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Knitsy Bitsy

I blame it on Beatrix Potter. Specifically, I blame the library copy of “The Tailor of Gloucester” that fell into my pudgy hands when I was five years old. That book, so far as my infantine taste was concerned, had everything. Pretty language. Pretty type. Colors so inviting I wanted to–and once did–lick them. And…

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My First Time: The Yarn Shop

(In which I continue the reminiscences that began here.) At nineteen years old, I stood at the door of a yarn shop for the first time. I was alone. I had put on my best hat and coat and my good shoes. It was a short walk to the shop from my room in Lowell…

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My First Time: The Lesson

I was preparing for an upcoming teaching engagement when a file (an actual paper file–how quaint) hit the floor and the contents flew across the workroom. Most of them were what should have been in the file–class notes. But there was also a name tag, my name tag, from the first year I taught at…

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Sheep to Shawl

I’ve had a spell of time–an entire summer, really–where the Ugly really got to me. That’s not quite right. It wasn’t one Ugly, it was all the Uglies. A torrent of Uglies. A cascade of Uglies. When the Uglies rally, they form a tight circle around me and lock arms so I can’t get out.…

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Which of Your Favorite Characters are Crafters?

Book Lover’s Day is coming up on August 9th, so we are wondering… Which of your favorite characters are crafters? The most beloved fictional characters of all time become special to us because they win our hearts. One sure-fire way to make a character relatable is to give them a wildly popular hobby – like…

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Franklin Habit: For Sale, Cheap

I was prowling through an antique shop in Vermont recently, on the hunt for the perfect dollhouse piano (another story); and between a shelf full of novelty salt and pepper shakers and a pile of vintage ads for milk of magnesia was a rack stuffed with old table linens and afghans. Most agreeably disheveled, lower-end…

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That’s So Annoying

Recently a friend of mine who is not knitter (I know all kinds of people) asked if I would mind offering advice to a friend of hers, who is a knitter. “She just finished her first hat,” said my friend, “but I guess she’s not happy with it, and she said the woman at the…

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The Princess and the Purl, A Yarn in Two Plies: Ply the Second

To Read Ply the First, click here. The violent storm that had flung the young woman and her knitting bag across the moat was no quieter the next day. Driving rain pelted buds from branches and drove green shoots back into the ground. Howling wind toppled the spire on the highest turret, and blew the…

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The Princess and the Purl, A Yarn in Two Plies: Ply the First

The Princess & the Purl: Ply the First There was once a prince–nice enough, if not exactly charming–who was in need of a wife. As he was both a prince (as I have said) and nice enough (as I have also said), more than a few would-be brides came to the palace to present themselves…

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‘Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater’ Book-Signing

We’re thrilled to welcome writer, editor & crafter Alanna Okun for a signing of her first book, ‘The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater’. She’ll visit the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in Manhattan on Thursday, March 29th from 6:30pm – 8pm. She’ll read from her book, and be available to sign copies purchased at our Studio.…

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