We have some really big plans for 2015 – more Tips + Tricks, another awesome Crochet Summer, but since, ultimately, this blog is for you, we want to know what you think!
My request is two-fold:
1) Tell me your favorite blog, and why! It doesn’t have to be a knitting blog – heck, it doesn’t even have to be a crafting blog! I’d just love to hear what it is and why you enjoy reading it.
2) Tell us what you want more of on our blog, and, if you’re feeling particularly constructive, what you’d like to see less. We love that you “visit” us here in our little home on the internet, so what makes you come back? What posts are you happy to see? What posts make you skip over to the next blog in your feed?
To thank you for taking the time, we’re offering three prizes to three lucky commenters! Leave a comment with the answers to our questions between now and Sunday, February 22 at midnight EST, and we’ll randomly choose three people to each receive one of the three prizes listed below:
1. A copy of every Kelbourne Woolens book: Little Things, Weekenders, Tundra: Elements, The Baby Collection, and Volume 1.
2. A Crafter’s Supply Pack, Knit Check, and KW Project Bag.
3. 3 skeins of yarn of your choice.
Thanks! – KGO
my favorite blog is smitten kitchen! and my favorite part of your blog is pictures of yarn and the pretty things you make with it…
One of my favorite blogs is Cinnamon Girl o Maine – http://www.cinnamongirlofmaine.com/ beautiful Instagram with lots of gorgeous knit goodies too. More patterns! More tips and tricks and tutorials! More photos! 🙂
My favorite blog is wolftree magazine,just amazing stories and photos just a joy to read
My favorite part of your blog are the patterns and book previews..just love the pictures and positivity,very relaxing and warm feeling,especially with all the snow here in Maine! I would like to see more of the tips and tricks sections,very helpful.
Thanks! Deb
My favorite blog is Modern Mrs. Darcy — even when I don’t have time to get to anything else in my feedly, I take a break every morning around 10am to read that day’s post. She has a good amount of variety, but as a librarian I’m just happy to see such a well-rounded book&reading blog.
I love love LOVE when you show how to style a knit piece, incorporating it into your wardrobe with basics everyone has. I feel like I’m always eager to knit a new pattern, but then stop myself because I can’t imagine how I would wear it.
Thanks for always providing great knitspiration!
my three favorites are probably Yarn Harlot, Soulemama and Knitspot. I appreciate that they post frequently, and share things that aren’t all about knitting. Your blog, I love the simplicity of design, good combination of pictures and text, and the depth of design background. I’d like to see more of the posts with different ways to wear things, polyvore I think? gives me lots of ideas. 🙂
I follow about a hundred blogs, from cooking to politics to knitting, and it’s really hard to choose favorites. I can tell you what I like and don’t like though. I like learning new and interesting things – whether it’s a new recipe, a new pattern, a new technique, or a new place to visit. Of course I like free knitting patterns, and giveaways, but I also like to learn about new designers, new yarns and new opportunities (retreats, classes, meet ups, etc.). I also like a bit of variety. An entire page of marketing/sales, gets a little boring. I recently unloaded a podcast because it was so darn long. It went on and on. I’d heard so much about it and everyone was raving about it. So I checked it out. But it was so long I couldn’t listen to anything else, while trying to keep up with their long chats. That said, blogs are the same for me. I don’t want to read a dictionary, but I also don’t like getting a link in my blog reader. If I wanted to click over to the each blog, I wouldn’t need a reader. It’s impossible to make everyone happy, but I wish you the best of luck on trying! I’m sure everyone appreciates your efforts.
I follow quite a few blogs, mostly on knitting, but also sewing and cooking/baking. I thought it wouldn’t be easy to pick a favorite, but then I realized that I always scan quickly to see if The Yarn Harlot has written anything for today before I go back and settle in to the collection. If I don’t enjoy reading something consistently, I quit following the blog and delete it from my feed. Others might have an off day or so, but be interesting most of the time, so I’ll scan to check before reading the whole post.
