I’ve been scurrying to knit all the necessary step-outs for my upcoming Knit Stars 3.0 segment. It’s all very exciting.
I’ll be teaching how to cut and finish a steek with a zipper or button band. Downloadable instructions are included for knitting two cup cozies — one with a bright zipper and one with a tidy button band. You don’t have to commit too much time to knitting the small pieces before you can practice the fine art of adding closures to steeks! Once you successfully cut your knitting, you’ll wonder what all the fuss is about.
Special yarns have been dyed by my friend Ana Clerc of Yarn Carnival for my cup cozy project. Kits will be available through Loops in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Knit Stars 3.0 will launch in November. Sales are currently closed but you can get your name on the waitlist to ensure your spot when they open again this fall.
Last January I was the Knit Doctor at the first-ever Loops retreat in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The other teachers were Romi Hill, who taught lace techniques and surgery, Andrea Mowry, who taught brioche and shawls, and Carson Demers, who taught knitting ergonomics.
As a special treat, owner Shelley Brander asked Ross of Yarn To Dye For to create a colorway for each of the four teachers (well, the three “real” teachers and me, the Knit Doctor). On the left is a photo of “my” skein in the colorway Loops Loves Ann.
I love the colorway and asked Ross if he’d dye a semi-solid to pair with it. After a bit of back and forth, we settled on a rich teal color that I’ve named Ann Loves Loops.
I’m now in the process of combining the two color in a crescent shawl. If I do the yarn justice, a pattern will be forthcoming! I plan to name it LoveFest!
A heartfelt “thank you” to those of you who generously donated to my Longest Day efforts to raise funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s research! The official longest day was June 21, but I did my part on June 19 by casting on a sock at 5:32am and knitting until the sun set at 8:31pm. After 15 hours of knitting, I had completed one sock and most of the leg of the second sock. Yes, I will make the pattern available.
My fingers are more than a little sore, but I’m not complaining. I knitted at my local yarn shop Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins for most of the day and enjoyed meeting and knitting with people there.
My personal goal was $1,000 and my team goal was $2400 for a total of $3,400. I’m beyond thrilled to announce that your generosity blew past my goals and the totals were $2,526 for my personal page and $3181 for my team page for a grand total of $5,707!
I am truly honored to have a part in helping find an end to this horrible disease.
If you missed donating on my event day, you can still click on the link: contribute to my team.
I had the very good fortune to attend the Mason Dixon Knitting Getaway in the hills of Tennessee a couple of weeks ago. We stayed at St. Andrews-Sewanee School, a high-school boarding school that becomes home to the Shakerag Workshops for two weeks every summer. Yes, we stayed in dorms and yes, the accommodations were minimal, but the rest of the retreat more than made up for it.
Against a backdrop of woods and lakes, attendees had the chance to take classes, go for hikes and bike rides, swim, and shop. I took advantage of the warm (but thankfully not too hot) weather and knitted in the shade for hours at a time with delightful knitters from all over the country (and Canada, too!).
I’d be remiss if I didn’t comment on the excellent food. Much of what was served was farm-to-table. Everything was fresh and delicious.
I heard a rumor that the Mason Dixon women may return next year!
This is just a friendly reminder that it’s not too late to join Team Ann Budd Knits in a day of knitting on Tuesday, June 19, as part of The Longest Day event sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association.
The Longest Day is a worldwide fundraiser event for Alzheimer’s awareness and research. My own sweet mother (Barbara S Walker) died of complications due to Alzheimer’s in 2016, but she started “disappearing” nine years before that. A day doesn’t pass without my thinking of her and how she supported me throughout my creative endeavors. I have many (too many) friends who have also been affected by this disease–as a patient, family member, care giver, or helpless onlooker.
For my part, I plan to cast on at sunrise and knit until sunset. It’s not the actual longest day of the year (that would be June 21), but it’s pretty close. There will be about 16 hours of daylight during which I’ll have needles in hand (allowing breaks for stretching, of course). I’ll post my hourly progress on Instagram (annbuddknits). I hope to raise $150 each hour I knit–that’s an optimistic goal of $2,400.
