Holiday Gift Guide Twenty Seventeen

The holidays are getting closer, and once again I've put together a collection of my fave gift ideas. Some are perfect for the knitting enthusiast in your life but there are lots of super neat things here that anyone on your list would enjoy. Check it!

First up, my fave bags in the universe ... Moop.

I've been obsessed with these Mason Dixon Knitting Field Guides.

Order some Hedgehog Fibers Chubby at my fave yarn store, StevenBe. (Then knit a Ready Steady hat.)

Check out Wool and the Gang's Knitter’s Paradise Embroidery Kit. So cool.

My friend Bergen at Lilla Barn is doing a collab with PoemGrown to make these incredible hand-dyed Soul Scarves. (The poem is printed on cotton and sewn on.) Check them out here.

Do you have the winter issue of PomPom magazine yet? This would make a fantastic gift.

New fave of mine ... Lush's Sleepy body lotion. It's gorgeous. Right before bed. Trust me.

Westknits Bestknits for the holidays! Every knitter I know wants to get their hands on this book.

I need this tshirt. You need this tshirt. We all need this tshirt from Shelli Can.

GGMadeIt literally does it all. Knitting how-to videos. She has tshirts and mugs and all kinds of knitting-related apparel. And she sells her own handknit creations as well. Find her here.

Knit Safari is my hands-down favorite big, big, BIG yarn. Smooth and glorious and zero of that roving shedding, THIS is the yarn you want to use if you make one of those giant blankets. (I know because I made one for my latest book and it's perfection.) Find Knit Safari Jumbo Yarn here.

Trust me when I say that you need the Illest Tarot Vol. 2 in your life right now, featuring all your 90s heroes. It's so good and my good friend Kristi made it so it's extra good. Get yours here before they're gone forever.

For the kids! (Or for anyone.) Grab this ultra fun Art Making with MoMA Action Painting Kit and embrace your inner Pollock.

Twinkle's back. Back again. (No seriously.) Twinkle's back. Tell a friend. Find one of my all time favorite yarns right here at Third Piece. Check out their Funky Chunky too ... another fave.

This is the perfect gift for any crafter! The magnetic Maker's Keep from CocoKnits.

Find the perfect gift for absolutely anyone on your list at one of my fave local shops, Eden.

And last but not least, I can't put together a gift guide without mentioning my knitting books WEEKEND, EVERYDAY, VISIONS and VISIONS KIDS. Treat yourself or someone you love to these gorgeously photographed collections full of simple, modern designs. These books make fantastic gifts – don't forget to add them to your wish list! Find them here.

Happy December, happy crafting and happy giving!

xx - Jen

New York State of Mind (Vogue Knitting Live NYC!)

Happy New Year, blog pals! I hope you had a magical holiday season – I'm already feeling like 2016 is off to a solid start. But now I'm beyond ready to get back to the routine. Enough of the endless lazy days spent in pajamas. (Which were nice, I admit. The knitting time was pretty stellar too, but reality awaits.) My next adventure is a visit to my beloved NYC for Vogue Knitting Live. I can't contain my excitement, truly.

I am teaming up with my friend Steven Berg from StevenBe, and he's going to make your head spin with the hottest trends right off the runway, uber-chunky yarns and combinations of fibers that will blow your mind. Such an inspiration. I'll be popping in during his class on Sunday morning at VK Live and I've designed an exclusive cowl pattern just for this event. (It has a subtle NY skyline knitted right into it!)

I'll also be at the StevenBe booth at the VK Live Marketplace doing book signings. Stop by and see me on Friday (Jan. 15th) from 5-7, Saturday (Jan. 16th) from 5:30-6:30 and Sunday (Jan. 17th) from 1-3. Pick up at copy of 'Weekend' and get it signed! It's going to be such a fun time. I cannot wait to experience the energy and to hang out with knitters from all over the world. (Plus ... shopping.) I'm a first-timer, so if you have tips or advice to share, I'm all ears.

Will you be at Vogue Knitting Live NY? Have you gone before? (Tell me everything.) :)

TNNA recap: the experience

Last weekend, I attended my first TNNA (The National NeedleArts Association) trade show in Columbus, Ohio and wow – what a time! I was invited to attend with Rowan via Westminster Fibers, which was an honor. This recap is basically photos from the overall experience and soon I'll share a collection of photos of my friends from Rowan and their new yarns and garments. (There is so much to share!)

First of all, Columbus is a delightful city. I'd never been, and I really enjoyed all of the restaurants and coffee shops and stores that were within walking distance of our hotel. The view from our window was pretty great, too. (Unbeknownst to us, the Rolling Stones played in Columbus on Saturday night and ended up staying at the hotel across the street from us!)

Perhaps the best part of the weekend was finally meeting this wonderfully talented and crazy sweet knitting friend, Kristen from Knitionary. We are both Rowan Ambassadors and have been friends for a few years online but it was so fantastic to meet her in person and hang out with her all weekend. We were roommates and naturally stayed up talking until 1:00 a.m. every night.

