Shescraftyness

Welcome back readers! The kids are back to school after a very long break and I am gearing up for a very exciting year as the proprieter of Shescrafty Knits as well working on a few fun projects. My plan for this year is to use my blog as more of an online style notebook for children's knitting as well as offering other inspirations I find along the way... things I think you would like as well.

Many of you may know, my family and I had the opportunity to travel from New Zealand (where we have been living for 8 years) to New York last September. We spend 4 months being New Yorkers and it was quite an exciting time for us as we were completely inspired by all the creative energy around us. The trip co-incided with the launch of my new knitting pattern book Vintage Knits for Modern Babies and so it was a very exciting time for me. I was able to meet some lovely people when I did book signings which turns out to be a great way to find out more about my customers. I learned a lot about new yarns and was hugely inspired by NY fashion.

One of my favorite things to do in NY was searching for inspiration for new designs. I was so in awe of the beautiful children's shops in Brooklyn and Manhattan; Acorn on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn with it's beautiful toys and hand knitted baby wear. The baby section at ABC Home and Carpet on Union Square. The baby department at Takashimaya on 5th Ave and the insanely expensive kids styles at the Japanese Trico Field in Soho. Yes, I have no shortage of inspirations and so now it is time to get to work designing planning and oh yes...knitting!

New York as we all know is home to some of the worlds best yarn stores and so I also made it my mission to check out as many as I could. My local shop, Brooklyn General stocks many of my favorites and lots of beautiful new yarns I had never seen or heard of. I like to design with yarn that is practical, versatile as well as beautiful so I brought back bag loads of scrumptious yarns that beg to be designed with.

It was a wonderful trip and I can't wait to work on some new patterns and designs with New York in mind. In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter for more updates...

Shescraftyness

Welcome back readers! The kids are back to school after a very long break and I am gearing up for a very exciting year as the proprieter of Shescrafty Knits as well working on a few fun projects. My plan for this year is to use my blog as more of an online style notebook for children's knitting as well as offering other inspirations I find along the way... things I think you would like as well.

Many of you may know, my family and I had the opportunity to travel from New Zealand (where we have been living for 8 years) to New York last September. We spend 4 months being New Yorkers and it was quite an exciting time for us as we were completely inspired by all the creative energy around us. The trip co-incided with the launch of my new knitting pattern book Vintage Knits for Modern Babies and so it was a very exciting time for me. I was able to meet some lovely people when I did book signings which turns out to be a great way to find out more about my customers. I learned a lot about new yarns and was hugely inspired by NY fashion.

One of my favorite things to do in NY was searching for inspiration for new designs. I was so in awe of the beautiful children's shops in Brooklyn and Manhattan; Acorn on Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn with it's beautiful toys and hand knitted baby wear. The baby section at ABC Home and Carpet on Union Square. The baby department at Takashimaya on 5th Ave and the insanely expensive kids styles at the Japanese Trico Field in Soho. Yes, I have no shortage of inspirations and so now it is time to get to work designing planning and oh yes...knitting!

New York as we all know is home to some of the worlds best yarn stores and so I also made it my mission to check out as many as I could. My local shop, Brooklyn General stocks many of my favorites and lots of beautiful new yarns I had never seen or heard of. I like to design with yarn that is practical, versatile as well as beautiful so I brought back bag loads of scrumptious yarns that beg to be designed with.

It was a wonderful trip and I can't wait to work on some new patterns and designs with New York in mind. In the meantime, please follow me on Twitter for more updates...

Purl Soho

Purl Knitting Store, originally uploaded by hadleyfierlinger.

Sorry for such a long time between posts but I have moved myself and my family from New Zealand to Brooklyn NY for 4 months. We have finally found our feet and are enjoying all the thrills and ills that NY is famous for. Not much has changed in NY since I was last here 10 years ago. In fact, I am amazed how little ever changes here. In some ways I feel like the East Coast of the US is frozen in time and I have a hunch that people like it that way. Fashions come and go and people jump on board in one way or another until they have had enough and then they toss it aside like yesterdays news. The revival of Knitting was of those trends that got it's start in NY. In Manhattan alone there are at least 10 knitting stores and last week I went exploring in Soho to visit one of my favorites : Purl.