If you’re in the area, I invite you to join me at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado, where I’ll be hosting a knit-a-long from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm. You can participate even if you’re not in the area. Simply grab yarn and needles and spend the day, or even just an hour, knitting.
Please join my team, make a donation, and spend a day (or as much of it as you can) knitting something special.
Thank you.
Thank you for all your kind words about my books. I never tire of hearing that people find them helpful and inspirational.
The winner of last week’s raffle is Carol Perecman, who wrote: “I think the only one of your books that I don’t already own is Knitting Green, so I guess that would be the one! Thanks for all your hard work with your books and posts!”
Well, Carol, I sure don’t want you to be lacking one of my books! Once I get your mailing information I’ll send a copy of Knitting Green to you!
It’s been a while since I’ve hear from you. Respond to this post by telling me which of my books you’d like to own and why, and I’ll enter your name in a drawing for a free copy.
Check out my website for details about each book.
I’ll draw a winner Sunday, June 11. Knit on!
I’m excited to announce that I’m a team captain for The Longest Day, a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s awareness and research. My own sweet mother (Barbara S Walker) died of complications due to Alzheimer’s in 2016, but she started “disappearing” nine years before that. A day doesn’t pass without my thinking of her and how she supported me throughout my creative endeavors. I have many (too many) friends who have also been affected by this disease–as a patient, family member, care giver, or helpless onlooker.
For Team Ann Budd Knits, I’m celebrating my mother’s creative spirit by spending a full day knitting (an activity that my mother also enjoyed) from sunup to sundown. That’s about 16 hours with needles in hand (albeit allowing breaks for stretching). You don’t have to be physically present with me to join in this celebration of love and optimism. Simply join my team, make a donation, and spend a day (or as much of it as you can) knitting something special.
The official Longest Day takes place June 21, the longest day of the year. I’ll be on the road that day so I’m planning to do my knitting on Tuesday, June 19, which is still a pretty long day. If you’re in the area, I invite you to join me at Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado, where I’ll be hosting a knit-a-long from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm and posting my hourly progress on Instagram (annbuddknits). You don’t have to be physically present to participate. Simply grab yarn and needles and spend the day doing something you love.
Of course, you can partake in the experience any day of the year.
Please join me. Click here to join my team or to make a donation.
Since I posted my completed my version of Nicola Susen’s Square Socks from New Directions in Sock Knitting, I’ve received a lot of questions about how the sock fits.
I have to admit that I didn’t take time to knit a gauge swatch (I can’t believe I’m admitting this!) and these are a little too big for me. I’m confident that I’ll find the perfect feet someday.
Here are a few images of the socks on my feet. They are surprisingly comfortable, given the unusual construction. The slanted bind-off at the top of the leg evens out greatly when the sock is on a foot. The only issue might be the circular starting point at the ball of the foot. People with sensitive soles may find it uncomfortable.
Hmm, I wonder which socks I’ll knit next…
I’ve put a new pattern up on Ravelry!
Savannah Trees Cowl was designed as a tribute to the historic Savannah location of my Spring 2018 Knit For Fun Retreat. The yarn is Jones Street Sport from Savannah’s own The Copper Corgi Fiber Studio, dyed in a custom Moss and Leaves colorway. The stitch pattern includes mirrored cables to reflect gnarled tree trunks and dropped stitches to reflect the lacy effect of moss hanging off limbs.
The stitch pattern, which repeats over 25 stitches and 6 rows, is based on a simple k4, p1 rib so, other than the cable-crossing rows, the knitting is quite straightforward. The lacy vertical columns are created on the bind-off row by dropping the purl stitches each side of the center plain knit-4 column. So easy!
Get 20% off the $6.00 price by using the code TREES by midnight Friday, May 18.
Knit happy!
