For generations knitters & crocheters have shared their time, energy and skills in helping others. During wartime, women on the homefront made a significant contribution to the war effort by knitting for the troops. Today, making items for people less fortunate is a generous way to connect with our communities. Set aside some time in your knitting or crocheting schedule to share a little warmth and comfort with someone in need.

Go here for the home page….http://www.bernatcares.com/

So what is so cool that it has me jumping? Well, it’s this: http://knitfinder.com/shp-patterns.php

SWOON!!!

“Just published – the (almost) complete index of designs by Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swansen. We’ve been working on this for months, so we’re thrilled it’s finally seeing the light of day! The indexing process was great fun – EZ and Meg both kept me amused and fascinated as I read through all the patterns in order to write pattern notes.

To celebrate publication, we’ve put up a free demo, good through January 4, 2010. Just log in with username “demo” and password “knit on.” You’ll have access to detailed pattern notes, Ravelry links, and the search by tag feature – for all indexes on the site.”

Enjoy this one!!

The company is Darn Good Yarn and I recently acquired a sample of this luscious “left over” stuff. What is the original product? Hand spun fibers made into Saris in Nepal. The “waste” is then spun into yarn and in return, helps to support women and their families who may not have another source of income. Also, since it’s a Fair Trade product, it doesn’t exploit child labor.

I knitted up a little purse/yarn bag with this yarn, and the colors were just gorgeous. There was a little bit of bias as I was knitting and while I was concerned at first, it all blocked out and turned out beautifully.

Go here: www.darngoodyarn.com Nicole of Darn Good Yarn has a blog, and an email newsletter, as well as free patterns to use this yarn. It’s a no-brainer!

From Knitfinder.com….

What an exciting time to be a knitter! An explosion of publishing and creativity has produced new magazines, designers, and resources, and invigorated the old ones. Ravelry has connected more than 500,000 knitters across the globe, letting them share projects and ideas. In-person knitting groups are flourishing around the world.

With new information scattered all over the Web, it’s not always easy to find what you’re looking for. Google and Ravelry searches can yield far too many results. Online magazines and pattern stores offer hundreds of patterns, but no indexes. Information that predates the Internet is getting lost in the shuffle—it’s hard to find and compare patterns in old Rowan books or Interweave Knits magazines.

Wow!   This one’s gonna be good!!

Check her out here: http://annasflyingneedles.com:80/2009/09/08/blogging-again.aspx

Darn Good Yarn prides itself on providing you with fairly traded and child labor free yarns. Falling back on her experience with Around the Om Nicole takes that mission seriously. As DGY continues to grow so will our yarn selections, which we promise will be earth friendly, fair trade, child labor free, unique and fun to craft with! Namaste!

I’ll write more later on this stuff, including pics of my bag-to-be, and of course the pattern as I make it up.

Check out the website, pretty cool stuff, and a blog too (can’t go wrong with a site that has a blog)!  http://www.darngoodyarn.com

Go here for the deets: https://digital.creativeknittingmagazine.com/?mode=print_order_form&source=KDDN

Like this free lunchbag pattern. Shhh, don’t tell anyone that it’s crocheted, not knitted, but what the heck!

Sign up for Lion Brand’s newsletter and you’ll get the inside scoop on all of these free projects too!

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/90335AD.html?noImages=&service=3528&letterId=55084

I do love me my online knitting magazines! And this one’s right up there! Check it out, here:

http://petitepurls.com/Summer09/summer2009_features.html

Holiday Headstart projects are little things that you can start knitting now for gifting later in the year. No big afghans that you can’t even imagine having on your lap as you work in the heat of summer. No sweaty mohair sweaters. Just little tidbits of awesomeness that you can knit when the thought of working on a larger project holds no appeal to you. At the same time, you’ll be getting a jump on your gift knitting.

Holiday Headstart patterns are marked with a snowflake on the main patterns page. Happy holidays!

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer09/editor.php#HH

Get a free sample copy of Sara Beth’s monthly newsletter, here: http://www.thesmartknitter.com/

An example is this scuba themed sweater from Bugknits.

While I’ve never been inspired to create something like this, that doesn’t mean it’s not ultra fun to look at these patterns.

Go here to see the whole she-bang. http://www.bugknits.com/

If you’re new to the whole Coraline thing, please visit this site and watch the video as well as exploring the galleries. Amazing!!

Download a free catalog, here: http://www.chrisbylsmadesigns.com/chrisbylsma08_sellsheet.pdf

There’s also a Show and Share page as well as page devoted to pattern errata. Really cool site, and some very nice designs. Be sure to check it out!

KnitIdeas.com. Great site.  Share your ideas, swap yarn, and show off your knitting creations……. Here: http://www.knitideas.com/