What new craft books are can't-miss? Which are the classic reference books that every crafter should have on the shelf? In the Yarn Barn of Kansas Book Club, teachers and book lovers talk about the books they wouldn't be without.

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Before Ravelry, before knitting podcasts, before the internet fully found its craft obsession, there was Knitty. Amy Sadler shares the inspiration and evolution of the online knitting phenomenon.

In the early 2000s, as the internet became part of daily life for millions, Amy Sadler began a knitting blog. The blog movement connected knitters around the world (whether newbies or longtime stitchers) and sparked friendships and inspiration. Amy participated in a blog ring, which directed readers from one blog to another, and saw the opportunity to collect and present the clever patterns and ideas that were cropping up around the web. She put out a call for patterns, her husband coded the website, and she released the first Knitty in Fall 2002.

Since the first issue, Knitty has released 95 issues (and counting), becoming one of the most respected and longest established knitting periodicals currently published in any format. Knitty was the first publication to include patterns by knitting stars including Cookie A, Gudrun Johnston, Ysolda Teague, Stephen West, and Kate Gilbert. The magazine’s technique section has offered groundbreaking new ideas including Jeny’s Magic Cast-On. Knitty was at the forefront of the sock-knitting craze in the 2000s and a leader in the push for expanded size ranges (its garments are sized from XS–5X).

And access to Knitty’s patterns and articles has always been free to users. Amy is Knitty’s only full-time employee; the publication pays contributors for their work and commissions professional technical editing for every pattern. To support Knitty, a longstanding Patreon program invites readers to fund the magazine directly.

More than 20 years in, as the knitting community and the internet have seen dramatic shifts, Knitty continues to welcome new voices and connect knitters worldwide with fresh ideas.

Knitty

This episode is brought to you by:

Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com. You’ll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway’s array of wild silks provide choices beyond white.

If you love silk, you’ll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed.

Best known for his work with peanuts, renowned agricultural scientist George Washington Carver had a lifelong passion for needlework. Park Ranger Curtis Gregory shares stories about Carver’s interests in handwork and natural dyeing.

Born in 1865 near Diamond, Missouri, George Washington Carver is one of the best known and most respected agricultural scientists in the history of the United States. Before his death in 1943, Carver “created 325 uses for peanuts, 108 applications for sweet potatoes and 75 products derived from pecans. Some of the products he created include chili sauce, meat tenderizer, instant coffee, shaving cream, and Worcestershire sauce,” according to the National Park Service website. Park Ranger Curtis Gregory stewards the scientist’s legacy and shares stories of his life at the George Washington Carver National Monument, which is located at Carver’s birthplace.

Even in his most industrious decades, as Carver obtained a masters degree, taught at the Tuskegee Institute, and worked in a laboratory, he kept his hands busy with needlework. Any crafter today will relate to his recollection in a 1931 letter: “If I had leisure time from roaming the woods and fields, I put it in knitting, crocheting, and other forms of fancy work” (quoted in Kremer, Gary R., ed., George Washington Carver in His Own Words (Columbia, Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 1987), 128.)

Carver used uncommon materials and foraged natural dyestuffs in his work, drawing on his childhood love of painting. He designed projects not only to express his own creativity but also to inspire poor tenant farmers and sharecroppers who wanted to improve their homes. Gregory describes a handsewn table mat fashioned from cotton stalks and botanically dyed, a treasured example of a man who saw value where others did not.

Links

George Washington Carver National Monument

George Washington Carver Center at the Tuskegee Institute

“George Washington Carver.” National Park Service

“The Scientist Who Crocheted: George Washington Carver’s Unexpected Legacy” by Nancy Nehring. PieceWork Spring 2021.

“Nature’s Colors in the Hands of George Washington Carver” by Nancy Nehring. Spin Off Spring 2022.

This episode is brought to you by:

Treenway Silks is where weavers, spinners, knitters and stitchers find the silk they love. Select from the largest variety of silk spinning fibers, silk yarn, and silk threads & ribbons at TreenwaySilks.com. You'll discover a rainbow of colors, thoughtfully hand-dyed in Colorado. Love natural? Treenway's array of wild silks provide choices beyond white.

If you love silk, you'll love Treenway Silks, where superior quality and customer service are guaranteed.