Knit Picks' Podcast

Our sock obsession continues, and we naturally had to have sock expert Julie Ann Lebouthillier of Twin Stitches Designs join hosts Lee and Stacey to talk about her own new sock book, Knit a Box of Socks! Julie is a talented sock knitter with an amazing YouTube channel, and we love every chance we get to work with her. Tune in to this episode to find out more about her background as a designer!   Plus, Lee and Stacey chat about their current projects, new colors of Aloft, and the new Knit Picks subscription newsletter, Knit Peeks, hosted on Substack.    00:02 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:20 Stacey and Lee share what they’ve been up to. 08:44 New Aloft colors recently arrived! 11:20 We’ve got a brand new Substack called Knit Picks, with bonus episodes of the podcast! 13:46 Sock Month continues, and the print version of Stepping Out has arrived. 16:25 Julie Ann Lebouthillier joins Lee and Stacey to discuss her own new sock book! 17:05 Julie shares how she began designing patterns and her background. 26:

We’re declaring April sock month! Our new sock collection came out recently, and all we want to chat about is socks. We asked for your sock questions on Instagram, and hosts Lee and Stacey along with Producer Andi and some answers from Jen work to tell you everything you need to know.   Plus, Lee and Stacey share the concepts behind Stepping Out and how the book came together.   00:02 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:19 Stacey and Lee share what they’ve been up to. 02:55 Our new sock book just came out, and we’re declaring April sock month! 11:00 The team answers your sock questions! 11:48 What’s a good first sock pattern? 15:29 What are some good cast ons and bind offs for the cuffs? 19:22 How do I start two-at-a-time socks on two short circulars? Magic loop is killing me! 24:11 What’s the best way to reinforce the heel ball of a sock? 26:31 Anatomical socks are specifically shaped for left and right feet. Are there patterns for that or ways to modify patterns? 28:57 Heels. What’s the easiest way?

Spring is almost here, and we invited designer Joy Friedman on the podcast to talk about her design work and pattern in our new collection of cotton tops, Afternoon Tees! Lee and Stacey ask Joy about her background, and they discuss a handful of our favorite patterns she designed for us.   Plus, as always, Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been working on in their free time and dive a little bit into the story of how Afternoon Tees was created.   00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:18 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to 07:38 Our latest pattern collection is out, Afternoon Tees! 12:56 Joy Friedman joins Lee and Stacey to talk about her designs and technical editing work. 22:27 Some of Joy’s earliest patterns were collabs with Knit Picks 28:34 Joy shares how she began knitting. 30:38 Lee asks about Joy’s pattern the Vibrations Pullover 34:40 Stacey brings up Joy’s pattern in Afternoon Tees. 40:38 Where to find Joy online 42:02 Credits   Hummingbird Cardi crochet pattern https://www.croc

Spring is coming soon, which is the perfect time of year to think about getting your sweaters ready for the end of sweater weather. To dive into sweater care and maintenance, Lee and Stacey are joined by producer Andi and coworkers Jen and Regan to discuss how we care for garments.    Plus, Lee and Stacey chat about their current knitting projects and the movies they watched while working on them.   00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:18 Lee and Stacey share what they’re been up to. 15:10 Andi, Jen, and Regan join Lee and Stacey for a discussion on sweater care! 18:55 The group discusses their normal sweater wash routine and pet hair management (or lack of it). 31:00 How does everyone block their older knits after washing? 35:50 The next topic is end-of-season sweater storage! 39:27 Maintenance routines get discussed 48:46 What does everyone do with their handknits that are at the ends of their life, despite good maintenance? 54:45 Our final question is what are the essential tools for sweater ca

Bridget Pupillo’s name is likely familiar if you’ve knit from Knit Picks pattern collections! She joins hosts Lee and Stacey to chat about her new patterns in our most recent patterns collections, Simply Home and Homestead Cables. And we couldn’t have Bridget on the podcast without talking about one of our favorite patterns, the Eldfell Pullover!   Plus, Lee and Stacey chat about their personal projects, and Producer Andi joins in to talk about new patterns designed and modeled by her and Lee.    00:02 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:20 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to. 08:50 Both Lee and Producer Andi have new super bulky sweater patterns out. 12:44 Stacey introduces our latest pattern collection, Simply Home! 18:16 Bridget Pupillo joins Stacey and Lee to discuss her design background and new patterns. 20:04 We can’t chat with Bridget without also talking about her Eldfell Pullover pattern! 22:21 Bridget recently had a cabled pattern in our Homestead Cables collection. 25:05 In S