Why I like one over another? Probably for the humor, the ability to see the silly, goofy side of life, a glimpse into someone else’s world, their problems, excitements, successes and failures. What I don’t like so much? Too many exclamation marks, too much (feels false) excitement over too many (mostly small) things.
One of my favorite blogs is Fringe Association. I really enjoy The "new favorites" posts which highlight collections of noteworthy patterns that have been released (e.g. cable sweaters or spring scarves). I usually read these posts before choosing a new project as I always love the selection and they act as inspiration!
What I love most about the Kelbourne Woolens blog is the tips and tricks. The instructions are always clear and easy to understand. I have added the link to "my favorites" and my Pinterest board for a quick reference.
I have also really enjoyed when your blog features how to style knitted items—it helps me visualize how I would wear an item or how an item would fit into my wardrobe!
I love the Smitten Kitchen blog. She is a food blogger in NYC and writes beautifully and humorously about food. Her cookbook is also fantastic.
I am a recent follower of this blog. I love the colors and types of fiber you write about, and would love to learn more about how fiber is spun into yarn. Such an amazing process!
I read a lot of blogs, so I can’t really choose just one…but I’d say it’s a three-way tie between Fringe Association (which I discovered via you guys!), Violently Domestic, and Woolen Diversions. I like Fringe Association because Karen has such an amazing eye for details and design, and the presentation is beautiful. I like Violently Domestic because I think that Hunter is hilarious, and I like her designs and cat photos. And I always make a point to read a new Woolen Diversions post, because she shares a lot of interesting stuff about spinning, and we seem to have a similar approach/taste in most fiber-related things. I think the reason why all three of these folks top my list of favorites also has to do with the frequency of posting (ie, they post several times a week) and the content that they post (well-written, great photos, etc.).
I really love reading your blog, and I think the technique posts are awesome – I find myself pinning them for reference later on. I always like seeing posts about your new yarns and patterns because I’m easily enabled, and I would really love another summer of crochet!
My favorite blog (right now, anyway) is Cold Antler Farm (barnheart.com). I love the warts-and-all portrayal of farm life she gives, and her unique and urbane (while always sincere and respectful) perspective on her adopted way of life. I like all of your content, especially book and pattern collection previews, but I would love to see more of the behind-the-scenes kind of stuff. As a smaller yarn company, I think you’re positioned perfectly to give us knitters a glimpse into a world that might seem workaday to you, but is endlessly fascinating to us!
1) My favorite blog is probably Martine from iMake – http://www.imakegsy.com. Everything she writes about is interesting, her posts are short and sweet, and she takes great photos.
2) I hate to say it, but I scroll right past long posts with lots of texts. I also don’t click on pattern links unless they go to Ravelry (sorry, but I figure honesty is best here). I’d love to see more tips/tricks or tutorials. And I’d love to see more personal content – it doesn’t have to be too invasive, but some snapshots from holidays (if you ever have time to take any!) or a quick mention of what y’all personally are working on, that sort of thing.
My fav blog is Fringe Association – because it is a blend of fashion inspiration, how to and news about products/yarn from a user (who, granted is a seller). On your blog, I’d love to see how your yarns can be used – both in your patterns and beyond – perhaps a bit more fashion related (how do your patterns work w the trends?) I really enjoy your tutorials and I love reading about the characteristics of yarns.
Good luck!
Off the top of my head I’d say my favorite blog is The Purl Bee – I love their crafts and projects that are always modern and fresh. I love to read your blog for the same reasons. Although your style is your own I like the mixture of projects and personal. I’d love to see more tutorials – it’s always fun to learn more techniques. Thanks!
