Winner + Making Waves with KnitPro

Giveaway Winner
Congratulations to Vicki Browning! Their comment was randomly selected to win this month's giveaway for our new Comby II Sampler Set which contains interchangeable needle pairs from our Karbonz, Bamboo and Nova Cubics lines! We've contacted Vicki to arrange for the delivery of their prize. Thanks to everyone who entered this month's giveaway!

Introducing Waves Crochet Hooks

Make waves with our brand-new line of glamourous crochet hooks this fall!

Our new Waves crochet hooks feature our signature smooth finish aluminum hooks and colourful soft-feel handles. Waves come in 13 vibrant and trendy colour options, each of which are unique to its size.

KnitPro Waves crochet hooks are also available in sets! Packaged in a handy faux leather zippered case, each set contains 9 hook sizes ranging from 2.00mm-6.00mm. Choose from fluorescent green or fluorescent pink to build your crochet hook library!

Summer Shawls + Giveaway!

In the Northern hemisphere, summer is heating up. What's a knitter or crocheter to do?! There are lots of small projects that are ideal for the dog days of summer, but lately we are inspired by all of the creative shawl designs that we've been seeing. They're great for keeping warm on cool summer nights (or in air conditioning, as the case may be!), and they're also a wonderful way to accessorize!

Veera Valimaki's Color Affection is still the #1 shawl we see when out and about, but she has many other creative patterns that will delight knitters of all persuasions!

Veera Valimaki's Color Affection

Another popular shawl pattern is Martina Behm's Hitchiker, which is part of an ebook contain four unique shawl patterns, all of which are great destash projects!

Martina Behm's Hitchhiker

We also spotted plenty of Stephen West shawls at TNNA: from Daybreak to Rockefeller, Stephen has a shawl design that is sure to suit your taste and skill level!

Stephen West's Rockefeller

When it comes to crochet shawls, Aoibhe Ni continues to stun with her crocheted creations using the Tunisian crochet technique! Many of her patterns are available for free on Ravelry, too!

Aoibhe Ni's Pax

July Giveaway

We've got three chances for you to win a KnitPro Shawl Pin this month! Simply leave a comment on this post telling us which shawl you are currently working on (or what's at the top of your shawl-knitting queue) for your chance to win! Don't forget to tell us your Ravelry ID or email address in case you win, too. We'll randomly select 3 lucky winners to announce on our next blog post!

Giveaway + Socks Any Way You Like Them!

Socks are a great summer project because they are small and portable, and they can be simple or complex depending on the type of sock project you use. However you like to make socks, we have the right tools for you - below are some tips, techniques and tools to help you explore new ways of sock-making this summer!

Toe-up
Getting started is often the trickiest part to making toe-up socks, but once you master the technique, there's no end to the creative socks you can make! Many knitters prefer this method because they can just keep knitting until they run out of yarn. If you are having trouble getting started, click here to view a video tutorial demonstrating Judy's Magic Cast-On from the talented designer Cat Bordhi's YouTube Channel.

Top Down
A stretchy cast-on is necessary to start your top-down socks off right. There are many, many types of cast-ons that would work well, so you'll want to experiment to find which one works best for your style of knitting. Click here to see a video demonstration of the Channel Island Cast-On from Sockupied on the Knitting Daily blog if you need help getting started!

Cubics Double-Pointed Needles

Socks on DPNs
Many knitters prefer to knit in the round with DPNs; we have several needle styles to suit every DPN enthusiast! For the serious sock knitter, we recommend our Nova Sock Set (for those who prefer metal needles) or our color-coded Dreamz Sock Set (for those who prefer wooden needles). You'll also want to keep your stitches on the needles with our handy DPN tubes, which are especially great for on-the-go sock knitters!

Karbonz Fixed Circular Needles 

Magic Loop Socks

If you've ever been knitting while you're out an about and dropped one of your DPNs, only to have it roll away and never be found again, you may want to give magic loop knitting a try! You'll need a circular needle with a nice, long cord (80cm or 100cm is ideal); Stitch Diva Studios has a great tutorial video here on their website to get you started!

Two-at-a-Time Socks
Once you master the Magic Loop technique, you can use it to knit both pair of socks at the same time! It's a little tricky to get started, but here is an excellent tutorial with step-by-step instructions over on the Knit and Tonic blog.

Crochet

Two-At-A-Time Socks

Socks aren't just for knitters - there are plenty of great crochet patterns out there, too! Our steel crochet hooks come in smaller sizes which are just right for fingering-weight sock yarns. If you're new to crocheting socks, here are eight expert tips from the editor of Crochet Me to make your feet happy!

Steel Crochet Hook With Soft Feel Handle

This Month's Giveaway

How do YOU like to make socks? This month, one lucky blog reader will get choose their prize from one of four needle options:

• Symfonie Fixed Circular
• Symfonie DPN 
• Cubics Fixed Circular
• Cubics DPN

To be eligible, simply leave a comment on this blog post telling us your favourite way to make socks and which of the four prizes listed above you'd like to win. You'll also want to give us your email address or Ravelry ID so that we can contact you if you win! 

We'll randomly select our winner to announce on our next blog post later this month! 

Giveaway + Don't Take a Holiday from Crafting this Summer!

Make sure that your knitting or crocheting isn't the only thing going on holiday this summer! Whether or not you're planning to travel, there are plenty of great projects to keep your needles and hooks happy during the warmer months ahead.  

