Ideas
With the exception of a few customers (We're looking at you, Patricia), Wendi and Kim are probably the only people who knit and/or crochet daily with Yarns of Italy yarns. They create many of our sample pieces and just have great access to our yarns. (It does help that Alex goes a little nuts when he admires a work in progress only to discover it's some other company's yarn!) They always have at least one major project in the works and another ready to go. So we've decided to share what they're working on from month to month with YOI yarns. We will add pictures as projects are finished and we can all together for the photo shoot. We will occasionally have projects from our designers and from some of our test knitters who work with our new yarns before they hit the shop. We hope that this will give you project ideas for our yarns and point out patterns that you might try. Feel free to email Kim with a project you've created, and we'd be glad to post your pictures and project info as well!
Book & Pattern Reviews
Kim buys a lot of knitting and crochet books. A LOT. As in, all of her knitting and crochet books and magazines have to reside in their own room and her home office has become a home fiber studio/library. Ravelry provides great info from users on the projects from books, but we want to provide a little more of an overall review of popular books. So it seemed like a good idea to share reviews of the books and patterns she collects (and reads... she really does read them) on the website. If you're looking for info on a hot new book or pattern, we might have the scoop. And if there's a book or pattern out there that you're thinking about buying but just don't know... we could probably talk her into buying and reviewing it for you. Just email Kim to suggest books/patterns for review. She might already own, and she'd be more than happy to check them out!
Current Reviews:
Crochet Stitches: Visual Encyclopedia by Robyn Chachula
Alice Starmore's Book of Fairisle Knitting
Urban Edge by Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby
The Best of Knitscene by Lisa Shroyer
Articles of Interest
Here at Yarns of Italy, we have lots of stories to tell about how our yarns are developed and how we find the yarns we sell. We want to share with you the stories of the folks who help us make Yarns of Italy successful and fun.
Why Yarns of Italy Loves Crocheters: If we seem to be a little crochet-heavy, well, here's why.
A Glimpse of Yarn Shopping in Italy: A sort of travelogue of Kim's adventures shopping for YOI in Italy.
How Yarn (and Crochet) Saved My Life: Kim shares how crocheting helped her survive clinical depression.
Ask and be answered: How to get help with your knitting and crocheting questions.
Naming Innamorata: We share how we came up with the women's names on our Innamorata Merino line.
Experimental Dyeing: We share how Wendi (Kim's mom) developed the colors for Lunare Egyptian cotton.
If there's a part of our story you'd like to know, email Kim and she just might write up that part of the story to share with everyone.