This episode was created with help from you! We asked for any and all questions about knitting cables over on Instagram, and our hosts Lee and Stacey along with producer Andi worked together to answer them! Some questions had the trio in agreement, and others showed how many different ways you can approach knitting. Can you guess how many times they recommend swatching?   Plus, Lee and Stacey share what they did to stay busy during the ice storm that hit Portland in January, and discuss more new yarns and products that came out recently, including Static!    00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:25 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to. 09:16 The new Static’s inspiration is revealed: 80s TV! 14:11 Find out the origins of our new sweater-sized project bags. 18:01 Lee, Stacey, and Andi are answering cable knitting questions starting with, “Which cable pullover pattern would be a good beginner one?” 21:50 “When you use cables in a sweater does that make the sweater tighter when finished?” 24:37

We’re back from break! In this episode, Lee and Stacey catch listeners up on their personal projects as well as all the amazing new yarn, product, and pattern releases that have come out since we last recorded. Andi joins them to discuss 2023 New Year’s Goals and how well they succeeded (or didn’t), and they also chat about their 2024 goals.   Plus, Stacey and Lee share a bit behind the scenes of our latest cables collection, Homestead Cables! It was an incredibly fun photoshoot with animal friends who stole the spotlight.    00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:18 Lee and Stacey chat about their crafts over the winter break. 15:54 Andi joins Lee and Stacey to talk about 2023 and 2024 craft goals. 32:10 Stacey and Lee talk about the inspiration behind Homestead Cables and a bit about the photoshoot 39:14 Lee gave the book section of our website a big face lift by updating the images of ebooks to show them on tablets. 41:30 There are oodles of new yarns, and Lee used some of them to design new patt

‘Tis the season to knit gifts! Lee and Stacey were joined by our coworkers Jen, Regan, and Alena to discuss gift knitting in a roundtable moderated by Andi. The group discusses their go-to gifts to knit, their best and worst gifts, and more! They provide tons of inspiration for last minute gifts in addition to discussing more elaborate projects.   Plus, Lee and Stacey discuss their current WIPs and future plans for what they’ll knit during the podcast’s holiday break that’s starting now. We’ll be back mid-January with new episodes!     00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:17 Stacey and Lee share what they’ve been up to 11:12 We’re taking a podcasting break for the holidays, and Stacey shares what she hopes to get done before we record again. 16:40 Andi and Stacey discuss their Axiom projects. 19:16 Jen, Regan, and Alena join Lee, Stacey, and Andi to discuss gift knitting. 25:34 The group discusses the best fibers to use for gifts. 27:58 Everyone shares their favorite gifts they’ve made and a few failur

In this episode, Lee and Stacey are joined by designer Yu Ra Kim, also known as Knitboop, to discuss her work, including her recent pattern in our collection Déjà Yarn: Single Color Stashbusters. They also chat about her patterns in previous collections, like the Trellis Tee, and her next upcoming design. The conversation then turns to Yu Ra’s online project that consumes much of what could be her knitting time: Craftivity Club. Craftivity Club will be an online community for multicrafters–including knitters and more–that’s being built with accessibility and inclusivity in mind.   Plus, Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been working on, and Andi joins in to chat with Stacey about the Axiom KAL.    00:02 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast!  00:19 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to. 13:56 Stacey and Andi talk about their Axiom progress. 20:48 Designer Yu Ra Kim joins Lee and Stacey to discuss her work. 27:51 Yu Ra shares her thought process behind her Bodeul hat from Déjà Yarn.  31:56 Listeners get a d

Our biggest sale of the year is here! To kick things off, Alexis, the Knit Picks Brand Director, joins Lee and Stacey to talk about the history of The Big Sale, daily deals, and shopping tips. We regularly have new yarns come out at the same time of the sale, and Alexis shares some of the development stories behind them, including our new self-striping sock yarn, Felicini.   Plus, Lee and Stacey chat about their personal projects, and Andi joins in to discuss the Axiom KAL. Andi also reveals that she has new patterns out using some of our new yarns, and she discusses knitting with the new yarn with Lee and Stacey.    00:01 Welcome to the Knit Picks podcast! 00:18 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to. 06:49 Andi joins Lee and Stacey to chat about the Axiom KAL 08:04 Big Sale is here, and with it comes new yarns! First discussed is Andi’s dream yarn, Bubbly Bouclé 14:13 Another new yarn is Felicini, a new take on our popular self-striping sock yarn. 18:35 Last but not least, we have new colors of Swish