Like others, big fan right now of Fringe Association. I like that the posts are short and interesting. Just the thing for me when I sit down at my desk at work in the morning to get me into the right spirit to spend my day lawyering – work hard during the day, then I can play when I get home. Or, just enough for a quick peek over lunch to rest my usually over-thinking mind. That’s pretty much what I look for in a blog. Pretty pictures, maybe a paragraph of text. (exception for Felicia of Craft Sessions who always manages to write great essays about craft)
I loved the posts you did last year (I remember some in the spring?) with outfit inspiration featuring knitwear. I’d also love it if someone did a "who to check out on Ravelry" round-up in the same way that Woolful highlights four people’s Instagram feeds on Fridays. Once again, a favorite pastime for me during work is to peruse projects on Rav (a quick indulgence to be able to see something pretty instead of legal briefs), and I especially like to discover new users who are amazing crafters or who have tastes similar to mine.
I love Mockingbird Hill Cottage. Claudia has an extraordinary way with words and by the time her blog posts, it’s breakfast time for me, so I enjoy my morning cuppa reading her entry. She also writes a sister blog about writing and books. There’s a link to that blog at Mockingbird. I love your posts on the new patterns and yarns. I would love to read more about the creative process of you and your designers, both in developing patterns and new yarns.
I get ‘happy’ when I see a new blog post on … http://www.maddermade.com/blog/ as I love the texture work, the simple colours & the photos are totally beautiful.
What do I want to see more of on your blog? Maybe some more behind the scenes stuff & design stuff as that is always interesting to read.
My favorite blog right now has to be Fringe Association, like so many have said. I enjoy the posts a lot and love Karen’s taste and the insight we get into her mindset. As for your blog, I’d love to learn more about your design process and also what goes into your yarn production.
My favorite blog is Kate Davis the knitter and designer , she is very informative and interesting.i like her pictures of Bruce her black lab. I like yor layout your color choices , and your patterns.
Like others have already mentioned, my favorite knitting blog right now is Fringe Association – I like that there is a mix of techniques, fashion and inspiration. I think I’m also drawn to the fact that the posts have great visuals and don’t tend to be too long — I often end up either skimming or just passing over things that are too text-heavy. Another fave these days is http://www.myso-calledhandmadelife.com because she’s an every day knitter with great pictures and pattern inspiration.
I like that you often have techniques posts – I find myself pinning them to reference later. I also love seeing photos of knits incorporated with outfits – it always gives me inspiration and ideas of new projects that I want to try!
To be completely honest, I no longer read blogs directly. I always go to specific posts via Twitter or Instagram. One of my favorites though, is Susan B Anderson’s blog.
For this blog, I found you thru Instagram, so maybe keeping up with the social media front? I loved the chart reading series too. So tutorials are awesome too!! 🙂
I read a lot of blogs – mostly cooking, knitting, and running blogs. I love It’s a Dog Lick Baby World (was a running blog, sort of, til she injured her back) – it’s consistently hilarious and mostly just consists of stories from her life with lots of funny gifs. Food-wise, I love Cookie and Kate – consistently great recipes and photography (including pictures of her dog!), and fun anecdotes. Knitting, I gotta say Yarn Harlot – I will always love her blog.
Unlike many people, I don’t mind text-heavy posts – as long as the person is a good writer. I like getting a glimpse into people’s lives. I love seeing different people’s versions of FOs, not just original pattern pictures – those kinds of posts are always fun.
I find nine million pictures of the same thing (garment, meal, whatever) from ever so slightly different angles incredibly annoying. More than anything, though, I loathe truncated feeds. I follow a ton of blogs, using feedly, and don’t want to click through a bunch of times. Honestly, unless it’s a really stellar blog, I will unfollow if its truncated
Thanks for asking for feedback – that means a lot that you want it!
I love How Sweet Eats. Her writing style is great and her recipes inspire me.
As for this blog, I’d love to see more work in progress updates.
yarnlaw on ravelry.
