Soliciting Yarn Store Reviews, Info on Local Fiber Groups

In an effort to recreate the older version of this blog on the new platform, I'd like to ask people to send me reviews of yarn stores in Massachusetts and I will post them here.

I am also working on recreating the lists of yarn stores and knitting/crochet/spinning/dyeing/fiber groups and guilds in Massachusetts that were on my old blog. If you run or participate in such a group and would like it to be listed, please send information on:

• where and when the group meets,
• whether there's a charge to attend,
• contact information in case people want more info, and
• any other information you think might be helpful.

Please note: I may identify yarn store reviewers by first name (unless the reviewer gives me permission to use his/her whole name). If you don't want your name mentioned at all, let me know that. There may be some reviews I won't publish, or will edit -- for instance, if they seem very self-promotional, libelous, what have you. If you're a yarn store owner or employee, you're welcome to send in a review/rundown of your own store and what it offers -- but please do note your connection with the shop. Thanks!

Michaels Arts & Crafts Store Expanding Yarn Offerings

A knitter named Melinda writes:

I went to Michaels yesterday. It was okay (nothing medium - high end). However, there was a sign posted indicating that a new yarn department would be coming this spring.

This was the Michaels in Danvers, Mass. I emailed Michaels to find out whether yarn departments in any of its other stores would also be expanded, but haven't received an answer.

One More Year to Wait for Updated (and Affordable) Principles of Knitting

Someone called F Vine commented on the old version of this blog that the publication date for June Hemmons Hiatt's revised version of this book has been pushed back to November 2010. (The commenter got the information via this post on Amazon.) For those who are unfamiliar with the book, Principles of Knitting is a comprehensive reference that has a five-star rating on Amazon and is selling used for $100-$200. A completely revised, updated edition was originally due out this fall.

Thanks to F Vine for the info.

Update, 2/3/09, 3:00 p.m.: Jane of Porter Square Books (she runs the monthly knitting group there) called the publisher directly and was told the book is coming out October 2010. So, that's at least only a 12-month delay instead of 13 months -- if they stick to that date.

Knitting Kitsch: Tin Knitting Bank

Seen at Davis Squared:

This bank and others like it are made by Pittsfield, Mass.-based company Blue Q.

Purl for a Purpose Update

The Pine Street Inn's second annual Purl for a Purpose Knit-a-thon was on Sunday. I didn't quite reach my fundraising goal, and I'm embarrassed to say that I only managed to knit two squares before the event. (I ran into someone else who only knitted one, though, so that made me feel a bit better.) In hindsight, pledging 25 squares in the time I had (about six weeks) was probably unrealistic, even if I were a faster and more diligent knitter.

The good news is that the Knit-a-thon broke last year's 25 afghans made. Forty-six quilts were sewn together during the event, and about 15 more bags of squares were taken home by volunteers to be sewn into blankets. No word yet on how much money was raised, but I'll update this page with the info, and maybe pictures of some of the finished quilts, too. Update: $18,000 was raised this year. Photos from the Knit-a-thon are here and here.
The Pine Street Inn's residence program, which was the beneficiary of the Knit-a-thon, currently has 28 residences throughout the greater Boston area that give permanent housing to almost 500 formerly homeless tenants, both individuals and families. The program includes specialized housing for tenants with a history of mental illness or HIV/AIDS. Another 130 units are expected to open within the next two years.

Purl for a Purpose on Nov. 9 to raise money for Pine Street Inn

Boston's Pine Street Inn is having a Knit-a-thon Sunday, Nov. 9, from 11:00 a.m. till 5:00 p.m. to raise money for its housing program for formerly homeless people. It works like this: participants pledge to knit or crochet a certain number of 9"x9" squares and ask people to either make a flat donation or pledge on a per-square basis. The squares will be assembled into blankets that will be given to tenants of the Pine Street Inn residences.

Pine Street Inn makes it easy to create your own fundraising web page (through the site FirstGiving.com) so you can collect donations online. They ask that you start making squares before the event so that more blankets can be assembled during the Knit-a-thon. (Any kind of yarn is okay; just label each square to show its fiber content.)

Sign up for Purl for a Purpose, or learn more about it, here.

If you can't participate, please consider helping me raise money by clicking the Donate button and giving online.

Save your $300. New edition of Principles of Knitting due by fall 2009

I'm posting what I thought was going to be a scoop, then realized it's not — by about nine months.*

But I'll post about it anyway for those of you who may not have heard, or may not be familiar with this book: The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt, which is out of print and selling used for around $200-$300 a copy, is due to be reissued this fall by Simon and Schuster. The author is revising and updating it for the reissue. (Thanks to Jane J. at Porter Square Books for checking on this; if you live in the Cambridge, Mass., area, you might want to check out the store's monthly Knit One, Read Too knitting group or the Oct. 15 reading by Yarn Harlot Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.)

I first learned about The Principles of Knitting when it was recommended in another knitting book. (I think it was Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles -- which I gave away once I discovered the Magic Loop method of sock knitting.) The reviewers on Amazon all give it four and five stars and call it a knitting bible. I borrowed a copy from my local library and it does seem to live up to the praise. And last I heard, the planned retail price for the new edition was $45.

*It's already been written about here.

Update, 2/2/09: Someone emailed me that the publication date has been pushed back to November 2010. The information comes via this post on Amazon.

Update, 2/2/09, 3:00 p.m.: Jane at Porter Square Books (she runs the monthly knitting group there) called the publisher directly and was told the book is coming out October 2010. So, that's at least only a 12-month delay instead of 13 months -- if they stick to that date.