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Yarn Companies Make Finals for Martha Stewart American Made Awards

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martha stewart american made awardsDo you know about the Martha Stewart American Made Awards? This is a program, now in its third year, that honors companies in craft, food, design and style. Companies are nominated to take part, then the finalists are chosen and ultimately 10 awards are given, with most chosen by the Martha Stewart crew and one reader’s choice award.

In the craft category this year there are three knitting-related companies that made the finals:

  • Feel Good Yarn Co., maker of SilverSpun cotton and silver yarn (which allows you to wear it on your hands while interacting with touch screens) from Washington, D.C.
  • Mountain Meadow Wool, a Wyoming-based mill that produces wool yarn in as environmentally friendly a manner as possible as well as finished wool products
  • BagSmith, maker of giant knitting yarns, needles and other supplies, finished home decor objects and garments, which is based in Ohio

I’m not sure if they’re done picking finalists yet, because the calendar on the site says it will happen through Sept. 8. (It also says nominations are accepted through Aug. 29, so if you want to nominate yourself, get going!) Then online voting for the reader’s choice award happens between Sept. 15 and Oct. 13, with the winners being announced on Oct. 17. If more fiber-related companies make it into the mix I’ll let you know.

Winners receive $10,000 to help their business grow, a trip for two to New York for the awards ceremony and a feature on MarthaStewart.com, among other prizes.

This is a really interesting program that at least brings interest to thinking about American made products. Have you ever heard of or voted in it before? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

 

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Knit a Sweet Striped Vest for Kids

I’m trying to include more knits for kids in my posts because I know a lot of people do a lot of their knitting for the little ones in their lives. 

This child’s striped vest from Lion Brand Yarn is not only cute and great for kids who might find a full sweater too hot, it’s also an easy project if you’ve never knit a garment before. 

Lion Brand rates it as level 2 easy/beginner +, probably just because there’s a little shaping and seaming invovled, but it’s nothing you can’t handle. 

The pattern comes in three sizes that are meant to be for ages 6, 8 and 10. The finished chest measurement is 30, 31.5 or 33 inches, which is 76, 80 and 84 cm respectively. This makes the vest a little roomy and makes it easy to slip on over a T-shirt or other top. 

It’s worked in two pieces from the bottom up, with the neckband and armhole bands worked in the round after the body pieces are sewn together. One benefit of knitting stripes on a project like this is that it’s easier to make sure your pieces are the same length because you can just count the stripes (it’s also a little easier to seam because you’re always lining up the stripes). 

If you’re knitting the smallest size, you only need one skein each of the two colors you choose, and for the larger sizes you will only need two, making this project a pretty good value. The suggested yarn is Color Theory, a worsted weight acrylic yarn that comes in 18 relatively muted colors. Of course you can use any worsted weight yarn you like. Keep it acrylic for easy washing or use wool to make this a warmer garment for kids who live in cooler climates. 

You can grab the pattern for free from the Lion Brand website, or get a kit that includes the yarn you need (and needles if you don’t have them already). I think this would be a great basic to knit a kid for back to school in their school colors, or make it holiday with red and green, or whatever colors the child likes. 

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]