It’s the perfect time of year for quick knits, and we were so delighted to feature several patterns from George of 10 Hours or Less in our latest stash-buster pattern collection, Déjà Yarn. You can probably guess what kind of patterns George specializes in (ones that take less than 10 hours to make), but you’ll be amazed to hear about his long career in the knitting industry that predates digital patterns. George also shares a glimpse inside his design process as he explains how he created his Art Deco Artisan Headband and Rolling Ribbing Hat for Déjà Yarn.   Plus, Lee, Stacey, and Andi chat about their current projects, the Axiom KAL, and knitting while watching movies or reading.    00:02 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast. 00:46 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to. 06:50 Andi joins Stacey to chat about Axiom. 13:20 Stacey and Lee talk more in depth about Déjà Yarn. 20:05 Lee and Stacey and joined by George from 10 Hours or Less who shares his background. 30:47 George shares his process for his two

Can you believe there are less than 12 weeks until the start of the holiday season? In this episode, Lee and Stacey chat about our annual 12 Weeks of Gifting, a series of free patterns released once a week leading up to the winter holidays. They share the concept behind it and how it began as well as how patterns are selected for it. Both of our hosts also created new designs for this year’s set of 12 patterns and describe their creative process for them.   In addition to 12 Weeks of Gifting, there’s so much more going on! The Axiom KAL just started, so producer Andi hopped on to join Stacey in discussing starting the sweater. Lee and Stacey also talk about two new pattern collections and oodles of new yarns and new yarn colors.   00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:36 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been crafting in their free time. 02:29 Andi joins Lee and Stacey to discuss the Axiom KAL. 07:50 Lee isn’t participating in the KAL but has a Swish Pops sweater on her needles. 09:03 The 12 Weeks of Gi

Every knitter ends up with yarn they don’t plan to use and don’t know what to do with, and that’s the problem Zeb from Disco Fibers is looking to solve! He joins our hosts Lee and Stacey to talk about starting a yarn thrift store in the Portland, OR area that helps get unused yarn out of the back of the closet and into the hands of knitters that will love it.   Plus, Andi joins Stacey to discuss our upcoming KAL, where we’ll all be knitting the Axiom Sweater by Claire Slade! Andi and Stacey chat about their yarn choices and some modifications to the pattern.     00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks podcast! 00:18 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to lately. 09:59 We’re announcing our new knit-along: The Axiom Sweater!  14:14 Stacey and Andi share their Axiom yarn choices and modification plans 23:01 Our hosts are joined by Zeb from Disco Fibers to talk about yarn thrift stores!  24:21 Zeb shares why he was inspired to start Disco Fibers 31:54 Stacey asks Zeb about using WhatNot 36:50 Zeb shares his pl

We’re back from summer break and ready to start planning our autumn knits! Dozens of new colors of old favorites and a handful of brand-new yarns have come out since we last recorded, and Lee and Stacey are excited to share with you the development process of a few of their favorites.   There isn’t just new yarn! There also are new patterns, and Stacey and Lee chat about our new tweed home collection that comes out the same day as this episode, Stay In & Knit: Tweed Patterns for Home as well as the transitional, lacey collection from earlier this summer, Nature Walk: Lace Patterns.    Plus, the end of the Ice Fire KAL is discussed, and our next KAL gets teased. Can you guess what we’ll be knitting together next?      00:04 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:50 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to during our summer break.  08:44 The Ice Fire KAL came to an end, with not everyone finishing on time. 11:50 We can’t recap summer 2023 without mentioning Barbie! 13:10 So many new things came out on ou

It’s Christmas in July! To celebrate, we’re pulling out an old interview we recorded last fall with Katelyn from Crochet.com about our matching stocking pattern collections, Filled With Joy and All is Bright. The interview got put aside when we all became too busy with our November Big Sale last year, but it’s full of fun tidbits about creating coordinating knit and crochet pattern collections, so we’re delighted to finally share it!   Plus, when we recorded, we were in the middle of our Eldfell KAL. Katelyn joined in with us, and it was her first knit colorwork project. Lee and Andi share a few tips for stranded colorwork with her that would be useful for knitting stockings as well!    Please note that this is an older interview from the vault. Although the eBooks and individual patterns are still available, the pattern kits mentioned in this episode have sold out.    00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast!  00:15 We’re still on break but are popping in to share an interview from last year that never got sh

