’ll post more of a summary of the visit in a week or so when I’ve sorted out all my photographs.

For now, I wanted to post about an exciting fact: we’ve hit $1,500 in the fundraiser for the Flint Child Health Development Fund!

In celebration, and because some friends asked, I’ve added a new product to the shop: manatee drawstring bags.

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I’ve also added box bags to the shop for the very first time, starting with the manatee print.  They’re available lined in mustard, teal, or coral, just like the drawstring bags above.

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I’m delighted to be able to turn my time and fabric into donations, and want to thank those of you who have been along for the ride.  I’m exploring getting my stitch markers into shops, and can’t wait to share a couple of non-fundraiser projects with you in the near future.