This week, Interweave announced that Knitting Daily, has officially gone high-tech! The magazine now has an official app that can be found at the Apple Store. It is available for both the iPhone and the iPod Touch. The app will also work on the iPad.

This new (and free!) app will allow loyal Knitting Daily readers the option to access their great web content remotely. The app includes knitting lessons, tips, knitting and interviews. It keeps you full of knitting goodness!

“We are excited to have yet another platform that brings our dynamic content to life. The iPhone application allows us to bring knitting enthusiasts a unique combination of editorial content and video,” said Senior Vice President and Publisher John Bolton. “It’s a whole new way to experience Knitting Daily.”

You can also look up knitting terms and has options for sharing favorite items on Facebook, Twitter, or via e-mail.

Sadly, I do not have an iPhone or iPod Touch, so I can't check it out first-hand. If you do and decide to download it, make sure to share your thoughts!

As 2010 draws to a close, many of us start to make goals for the next year. Along with the usual wants like "lose weight" or "exercise more," I think about what fiber arts goals I would like for 2011.

So what are my goals? I want to find more time to spin as well as improve my spinning skills. This year I haven't had anywhere near enough time to spin, so that is right at the top of my list.

Next, I want to actually crochet (and finish!) a pair of socks. Yes, I know this sounds a tad silly, but I can't tell you how many socks that start out, well, as socks and end up as wrist warmers!

I want to spend more time being creative. That means developing more patterns, focusing on my free form and felting and writing more fiber-focused articles.

So, I would say those are my three main fiber goals for 2011. What are your 2011 fiber goals?

This weekend I am happy to again take part in the second annual Christmas Bazaar at the Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Christian Church on Beach Street in Rockaway, NJ, Saturday, December 4. This is a great event with a wide variety of crafters and artisans that is very well run. You will definitely find unique items to fulfill every gift-giving need! This is a cozy show that brings in a great group of artistic individuals directly from the community.

Additionally, the food for sale is great! Looking for wonderful ethnic goodies like pierogies, halushki, holupki, kielbasi & kraut sandwiches, and other baked goods? This is definitely the place! I am definitely looking forward to a few snacks!

The bazaar will open at 9:00 a.m. to the public and will end at 3:00 p.m., so there is still plenty of time in the afternoon to get your tree!

I hope to see you there!

It is the time of year when everyone makes their lists. So, here is my ultimate fiber Christmas list.

While at the Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival this year, I saw the original Pocket Wheel. This wheel has a great feel and spins like a dream. This is on the top of my ultimate fiber list!

To go with the pocket wheel, I'll need to get some fiber. That  means getting fiber from Laurie's Lambs! Additionally, Susan's Fiber Shop and The Woolery have great fiber options.

To go with my new wheel and fiber, I of course need to add a new spindle to the list. This is easy. I have always wanted a Moosie spindle from Journey Wheel. These amazing spindles are made from Moose antler sheds. While we are talking about spindles, Golding spindles are always just beautiful and spin like a dream! I have always wanted the "Midnight Sky" spindle." Team Golding is incredibly talented and should be seriously considered when looking for that special spindle.

At the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this year, I treated myself to a mini glass crochet hook from Michael and Shelia Ernst . Well, on my ultimate fiber Christmas list, I want the full one! They are just gorgeous. The Turquesa model, please. Also while at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this past May, I won a Weavette in an auction. These are incredibly tough to find. I would love to get a few more in different sizes.

Fiber arts and books always go hand-in-hand. That means, I have lots of books on my list! First and foremost, Creative Crochet Lace: A Freeform Look at Classic Crochet by Myra Wood is at the top! Myra is a wonderfully talented artist and an even better friend.

During the past year, I have been fascinated by hyperbolic crochet. That  means I have to add Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes to my list. If you have seen hyperbolic crochet, I highly recommend you check it out!

Along with crochet and spinning, I also love to felt and enjoy reading the history of fiber arts. That means I have to add Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times, The Art of Felt: Inspirational Designs, Textures, and Surfaces and In Sheep's Clothing: A Handspinner's Guide to Wool to my list.

Last, but  certainly not least, I have to add a felting machine. I currently do needle felting, but would love to try it on a machine. Janome makes some great machines, but I hear the Singer felting machine is just as good and less expensive. I also saw a mini felting machine somewhere once; that would be perfect!

So there you have it. My ultimate fiber Christmas list. What's yours?

More and more are starting their shopping for the holiday season earlier each year to have the best selection sot he perfect gift can be found. Well, each year I work to buy handmade items and I hope you will too.

There are a number of great reasons to buy handmade items. First, each item is unique so you are providing a gift that no one else will have. You will be supporting artists, which is always a wonderful way to ensure the arts are available for future generations by spreading the word about how great it is to give and receive handmade items.

Some may wonder where they can find handmade items. Well I am here to tell you, it is easy! There are always plenty of local craft sales where you can find great items and support those right in your community. You can find great items online at sites such as ArtFire and Etsy.

So I encourage you to take the handmade pledge and give truly unique gifts made with love!

As the year begins to progress and the calendar turns thin, it is time to get another calendar. When you are looking for your 2011 calendar, why not look for a fiber arts calendar that will not only keep you up to date, but provide inspiration as well?

One of my favorites is the Crochet: 2011 Day-to-Day Calendar. This calendar provides a unique pattern on every day's page! At the end of each year I always go through all  the pages again and save my favorite patterns!