My favorite blogs are Like Mother Like Daughter and Small Things because I am a Catholic mom with 8 kids who needs all the help she can get! These blogs are inspiring and practical. As for the Kelbourne Woolens blog, I enjoy it so much as-is. I truly can’t think of anything that would be an improvement. I’m a devoted follower. Rav amchart
Apologies if this is a repeat post. I wrote what I thought was a thoughtful comment, then my iPad (bleep)-ed up as I was filling out the contact information. (Why don’t I ever learn my lesson and save my typing to the clipboard at the end of every sentence???)
Anyway, here’s a short version of what I typed before:
One of my go-to blogs is Fringe Association. Karen comes across as very down-to-earth, she mixes up the subject matter, and writes in a casual but detailed, informative style. And her photography rocks.
What do I love about your blog? Top of the list are the great tutorials. So helpful, so clear, so well illustrated. Thanks you!
What would I like more of? Shhhh: men’s patterns. Designs that are great looking and classic, but still have enough flair, cool stitch patterns, etc., to make them interesting without being over the top. With some awesome exceptions, most of us guys do prefer dark colors and neutrals. We (us stereotypical guys) like basic looks and clean-fitting clothing. But is it possible to design menswear that is fun to knit AND looks great on a man once it’s knitted? It’s a tall order, and when I become more accomplished as a knitter I’ll try to put my needles where my mouth is. (Oh, that’s a bizarre visual. Let’s go back to "money where my mouth is.") But I think it’s doable. I think getting outside of one’s sartorial comfort zone can include small steps (a pop of color, a stripe of moss stitch, etc.)
David (Ravelry ID: seattleknitterguy)
Some blogs I enjoy are So About What I Said…, The Chicken Mama, Susan B. Anderson, and Modern Mrs. Darcy. There are so many others that I enjoy too though!
I love all of the beautiful patterns and yarns that you feature on this blog – they are lovely to look at and daydream about making. I agree with the commenter who said that more men’s patterns would be great. I would love to see some dashing things to knit for my dad, my boyfriend, my brother-in-law, etc.
Anni
(Rav ID solovyay, email asmith7@binghamton.edu)
1) I love the Journey Kitchen blog– great updated Indian recipes, but also something of the author’s life in Kuwait. Fiber-related, I like Vermont Grand View Farm’s blog because they are really living what they preach, and there are great photos of their animals. I helped them but an emergency guard llama a few years back and got beautiful farm-spun in return.
2) Your tutorials are so helpful–even when I think that I already know how to do something, a tutorial can give another perspective. How about a few more men’s patterns?
Thanks! Allison Kelsey a9kelsey@gmail.com
1.) My favorite blog is the Yarn Harlot’s blog. I love reading about her travels and knitting and just her general tone. I feel like she’s relatable and fun to read.
2.) I love seeing the new pattern collections released…I loved the announcement of Laura Nelkin’s collection! So beautiful. I usually don’t skip over posts unless I feel like I’ve already seen/heard it before 🙂
Thanks! Jenna 🙂 hardknitlife(at)gmail(dot)com
My Shetland is my favorite blog. Its about a Shetland and Icelandic horse farm. Every day i can’t wait to see what the "minions" are up to. The writer is a little rascally and so are her lovely animals which she adores. It also has lovely photography and speaks to the horse lover in me.
1) I love A Beautiful Mess, and also The Purl Bee – I love all the wonderful inspiration for making things, and the way that they are all led in step-by-step instructions.
2) Kinda following on from this… I would love to see more tutorials for knitted/crocheted things – I see a lot of tutorials for sewn things and other craft stuff, but there aren’t enough out there on knitting! I loved the tips and tricks series that you did – more of that would be really cool 🙂
Thank you! Bekah (thetangledknitter.blogspot.co.uk)
I love the looking at all of the colorful and inspiring posts on The Purl Bee. They always have simple and colorful project ideas ready and waiting.
I think it would be great to incorporate more inspirational project tutorials for techniques that would really make yarn from the Fibre Company pop!
