Friday Round-Up

Hello, lovely knitters!

We’ve been having a lovely time in the Deep Winter KAL thread on Ravelry, and beautiful photos are starting to pop up elsewhere, too. I don’t have any huge giant progress to share with you this week, so it seemed like a good time to do a weekly round-up of what’s going on.

KAL

I am definitely making progress on my own Deep Winter KAL sweater, and am firmly stuck on sleeve island at the moment:

(I can do it, right? It’s just one more sleeve and then onward to the new!)

My goal is to have the pieces finished and blocking some time this weekend – I have a swirl of new sweaters that are demanding my thoughts and tempting my needles. So I’ll put it to you, dear readers: Which should I knit next? Contenders are:

Create your own user feedback survey

(Want to sneak-peek the results?)

RETREAT

We’re finalizing the welcome packets for the make. wear. love. west coast retreat next April, and getting ready to send out everyone’s schedules, packing lists, and super-fancy fashion show details next week. We still have some wayfarer spots available, and we’d love to have you join us!

We’ve gotten a few questions on what it means to be a wayfarer, so I thought I’d try to explain a bit more:

One of the things that struck us most about the west coast retreat last year was the relaxed, festive, open atmosphere – and now much learning and socializing happened outside of class times. As a result, this retreat places less emphasis on formal in-class instruction, and more emphasis on collaborative, organic learning.

There will be classes, of course, but they are limited to four 3-hour spots over the full weekend. The rest of the time, we’ll be gathered together in groups large and small to knit and learn in a more relaxed way. So the wayfarer option is a great way to join in the fun of the retreat, while still getting a little bit of flexibility and time to explore the gorgeous Monterey Peninsula (or just sit on the patio and knit by the ocean).

We’ve had requests for this kind of attendee option for about a year now, and with the new retreat format we think it’s going to be an absolute blast. Will I see you there? If you’d like to sign up, please just drop us a line at [email protected].

TUTORIALS

One of the things I’m most pleased with about this new site redesign is the ability to take some of my more popular blog posts and information and make them into tutorials. I started off by updating just a few, my most favorite of which is my process for setting in sleeves.

Click on through and check it out! And definitely let me know if there are more tutorials I’d like to see.

ELSEWHERE

Finally, I saw a couple of really great knitterly things online this week, and I’d love to share them with you in case you’ve missed them!

• Franklin Habit wrote an amazing, funny, and spot-on article giving advice to journalists tempted to write about the fiber arts. (I was secretly and selfishly super-pleased that the article my local paper wrote on me passed with flying colors.)
• A Verb for Keeping Warm started off an enthralling thread of people sharing how they knit. (And yes, I shared how I knit too!)
• Patty Lyons wrote a great article on successful shoulder seams; even though I do them a slightly different way, her tips are super clear and make for great sweaters.
• And finally, one housekeeping note: We’re celebrating 2016 with a simplified social media presence, and the make. wear. love. Instagram and Twitter accounts will no longer be updated. Follow me as amyherzogdesign on both Instagram and Twitter!

And that’s all for me this week!

What are your plans for the weekend?