We’ve got a beautiful new lace book out, Botanic: Nature-inspired Lace, and Lee and Stacey share the inspiration and some behind-the-scenes details. Stacey also gets excited about our new Foursquare Sunstruck needles. Plus, Lee and Stacey announce our summer break. We’re taking July and August off from podcasting, but we’ll be back with fresh episodes on the first Wednesday of September and plenty of new FO and WIPs to chat about!   Also in this episode,  Lee and Stacey are joined by Andi, Jen, Regan, and Carlene to discuss how our Ice Fire KAL WIPs are turning out. Despite starting at the same time, everyone is at very different points, and we bet you can guess who is already done.  00:07 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast 00:30 Lee and Stacey discuss what they’re been up to, and Lee and Producer Andi get a little too excited talking about plants. 10:57 The show is taking a summer break! We’ll be back in September with new projects to talk about. 16:05 We’ve got a new lace collection, Botanic: Nature-inspir

  Knit in Public Day is this weekend, and we thought it was fitting to invite Michele Bernstein to join us for this episode of the podcast because she will once again be joining the Knit Picks team for our own Knit in Public Day event! We talk with her about her current design passions, past small knitting events like Knit in Public Day, and bigger events with classes like Vogue Knitting Live. If you’re local to the Portland, Oregon area, we hope you’ll join us this weekend in Vancouver, Washington for our event. You can find more details on Blog.KnitPicks.com    Plus, Lee, Stacey, and Andi share their progress on the Ice Fire KAL and introduce our latest pattern collection, Soft Stripes & Intersecting Lines.      0:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:28 Lee and Stacey are joined by Andi to discuss their Ice Fire KAL projects!  10:41 Lee and Stacey share about our latest pattern collection called Soft Stripes & Intersecting Lines. 20:35 Designer Michele Bernstein joins Lee and Stacey to chat. Th

We’ve got a stunning new collection out today called Good Vibes & Groovy Lines, and with such a clear concept carried from moodboards to final layout, we thought this would be the perfect collection to use to share more information about how our collections are created! Our Creative Director Hillary joins hosts Lee and Stacey to discuss how the creative vision of a pattern collection is maintained from start to finish with so many contributors and collaborators as part of the process. They even share some tips for designers who’d like to contribute to future collections!    And we’ve got good news if you’re in search of a summer KAL! We’re hosting a KAL to all make the Ice Fire Wrap by Donielle Showvay from Good Vibes & Groovy Lines, and Lee and Stacey are joined by Producer Andi to discuss color choices and modifications that make it an easier knit for adventurous beginners. Visit the Knit Picks blog for more information and KAL updates.   0:02 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast 3:03 Lee and Stac

This is an extra special episode! Today we’re launching a new eBook called Coloring Outside the Lines with 50% of the sales for the first two years donated to Outside In, a nonprofit providing healthcare and social services, including LGBTQIA+ services, in Portland, Oregon. One of the founding members of our company’s DEI Committee, Remi, joins hosts Lee and Stacey to talk about his background, the work our DEI committee does, including planning our donation to Outside In, and the patterns in the new eBook. Remi also shares the work he does behind the scenes on our emails and to help make them more accessible by adding detailed alt text to every image.     Plus, our podcasters give a not-so-subtle hint about a KAL coming soon and share the backstory behind the colorway names of a new yarn, Brava Recycle, a DK-weight yarn made of recycled acrylic.    00:03 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:35 Lee and Stacey share what they’ve been up to and give a hint on what's coming in our next episode. 09:38 Stacey and

We’re talking about all things socks this week! To kick off the Sock Yarn Sale happening now, Knit Picks staff members Alena and Jen join hosts Lee and Stacey for a sock knitting round table discussion. Producer Andi plays the moderator and asks the hard-hitting questions, like toe up or cuff down and how to care for socks. Everyone also shares their favorite sock yarn, on sale now, and their favorite pattern(s) from our latest sock collection, Pop Socks.    00:04 Welcome to the Knit Picks Podcast! 00:50 Lee and Stacey chat about current WIPs and future knits. 05:40 The Sock Yarn Sale is happening now! 09:15 An exclusive promo code for listeners 09:50 Producer Andi kicks off our Sock Knitting Round Table with Lee, Stacey, Jen, and Alena 14:10 The obvious first topic is heel types, and the conversation turns to two-at-a-time. 20:07 Toe up vs. cuff down brings out some strong feelings 27:10 Controversial sock habits and sock care 34:25 Recommendations for aspiring sock knitters 40:12 Everyone shares their favor