Wow, just walking up to the store front was a magical moment for me. I have always loved the color of the storefront and the beautiful details of the shop itself and in person there were so many more details to admire like the original mosaic tile floor and beautiful NY style details in the wood work and door frame. I was also surprised to see just how small the store is in person. There were 3 employees, and maybe 4 customers and there was nowhere to move! I felt a little overwhelmed by the selection of yarns and ended up not buying anything but planning on returning for a ball of the Jade Saphire 12 ply Cashmere ($42 a skein) as soon as I can think of a project that only needs one skein. That yarn is amazing! I think Purl is such a success because of the way the yarns are displayed like they are objects to be coveted. Each little cubby overflowing with rare gems glimmering and calling to you to admire them. It was hard to resist not pulling out all the skeins and rolling around on them which is what I really wanted to do.

After visiting Purl, I walked over to The Point Knitting Cafe which sadly has closed down. This was just the beginning of a trend that I am sensing : knitting has had it's day as a trend and is returning to it's roots as a craft with longevity. Knitting is not a flash in the pan trend, it is a life long journey in which your skills improve as you work to create useful and beautiful garments that are treasures. Ok, maybe we will see a few less ipod coseys around the hood but the rest of us will keep knitting weather it be only sometimes. And, we need good knitting stores to make our projects sing!

On the subway ride home, I noticed a middle aged woman who brought our her crochet and began to work some rows on a egg yellow acrylic baby sweater. I have never understood why people use acrylic when they are going to the trouble to knit something with their blood, sweat and tears shouldn't it be a work of art made of beautiful yarn?

Purl Soho

Purl Knitting Store, originally uploaded by hadleyfierlinger.

Sorry for such a long time between posts but I have moved myself and my family from New Zealand to Brooklyn NY for 4 months. We have finally found our feet and are enjoying all the thrills and ills that NY is famous for. Not much has changed in NY since I was last here 10 years ago. In fact, I am amazed how little ever changes here. In some ways I feel like the East Coast of the US is frozen in time and I have a hunch that people like it that way. Fashions come and go and people jump on board in one way or another until they have had enough and then they toss it aside like yesterdays news. The revival of Knitting was of those trends that got it's start in NY. In Manhattan alone there are at least 10 knitting stores and last week I went exploring in Soho to visit one of my favorites : Purl.

Wow, just walking up to the store front was a magical moment for me. I have always loved the color of the storefront and the beautiful details of the shop itself and in person there were so many more details to admire like the original mosaic tile floor and beautiful NY style details in the wood work and door frame. I was also surprised to see just how small the store is in person. There were 3 employees, and maybe 4 customers and there was nowhere to move! I felt a little overwhelmed by the selection of yarns and ended up not buying anything but planning on returning for a ball of the Jade Saphire 12 ply Cashmere ($42 a skein) as soon as I can think of a project that only needs one skein. That yarn is amazing! I think Purl is such a success because of the way the yarns are displayed like they are objects to be coveted. Each little cubby overflowing with rare gems glimmering and calling to you to admire them. It was hard to resist not pulling out all the skeins and rolling around on them which is what I really wanted to do.

After visiting Purl, I walked over to The Point Knitting Cafe which sadly has closed down. This was just the beginning of a trend that I am sensing : knitting has had it's day as a trend and is returning to it's roots as a craft with longevity. Knitting is not a flash in the pan trend, it is a life long journey in which your skills improve as you work to create useful and beautiful garments that are treasures. Ok, maybe we will see a few less ipod coseys around the hood but the rest of us will keep knitting weather it be only sometimes. And, we need good knitting stores to make our projects sing!

On the subway ride home, I noticed a middle aged woman who brought our her crochet and began to work some rows on a egg yellow acrylic baby sweater. I have never understood why people use acrylic when they are going to the trouble to knit something with their blood, sweat and tears shouldn't it be a work of art made of beautiful yarn?