"Curiosity will conquer fear even more than bravery will."

– James Stephens

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In today’s email:

• Knitspiration: Becoming a more curious knitter
• Stitchionary: A different take on the honeybee
• Pattern Pick: This gorgeous wrap is a garden around your shoulders
• PLUS: Finished just in time, tasting honey, and more

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Disclaimer: This newsletter may contain sponsored ads and affiliate links.
When you buy using them, you support our work here at The Yarnist, as we get a small commission.

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💡 Knitspiration

🧐 Crafting A Curious Mind

​Yesterday I talked about three characteristics of a Fearless Knitter; curiosity, creativity, and contribution.

Today we're going to discuss how The Yarnist helps foster curiosity in our community.

But first, a little story...

I was always a curious kid, hungry for information.

To deal with this, my parents bought me a collection of books called the "Just Ask" series. In it, a little cartoon mouse asks questions like "Why is the sky blue?" or "What is a Volcano?"

I still remember how useful those books were in helping me understand the world around me.

They weren't long, but they did a great job of answering ONE SPECIFIC question.

And they did it in a fun and entertaining way, at least for a 6 year old kid just learning to read.

That approach has been a direct inspiration on The Yarnist newsletter.

I try to write for a little be older audience, but the goal is mostly the same.

Exploring the Culture of Knitting

The primary concept that drives this newsletter is an exploration of knitting culture in all of its forms.

Sometimes that's through a mini biography of an influential knitter, an exploration of bamboo yarn, or knitting in poetry form.

We might dive into the history of knitting machines, or how the Red Cross changed knitting forever, or knitting techniques you've never heard of.

And often we do round ups of books, tools, yarn, and patterns on different themes.

When you open up one of these emails I want you to feel like you learned something new. It may not even be that useful, but it should enrich your understanding of knitting.

So if you read every one of the 260 newsletter we will publish each year you'll be a MUCH smarter knitting.

How being Curious makes you Fearless

It's a cliche that "knowledge is power" but the truth is we have an innate fear of the unknown.

However, when we understand something the less scary it becomes.

There are A LOT of knitters who know how to knit, but they do not UNDERSTAND knitting.

Sure they can read a pattern, but they may not be able to read their stitches, or adapt a pattern to their liking, or even knit a hat without a pattern to begin with.

But a Fearless Knitter is always asking questions.

It could be what is the best cast on for ribbing, how can I knit more efficiently, or are square knitting needles worth the hype?

You're probably here because you have those same kinds of questions too.

Curiouser and Curiouser...

So how are we going to keep piquing your curiosity for years to come?

Obviously we'll continue exploring knitting culture, techniques, and resources through the newsletter.

At some point we'll bring back our YouTube channel, but we're still figuring out the best type of content that's more than just stitch tutorials.

And expect new episodes of our YarnTalk podcast to launch this fall.

We'll be introducing a new format, doing long form interviews folks doing interesting things with yarn.

It won't be just a bunch of designers, but artists, scientists, musicians, filmmakers, and more.

We'll dive deep into how they use yarn to express their creativity.

But we'll talk about how you can use your creativity to knit more fearlessly tomorrow.

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📆 Daily Stitch

Variation Honeybee Stitch

I'm not gonna lie, this is a complicated stitch. It uses lots of yarn overs and drop stitches to create an interesting lace motif.

A group of horizontal strands are picked up together to make columns that look like little bees.

The result is a stitch pattern that's a sweet as a taste of honey.

Learn this Stitch

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🧶 Pattern Pick

Lily & Friends Ruana by Carla Cuadros

Lilies, bees, and butterflies make friendly neighbors. Lily & Friends Ruana celebrates that relationship by combining two stitch patterns with soft, shimmery Galileo to form a drapey hug of lace.
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The main pattern produces a field of calla lilies with a naturally scalloped bottom edge, while the insertion pattern produces long chains of amiable bees. A sweet little butterfly friend can be pinned to perch on the shoulder.

Get This Pattern

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😂 Knits & Giggles

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Thanks for reading!

Before you go...below you'll find a few ways we can work together, and other bits & bobs: