Jimmy Beans Wool Buys Madelinetosh

Jimmy Beans Wool, which started as a coffeshop and yarn store in the early 2000s, has positioned itself as a major player in the online fiber world, selling yarn and notions as well as acquiring companies that produce quality goods for fiber lovers.

In years past they have purchased bag makers Namaste and Della Q, and they just announced the purchase of indie yarn giant Madelinetosh.

“Yarn is such an important part of Jimmy Beans’ DNA and with the addition of Madelinetosh, it feels like a match made in yarn heaven,” Jimmy Beans founder Laura Zander said in a press release. “We’ve been carrying Madelinetosh yarn for years, and to see what Amy and John have created is remarkable. Their eye for color and ability to take dyeing from their kitchen to becoming the largest hand-dyer in the country is just incredible.”

For now Madelinetosh will continue to operate in Fort Worth, Texas, while Jimmy Beans operations are based in Reno, Nevada. According to an FAQ on the Jimmy Beans site, individuals will still be able to order Madtosh yarn from either website, though inventory on the Jimmy Beans site will reflect what they actually have in stock in Reno while orders made through the Madtosh site will be made to order and will take longer.

It will be interesting to see how this partnership evolves. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

[Photo: Jimmy Beans Wool.]

Lots of craft designers are understandably frustrated about the proliferation of AI “designed” patterns and photos of projects that have no basis in reality. People who don’t know how to tell if a project is AI are often also frustrated when they see a picture for something but there’s no pattern because it’s not real, or they buy a pattern that doesn’t actually explain how to make the thing or ends up looking totally different from the picture.

Some designers have taken it upon themselves to try to make some of those AI patterns that we see online, often with hilarious results.

Katherine Foster was inspired by a famous AI elephant to make what she calls “AIlephant,” which is now a free knitting pattern on Ravelry.

Her prototype uses worsted weight yarn, but you can use whatever yarn you like to make different sizes of elephants.

The elephant features a cable running down the trunk and a different cable pattern on the back. It’s worked in pieces that are joined and stuffed as you go. It uses German short row shaping on the body and includes written instructions as well as a chart for the cable patterns.

Reading through the pattern, it sounds a little fiddly, which makes sense because it was designed to look like a pattern that isn’t real. But it’s doable, as evidenced by the handful of projects you can find on Ravelry. The ears on her version aren’t quite as big and round or maybe don’t sit in quite the same place as the AI version (which if you haven’t seen it there’s a photo of that on the projects page, too). But it’s a pretty honest replica of a dishonest photo, and a really cute elephant in its own right.

If you make this one I would love to hear about it!

You can grab the free pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Katherine Foster]

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