Wendy Bernard is Back with The Knitting All Around Stitch Dictionary

Expert fiber artist Wendy Bernard (Knit & Tonic) has been hard at work refining patterns since the release of her groundbreaking reference title Up, Down, All-Around Stitch Dictionary in 2014. Available this week, The Knitting All Around Stitch Dictionary presents 150 new patterns for knitting top down, bottom up, back and forth, and in the round.

Picking up where the first volume left off, Bernard adds hundreds of new stitch patterns organized similarly by type—knit and purl, textured stitches, ribs, lace, and cables—plus a chapter on mosaic knitting. Each chapter of The Knitting All Around Stitch Dictionary includes a customizable pattern so that knitters can easily swap out stitch patterns to make their own unique knitted items.

“When I get a chance to talk to people about writing these books, they almost always mention how tough it must be to “crack” each of the stitch patterns. Yup. It is hard. The thing is, I do like knitting in the round and top-down, so while designing new knitting patterns it occurred to me that books like these would be helpful to other knitters who, even though many have the skills to convert them on their own, would like a handy reference at their fingertips that does all the work for them.”
— Wendy Bernard, from www.knitandtonic.com

Kicking off tomorrow, please join us and our fabulous collaborators for a blog tour, complete with a chance to win a copy of the book, plus hanks from our friends over at Blue Sky Alpacas:

Can't wait to get started? Get a bonus sneak peek project from the book (the Top-Down Double Triangle Shawl) on the Abrams blog here.

We're Headed to the NY State Sheep & Wool Fest This Weekend!

If there's one thing that says "fall" around here, it's packing our books and heading up to Rhinebeck for the annual New York State Sheep & Wool Festival!

http://sheepandwool.com/

Please join us this weekend as we showcase some of our brand new needlearts books for the fall, bring back some STC Craft classics, and throw in a few goodies and giveaways. Stop by and meet celebrated knitting guru Clara Parkes on Saturday, 10/17, as she signs advance galleys of her newest travel memoir, Knitlandia, in advance of its spring 2016 publication. And stop by Saturday or Sunday (or both!) to meet and chat with dyeing expert and owner of STC Craft favorite A Verb for Keeping Warm Kristine Vejar, as she sells and signs copies of her first book, The Modern Natural Dyer, before it goes on sale next week!

Stop by and say hello in Building B, check out our books and sample projects, and sign up for the STC Craft newsletter for a chance to win a prize pack!

image credit www.omgheart.com


STC Craft at NY Sheep and Wool Festival

Beautiful Yarn Rainbow from Harrisville Designs. Photo courtesy of Laura Poulette.

Last Saturday, the STC Craft team spent a beautiful fall wekend in Rhinebeck at the 33rd annual New York State Sheep & Wool Festival (10/19 – 10/20). We were in good company among 40k+ attendees ranging from knitters, crocheters, and handspinners to lots of fiber-producing livestock!

We proudly hung our STC Craft banner above a wide selection of our craft and design titles on sale via the Hudson Valley-based Merritt Bookstore. The stars of the day were our fabulous authors, doing demos and signings from the morning opening to the afternoon close.

Highlights included: 

  • Steady crowds flocking to see The Yarn Whisperer, Clara Parkes, requesting autographs and providing some yarn tales of their own. 
  • A Knitted Slipper tree for displaying sample projects, made by hand just for the event by the twin sister of The Knitted Slipper Book author, Katie Startzman.

The Knitted Slipper Tree.

  • Multiple festival attendees greeting Amy Herzog and gushing about how her book has changed their whole knitting experience—we even sold out of Knit to Flatter!
  • Fans of Gretchen Hirsch (in the Shirtwaist Dress from her book!) coming to get their new copies of Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing signed (and to hear about Gretchen's second book, coming soon).

Project samples from STC Craft titles on display.

With other autumnal-themed treats like fresh cider and homemade jams, live llamas and alpacas, and tons of vendors of yarn and knitting gear, the festival is a great destination for everyone, young and old, who wants to spend a happy day in the country. Plus, the fall foliage makes the trip even more worthwhile! A big thank you to our STC Craft fans old and new who stopped by the booth to meet our authors and check out our books—hopefully everyone got some great ideas for new projects!

The source.