Friday night, I attended Marly Bird's Designer Dinner, which was a treat. I sat at a table with several talented ladies and ended up sitting next to Stefanie Japel, knitwear designer extraordinaire and teacher at Craftsy. We enjoyed food and drinks and giveaways and swag bags ... it was pretty sweet.

The actual trade show opened on Saturday morning, with fiber displays as far as the eye could see. Before I knew it, I was bumping into knitting friends, shop owners and designers I had long admired.Like Olga Buraya-Kefelian (OlgaJazzy) and Meri Tanaka, the founder of Amarisu.

And the one and only Nicky Epstein.

And the entire Ravelry team, minus Jess who was outside with her sweet baby. How do they do it? Such a sweet and kind crew.

We talked about women in baseball and adventures in advanced body/armhole shaping with Ysolda Teague. She is completely brilliant and delightful.




And I had to say hi to your knitting hero and mine, the fantastic Mr. StevenBe. I hope to head up to his shop in Minneapolis soon for a visit (and yarn shopping.)




Do you love Arne & Carlos? I do. They were there in spirit. I had to check out what they were knitting.

What else? Well, to summarize ... it was a weekend of yarn. And beautiful knitwear. Too many things to list ... but one of the highlights was obviously Rowan. Their display space was huge and completely gorgeous. (More on that soon.) Other favorites were Madelinetosh, Spud & Chloe, Blue Sky Alpacas, Knitter's Pride, Shibui Knits, EweEwe, Classic Elite, Jade Sapphire, Wool and the Gang, Knit Collage, Lavishea, Loopy Mango, Malabrigo and Zealana. There was so much to see.




And of course, before I left Columbus I had to hit up Jeni's. I had heard about Jeni's for years from other people who had made it a TNNA tradition. And now I know why there's always a huge line when you walk by.

This ice cream is spectacular. So yeah, I get it now. I get it! I got the Trio (3 half scoops) of Pistachio and Honey, Brown Butter Almond Brittle and Salty Caramel. Holy. Cow. So delicious.

And then as I was stuck in the airport waiting for my delayed flight, I discovered a Jeni's vending machine ... at the airport. At my gate! It made my long wait much more tolerable.

And that's my recap! On my journey home, I jumped on delayed flights from Columbus to Chicago in the very middle of the night, and then back to Des Moines to rest my head and snuggle up with my family. The weekend went so fast and was jam-packed with knitting and new yarn and the most lovely people ever. Would I go again? Yup. I definitely would.

Swants! Hanging with the Ste(v)phens.

You all know about Swants, right? Swants. The sweater-pant phenomenon created by Stephen West. (Watch Anderson Cooper talk about Swants here. Or check out the Swants Dance video.) If you were unfamiliar with Swants a minute ago, now you know.

So here's a story about a Minnesota adventure. A few months ago, I discovered the Stephen & Steven Tour was making a stop and hosting a Swants workshop at StevenBe, which lucky for me is just a four-hour drive to the Northland. And when Stephen West is nearby (hello, he lives in Amsterdam) you must find a way to see him. I asked my knitting friend Emily if she would Swants with me and if you know Emily, you know that Swants are totally her kind of thing. So we went and here is a massive photo dump of our Swants day of wonder.

 We brought our thrift store sweater treasures and cut them into pieces. With wild abandon.

Stephen West was our fearless leader, and he was a delight. I repeat, a DELIGHT. He was so friendly and fun, spending time with everyone in attendance to make sure that our Swants would be a success.

We practiced our mattress stitch.

We listened to many songs with the word 'dance' in the lyrics, which we obviously switched to 'swants.'  

There was Whitney. "Ohhh, I wanna Swants with somebody!" 

And Robyn. "I keep Swantsing on my own." There were more. I forgot the rest. It was great background music for stitching.

We sewed up our crotches with smiles on our faces. Some took of their swants and stitched in their underwear. It didn't matter. It was a day of freedom and creativity. And crafting in undergarments.

(And selfies in Steven's fabulous bathroom.) We would like to move in, please.

We worked and concentrated and stitched. And before you knew it, boom. Swants were born.

 

 

After our little Swants fashion show, the Ste(v)phens brought out all of their fabulous knits so we could seem them in person with our own eyeballs. Such a thrill!

This large version of Dotted Rays blew my mind. The colors were perfection.

And we were all excited to see this swingy tank!

Emily was thrilled to model (and swing) in Parachutey.

And I got to try on Royally Striped. I really should have taken more pics of their fabulous projects but I was too busy sitting there with my jaw on the ground.

Legendary knitter (and store owner) Steven Berg was fantastic to meet and we got to see his gorgeous pile of Ponchinis.

 

The two Ste(v)phens collaborated on this awesome tour book, which they shared patterns from and signed. And then sadly ... our Swants day was over.

Sigh. We were a bit sad to leave but what fun we had! A huge thank you to Steven Be and Stephen West for the wonderful workshop. I wish I could have stayed all week and taken all the workshops. You made our Swants dreams come true.

If the Stephen & Steven Tour is coming near you, be sure to go. You'll be so happy you did.