A new line of calendars is now available from a great fiber arts publisher, Interweave. They are offering a total of nine different calendars that cover everything from knitting, weaving, spinning, crochet, quilting and more.  Each provides wonderful inspiration. The Quilting Arts 2011 Wall Calendar features the winners of the 10th annual contest theme, "Flavor of the Month." As someone who can just about sew on a button, the projects are simply amazing and inspirational!

I hope you take a few extra minutes when finding your 2011 calendar and look for something truly unique!

OK, I'll admit it. I really like Halloween. Not sure why. I don't like the gross part. I like seeing the kids dress up, going to my condo's Halloween party and the historical aspect of the day. It is a lot of fun.

I don't ever remember doing a Halloween-theme project, which is kind of funny to me. I'll have to remember that for next year. I did, however, see a project that is simply amazing! It is a completely knit skeleton, so I wanted to share it here.

This amazing piece was created by Ben Cuevas and while he was an artist in residence at the  Wassaic Project, an arts collective and residency program located in New York state. The amazing piece of fiber arts was exhibited at the Wassaic Project Summer Music and Arts Festival.

I hope you check out more of Ben's amazing work. He is an amazing artist!

Happy Halloween!

This past weekend was the 2010 Rhinebeck Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY . I look forward to this event year and, as usual, it didn't disappoint!

High Point, NJ on the way to Jill Deal in Milford, PA

I took the bus from Jill Deal Yarn, just like every year. Now you may remember I took a bus trip from another yarn store earlier this year to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival . Well, they could definitely take a page from Jill's playbook. As usual, the trip was flawless! We left from her shop promptly at 8:00 a.m. in Milford, PA for the roughly 90 minute trip to Rhinebeck, NY. I sat next to a lovely woman on the bus and we chatted all the way up. This was her first trip to the Festival, so I was happy to fill her in on all the fibery goodness she would experience!

One of the great sheep hanging out.

The morning wasn't very busy with plenty of walking room and very pleasant festival-goers. Of course, I had to pick up a few items. I picked up the Denise Interchangeable Crochet Hooks  which I purchased from Susan's Fiber Shop. Susan always has the absolute best stuff! She is very knowledgeable and is always happy to provide information and answer questions. I also picked up a Turkish spindle from Bonnie McMillen, made by her husband Neal. Finally, I found an unexpected treasure. A beautiful hand-woven scarf made with recycled sari silk at Fessler Spinning and Weaving. They also had some very yummy yarn at their booth that I plan on ordering.

An overhead shot of one of the vendor barns.

I had the opportunity to meet John McCoy and his wife who manufacture Pocket Wheels by Jon . Let me tell you, this is an awesome wheel! This may very well be on my "wish list" in the future.

I had plenty of fun, including my usual lunch of stuffed cabbage and perogies and topping it off with a late afternoon pumpkin spice coffee. Of course I had to go see all the great sheep on display. Although I was sad I missed Laurie, mommy to Laurie's Lambs in Chesterfield, New Jersey. I came to find out, she was in a different barn that I thought was just for judging.

I did notice people carrying fewer bags than in the past. I am guessing this is due to the unstable economy and high level of unemployment. I asked a few vendors about their sales and while some were optimistic and said they "did well," others told me they sold very few "big ticket" items (such as carders and spinning wheels) and more items like knitting needles and books. Even I found myself taking a few business cards of vendors I would like to order from in the future, working to stay on a budget.

Spindles, spindles and more spindles!

My only "suggestion" to the event planners is this - I wish they would consider not allowing strollers. I know they billed this as a "family-friendly event," but the strollers often make navigating the show very tough as the number of attendees increases during the day. Many of these booths are very tight. More than once I saw a mother and father with a stroller go into a booth and that was it. No one else could get in and look until they were fished, often leaving without making a purchase. I wonder if this also contributed to low sales. I also saw lots of double-strollers, making it even more difficult to get around. I hope they would consider at least eliminating the double strollers.

Ultimately, it was time to head home. Everyone made it back to the bus on time and off we went. Everyone chatted about their purchases of the day and eventually everyone settled in and either worked on a project or napped...or a little bit of both!

By the end of the day I was tired, but inspired. I realized how much I miss finding time to spin. I am hoping it has inspired me to work to find, at least a little time, to get some spinning in.

While I don't get enough time to do so, I love to spin. I love all kinds of yarns that are hand-spun. They are all so unique, complete with their own personalities! That is what the new book Get Spun: The Step-by-Step Guide to Spinning Art Yarns is all about.
This book shows how to spin beautiful yarns one step at a time. It begins actually providing the definitions of "art" and "yarn," which I thought was a pretty neat way to start. It explains all the "basics" such as spindles, wheels, types of fiber and other pieces of equipment. It then moves on to dying, carding and mixing color, always an important step, which can be slightly intimidating at first. It then moves into spinning basics, such as predrafting and what it takes to make good single-ply yarn, which is my personal favorite.

It then moves into some absolutely amazing techniques to create the most beautiful yarns I have even seen! The photos are nice and close up so you can see step-by-step exactly how to recreate these incredibly artful yarns. I can't tell you how much I love the photos in this book! They provide such nice detail shots you can really see the yarn textures. Even if you never make a textured yarn using the information provided, the photos are so lovely it is definitely worth having in your library!

Well, hopefully the weather will play nice this week so we can meet and kick off the fall season of Stitchin' at Starbucks!

Our first get together of the fall season will be this Thursday, September 23 7:00 p.m. at the Starbucks next to Pier One in the Target Strip Mall within the Rockaway, NJ Mall Complex. This is a perfect time to get started on those fall and winter knit and crochet projects!

If you are on Facebook, check out our official group found here . Hope you can join us!