Gail (Rav ID: gshf)
The blogs I find myself going straight for these days are Grainline Studio, Fancy Tiger Crafts, Blush Shop (http://blushshop.ca/blog/) and Team Wiking (http://www.teamwiking.com/) These are the ones I find grab my attention for styling, information and inspiration.
I also love the Kelbourne Woolens blog for the same reasons. I think the team does a great job and I’ve been a huge fan for a long time. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of ways to style the knitted pieces, perhaps a look into why certain colors are chosen (ie do you look at current trends?), I really loved when you had a gift guide last holiday season and as for patterns I think more house stuff would be amazing. I feel like I see very little practical ways to cozy up a home in the kniting/crochet world and yet it seems a pillow would be a fabulous way to show off a yarn in a stitch pattern without a huge yarn or time commitment. Oh, and I love when historical or regional knitting techniques are incorporated into a pattern. Love the new collection!
Shannon
It’s hard to pick one favorite blog. My favorite daily blog these days is "Love, Taza." Naomi posts such positive, encouraging messages about life with little ones at home. I also love the Tanis Fiber Arts blog for great knitting ideas, especially color combinations! My other favorite is the "Purl Bee." I like their free patterns and tutorials.
I like the Kelbourne Woolens blog because I love your yarn so much! I like seeing ideas of projects that will complement the yarn. I also like "Tips and Tricks" section to yelp with your patterns. I would love to see more Tips/Tricks to help with your more intricate cabling patterns.
My favorite blogs are:
A Holy Experience-Ann is a great communicator and has such a sensitive heart
Lime Scented-she is a wonderful knitter and so talented
A Spoonful of Sugar-mother and daughter share fun ideas and great recipes
I enjoy your blog! I like your yarns and tutorials and can always use ideas on fashion!
Thanks!
One of my favorite blogs is Running With Scissors. I would love to see more men’s patterns. 🙂
1) My favorite blog is Brooklyn Tweed! I love the photography, the background they give on the inspiration for patterns, and the general knowledge like color theory.
2) I love seeing finished objects made out of Fibre Company yarn, and also the useful techniques covered in knit-a-longs.
My favorite blog is Mason Dixon Knits. I enjoy the stories and patterns.
Your blog has great ideas, pics and patterns. And of course great yarn!
One of my favorite blogs is Tanis Fiber Arts. The site has so much color and inspiration. It is easy to read. Her enthusiasm and love for knitting really shines through. Also, she updates the blog regularly. Brooklyn Tweed is another beautiful site. Jared’s photography is on another level than all the rest! I love seeing your new yarns and colors. Thanks for feeding the soul of the knitter!
My favorite blog is Joy the Baker. I love her recipes but am in love with the stories she tells from these recipes. Reminds me that everyone is relatable through food and that not everyone’s story is how we might imagine to be. I am fairly new to this blog but am loving it. I love the feminitity and ease of the blog. Very lovely!
I like the Simply Notable blog. A mother and daughter share all kinds of creative ideas from knitting to cooking to crafts. Please keep the tutorials coming! I live in a rural area and get all of my knitting education and inspiration from great blogs like this one. It’s so nice to see all the projects made from your beautiful yarns!
Reading the other comments gave me a bunch more blogs to try! Like others, I read several, but some favorites are Knitted Bliss because of Modification Mondays and Pin-Ups on Fridays. I also love Woolcrush for the gorgeous pictures, and Woolful for the transitioning to a farm life perspective.
On the your blog I like the lovely photography of the items knitted in your yarn, and that you feature regular knitters who have used your yarn and have posted the projects on Ravelry. The tips and tricks are useful too. 🙂 Thanks for the chance to win such lovely prizes!
1) favorites: yarn harlot, Knitspot, the Rainey sisters: personal, design process, funny or interesting comments about knitting;
2) suggestions: more info about your design process
I subscribe to Crab and Bee. It’s a sewing blog. The blogger went on sabbatical for a year to sew and blog. She shares finished projects and any fitting issues she encounters through the process. Her fabric choices and ingenuity in choosing and altering patterns to suit her vision are so clever and inspiring!