Shawls are a great project choice; they can be used on cooler summer nights and will also be handy when the temperatures cool down in the fall. Choose lightweight yarns with cooler fibres such as bamboo, cotton or silk for your next project; here are a few popular patterns from Ravelry.com which you might enjoy!

From L-R: Hitchhiker by Martina Behm, Venus by Aoibhe Ni, and Happy Street by Veera Välimäki.

Small projects such as socks, hats and handwear are also great to work on during warmer months - you'll be glad you did when winter's chill arrives! They also are easy to take with you on-the-go, and using circular needles for magic loop means you don't have to worry about losing one of your double-pointed needles while you're out and about! Below are a few popular hat patterns from Ravelry to get you inspired! 

From L-R: Catkin Hat by Kate Davies, Bonnie Beret by Rachael Oglesby, and Bräcken Convertible Cloche by Kalurah.

Finally, small toys are fun to make and are also great gift ideas! Here are a few knit and crochet toy pattern ideas to make your summer extra-fun!

From L-R: Amigurumi Dragon by Stacey Trock, Knit Hedgehogs by Purl Soho, and Huggy Monkey by Sayjai Thawornsupacharoen. 

Enter our May Giveaway

This month, we'll be giving away two prizes to our lucky readers: a pair of Cubics Fixed Circular needles and a pair of Symfonie Fixed Circular needles. Simply leave a comment on this post telling us your summer crafting plans and which prize you'd like to win! Don't forget to also leave a way for us to contact you if you are the winner (Ravelry ID or email address works just fine). 

We'll randomly select two winners (one for each prize) on Friday, May 24th! Good luck!

Winner + KnitPro in Action!

We received a tremendous response to this month's blog giveaway! Thank you to everyone who left their comments on our last blog post; we thoroughly enjoyed reading each one.We have used Random.org to select the following winners, whom we will contact to arrange for the delivery of their prizes: 

Congratulations to Pokdej, who will receive a pair of Karbonz Single Point needles! Pokdej said, "I'd like to try the Karbonz because I have developed an allergy to nickel, so I'm looking for a non-wood alternative."

Congratulations to Puella63, who will receive a package of Karbonz Double Point needles! Puella63 said, "I never tried this type of needles and would really like to try the circular ones. I don't knit with the other two types."

Congratulations to Riikkis, who will receive a Karbonz Fixed Circular needle! Riikkis said, "I'd love to test these <3"

We'd also like to share the latest KnitPro in Action photos that have been submitted by our wonderful and creative fans. Click here to view & submit photos in our dedicated Ravelry thread; you can also submit via Twitter and Facebook!

L-R: Dreamz Fixed Circular needles (submitted by Knitwytch), Symfonie Interchangeable needles (submitted by Amparo), and Karbonz DPNs (submitted by ColorBloX).

As Seen on Knitter's Review: Karbonz!

There's been a lot of buzz about our Karbonz needles; most recently, Clara Parkes shared her thoughts on these high-tech needles on the Knitter's Review website (note: Karbonz are distributed in North America under the Knitter's Pride brand). We're quite flattered with her analysis! If you've been curious about carbon fiber needles, click here to get the scoop from one of our industry's finest experts! You can also read more about our Karbonz needles on the Meadow Yarns blog!

Now for the best part: we'd like to give you a chance to try Karbonz out for yourself! Leave a comment on this post sharing why you'd like to knit with these needles for your chance to win one of three prizes: a pair of Karbonz Single-Point Needles, Double-Point Needles or Fixed Circulars. We'll randomly select three lucky readers as our winners on Friday, March 22. Be sure to leave your Ravelry ID or e-mail address so that we can contact you if you win! 

Winner + 2013 Preview

Giveaway Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered this month's blog giveaway! Our lucky winner is Beverly Anger, who said "I just subscribed! These knitting needles will change my knitting world!" Our prize coordinator has contacted you to arrange for the delivery of your prize, a Deluxe Symfonie Rose set in your choice of Interchangeable Circular Needles or Crochet Hooks. Congratulations!

Sneak Peek!

We're very pleased to share a small preview of our Spring Collection with you today right here on our blog. Since introducing our line of carbon fiber needles last year, we have had many requests from fans and shop owners for an interchangeable line of Karbonz needles. This year, we'll not only introduce Karbonz Interchangeable Circular needles to the line, but we'll also offer expanded size options for single point, double point and fixed circular Karbonz needles as well as DPN and interchangeable needle sets.

In fact, we'll be introducing many new & exciting additions to the KnitPro family of products at the Handarbeit + Hobby trade fair in Cologne, Germany next month which will be appearing at a yarn shop near you this Summer - stay tuned for more details!

KnitPro on YouTube + Giveaway

Did you know that KnitPro has a YouTube channel?  When you watch our videos, you'll get to see KnitPro needles & hooks up close while hearing what real knitters and crocheters have to say about our products. You can subscribe to our channel to be notified when we add new videos, too! To sweeten the deal, we'll be randomly selecting one of our fans on YouTube to win a Symfonie Rose Deluxe Set in the winner's choice of Interchangeable Circular Needles or Crochet Hooks! 

Leave a comment on this post to let us know that you subscribed to our channel and tell us which video was your favorite! Be sure to leave a way for us to contact you if you win (Ravelry ID or email address). We'll randomly select one winner on our next blog post on Friday, February 22. Good luck! 

Click here to view the KnitPro channel on YouTube or watch our video playlist below!