Here's to a New Year of friendship, growing our skills, having fun and finishing fabulous finished projects! 

In honor of 2017, Guild President Tammy Takahashi has come up with a remarkable list of challenges for both knitters and crocheters. If you were looking to take your art to the next level...here is your chance.

We would love to hear how your challenge is coming along throughout the year. Let us know in the Ravelry forum or on our Facebook page.

Good Luck and Happy New Year!
​

• Knit one item a month
• Knit one item for yourself
• Knit one project over the weekend
• Knit one item for a special occasion
• Knit one item with a technique you’ve never done before
• Finish one item that’s been sitting on the shelf longer than 6 months
• Make one item with yarn you frogged from another project
• Make one wearable item
• Knit one item in your Ravelry queue
• Mark dedicated knit time on your calendar once a week
• Knit one mystery knit-a-long
• Knit one item for a family member or friend
• Take a class to improve your skills
• Learn to crochet
• Make one item that has knit and crochet in it
• Knit one item you designed or modified yourself
• Make a knit project from a book or magazine in your library

Here's a pdf of the 2017 Knitting Challenge to download, print and put in your planner, your desk, your knitting bag to track your accomplishments as the year moves forward.

Here's to a New Year of friendship, growing our skills, having fun and finishing fabulous finished projects! 

In honor of 2017, Guild President Tammy Takahashi has come up with a remarkable list of challenges for crocheters. If you were looking to take your art to the next level...here is your chance.

We'd love to hear how your challenge is coming along throughout the year. Let us know in the Ravelry forum or on our Facebook page.

Good Luck and Happy New Year!
​

• Crochet one item a month
• Crochet one item for yourself
• Crochet one project over the weekend
• Crochet one item for a special occasion
• Crochet one item with a technique you’ve never done before
• Finish one item that’s been sitting on the shelf longer than 6 months
• Make one item with yarn you frogged from another project
• Make one wearable item
• Crochet one item in your Ravelry queue
• Mark dedicated crochet time on your calendar once a week
• Crochet one mystery crochet-a-long
• Crochet one item for a family member or friend
• Take a class to improve your skills
• Learn to knit
• Make one item that has knit and crochet in it
• Crochet one item you designed or modified yourself
• Make a crochet project from a book or magazine in your library

Here's a pdf of the 2017 Crochet Challenge to download and put in your planner or on your computer to track your accomplishments as you work.

Traveling during the holidays presents knitters and crocheters with a dilemma: can I bring my needles (or hooks)? And if I do and someone tells me I can’t, what happens?

The answer is both easy and crazy-making depending on where you’re going.

If you’re traveling inside the United States, the answer is easy: The Transportation Security Administration says that in general you can take “knitting needles and needlepoint tools” (no reference to crochet hooks) in carry on luggage. You can also carry scissors that are smaller than four-inches but anything that has a blade -- such as circular or pendant cutter -- must be in checked luggage. 

U.S. transportation rules apply on flights leaving the United States for foreign countries, but once you’ve landed in Europe, South America, Asia or Australia, it gets a lot more complicated. 

Selecting the right colors for a project can be the difference between something that inspires “Oooohs” and “Aaaahhhs” and one that inspires yawns.

Knerdy Knitter Chris Bahls is the resident color expert at The Knitting Tree in Westchester. This is an informal distillation of his color wisdom.

• There are no ugly colors – just ugly combinations. Everybody has colors they hate – burnt orange, neon lime green, cotton candy pink, khaki or you name it. But there are times when that so-called “ugly” color provides the perfect contrast or bridge between other colors to make a project sing. “Don’t be afraid to just try something,” Chris said.

1. Love your favorite colors – just don’t use them for everything. It’s so easy to turn to our favorite colors because, well, we LOVE them. Before long, you’re in a rut. “If everything you buy or knit is in the same favorite colors,” Chris said, “those accessories will do nothing to accent what you’re wearing.” 

Some people say no knitting or crocheting photo is finished until you’ve taken the photo.
 
No matter what kind of camera (or smart phone) you’re using to take a photo of a project – and no matter whether you just want to email a friend the photo, post it on Facebook or attract buyers on Ravelry or Etsy, the tips that follow can help you create a better photo of your work.

Before you pick up that camera, be sure your project is well blocked (if appropriate), free of fuzz or stray fibers and is displayed without distracting or distorting wrinkles or folds.

1. Use natural light whenever you can. Natural light will show the colors truer. It will also avoid the harsh shadows or hots spots that wash out details of texture and stitches that happen when you use a flash or indoor lighting. Arrange your fiber project either outdoors or inside next to a window or open door with good light. The best light will be in the morning before 10 a.m. or in the afternoon after 3 p.m.

A huge hurrah for the nine Knerdy Knitters who entered the Los Angeles County Fair this year. They submitted a total of 42 entries and took home a Best of Show ribbon, 10 blue ribbons, 12 red ribbons and 14 white ribbons.

Here are the winners, their entries and their ribbons:

Ginny Mateen – submitted 11 entries. She won Best of Show for a grey shawl made of yarn she had spun. She won blue ribbons for a baby sweater, another shawl, a sweater, a brown lace shawl, a shawl in purples with a colorful border and a cabled baby sweater, and a red ribbon for a baby sweater.

Lydia Cowger – submitted five entries. She won three red ribbons for a purple and lilac shawlette, a blue and white entrelac scarf and a pair of brown baby booties; and won white ribbons for a grey and white striped scarf and a multi-colored scarf. 

Log on to the LA County Fair website and head over to the Competitions page. There you can enter you finished projects into this year's DIY Competition. 

The Guild will deliver your projects to the Fair on June 4th. You can give us your projects at any Knerdy Knitter meeting before the 4th.

Good luck, Knerds!

LA County Fair Website

Here's to a New Year of friendship, fun, and fabulous finished projects. 

In honor of the New Year, our Guild President, Tammy, has come up with a remarkable list of challenges for both knitters and crocheters. If you were looking to take your art to the next level...here is your chance.

We would love to hear how your challenge is coming along throughout the year. Let us know in the Ravelry forum or on our Facebook page.

Good Luck and Happy New Year!