A Couple of Cool Fiber Projects to Fund

I don’t keep up with all the Kickstarter and similar campaigns that have to do with knitting or yarn, but a couple of interesting ones got on my radar this week, so I thought I’d share.

First, have you used Wooly? It’s an iPhone app that allows you to access some of the features of Ravelry, which does not have its own app. I downloaded it when it first came out, but at that point it mostly just let you view your project and stash lists without being able to interact with them all that much.

The app has grown up with time, making it possible to edit and add photos to existing projects or stash, share on Facebook and more. Now the makers are envisioning a redesigned and way more functional app that will work on all i devices (their stretch goal if they raise more money is an Android app as well), which will include pattern browse (!), the ability to add things to your queue, start new projects, access your entire notebook offline (!!), see your Ravelry messages and, the thing I was dreaming of all this time, the ability to add new stash!

This sounds super-cool to me and if it does to you, too, you can help fund their Kickstarter, which is open through Aug. 7 and as of this writing had raised a little more than half of its goal.

Second, the Buffalo Wool Company is a company based in Texas that makes bison and bison-blend yarns as well as selling knitting patterns and bison accessories. They travel a lot to shows (I saw them last year at the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza) and are looking for funding to revamp a truck into a mobile yarn store/dye house.

This would be the second-ever yarn store on wheels in the United States and the first (that we know of) mobile dye house, which would allow them to create custom colors on site instead of having to wait for a special order to be made after the show. If I can do math this one ends Aug. 15, and when last I looked they’d raised almost $5,000.

I love that crowd-funding makes it possible for great little projects like this to get off the ground!

Next Pattern:

Magical Woodland Knits by Clare Garland is a few years old as I write this, but it’s such a fun book I couldn’t resist sharing it. Step into a magical forest full of realistic woodland creatures including rabbit, deer and squirrel, birds and mice, to name a few.

In all there are 12 creatures, and though they are rather small (the wolf is the largest at 14.5 inches/37 cm tall and 18.5 inches/47 cm long), they are so detailed these are definitely not projects for new knitters.

One of the smaller projects, for example, is the robin, at 5/5 inches/14 cm long. It calls for nine different kinds of yarn. Sometimes some are held together, while others are worked with on their own. This pattern only includes three pages of instructions, but the print is rather small and in that time there are six different sets of short rows. None of this makes it too difficult for a knitter with experience reading detailed patterns, working short rows and working with multiple strands of yarn at once, but it’s worth knowing going in that even for small projects you’ll need a lot of supplies and time to work on them.

These are also not meant to be children’s toys, as they can include wires and other supports that could be a danger to little ones.

The process photos often look like taxidermy on a tiny scale, with little animal pelts stretched out and tons of stitch markers showing where and how things go together.

The finished animals are so pretty it’s certainly worth the effort to stitch up these creatures. You might be tempted to make all 12 and set up your own forest scene or use them to decorate your Christmas tree. You can check out all the patterns on Ravelry.

Along the way you’ll also find a little folklore about the animals, charming drawings and pretty photos of the finished animals, too. In the back you’ll find some helpful techniques like picking up stitches, making I-cord and working short rows.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 12 patterns. Published 2020 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?