There are several blogs I love that have already been mentioned (Yarn Harlot, Fringe Supply, Kate Davies), but my current favorite is probably The Craft Sessions (http://thecraftsessions.com/blog/). She has a current series on Stash Less. I’ve been trying to knit through my stash for the past year or so and be more mindful of my yarn choices, and it’s great inspiration.
As for what I’d like to see more of: part of being more mindful about my yarn choices is learning more about yarn. Why this yarn will work for this project and not that one. It would be great to have more like that. Also, Vintage Modern Knits is my favorite pattern book, and more designs in that style would be incredible. (The two sweaters I’ve made are getting me through this long winter, as well as the hat and fingerless mitts. And I’m currently working on my eighth Madeleine!)
(Now to go check out all these blogs I haven’t heard of!)
I religiously check My So-Called Handmade Life and The Craft Sessions (her series on Stash Less is so inspiring!)
I would love to see more Polyvore outfits, sometimes it is just so hard to style these gorgeous knits we’ve created!
I check Fringe Supply every morning. I like Fringe because her blog is updated so often and very ‘picture dense’. The blog that holds my interest the longest are those that have sharp clear pictures and give concise useful information on knitting or upcoming events in the world of fiber. I quickly tune out when it becomes a diary of what the writer ate or pictures of baby’s last birthday.
I also like info on what to wear with all these beautiful knits you design and painstakingly create, sometimes mine just end up in the closet.
Thank you!
T.
1) My favorite blog is SouleMama because it shares family homesteading adventures, things they make, and what inspires their days. It is especially nice that they share information on great products and businesses such as Kelbourne Woolens too.
2) I would love to see more advice on how to improve one’s knitting skills such as knitting gauge and quality and how to pick out a pattern to complete in such and such time especially when it comes to a fast growing baby or the crunch of the holidays. I wish newly posted patterns were more apparent in skill level. I come back regularly to Kelbourne Woolens blog due to my Feedly updates and e-mail updates from Kelbourne Woolens. I love seeing posts that feature a person wearing the knitted product. Posts that contain collages of photos cause me to skip over them since I often look at the posts on my iPhone and it’s easier to see a single photo at a time. I always skip over lace even though it looks beautiful, I just haven’t the desire to work with it.
I love lots of blogs already mentioned here: Fringe Association (love her series on tools), SouleMama (for everyday inspiration), and Yarn Harlot (for the funny). I also like Cup of Jo (love her Motherhood Mondays and personal posts). But the blogs I am most excited to see new posts from are Buckaloo View (so much good fiber stuff) and Posie Gets Cozy (the beautiful photos, lovely knits, and honest writing).
I like reading Kelbourne Woolens to see the pattern collections and keep updated on the yarn. I am a sucker for series and blogs with a strong voice. I don’t think all blogs need to be super personal, but I love knowing who is writing and getting to know that person through the blog.
My favorite blog– Posie Gets Cozy. The photos are beautiful, the crafts are creative and inspiring, she has a toddler half a year older than my toddler so I get ideas, and her writing is wonderful: funny, serious, thoughtful, goofy, evocative.
What I like on the Kelbourne Woolens blog: I’ve enjoyed the tutorials and also the unveiling of new patterns. I enjoyed Kate’s contributions to the Amanda sweater knit-along. What I skip: "Here’s a photo showing a tiny corner of something we’ll be releasing some time soon." 🙂
People have already mentioned my favorite knitting blogs (Mason-Dixon, Fringe, Yarn Harlot, Kate Davies, Lime Scented) and cooking blog (smitten kitchen). In craft land, I’m also a fan of Closet Case Files; elsewhere, all sorts of things! (stratechery, LanguageLog, James Fallows’ blog, Janet Stemwedel’s various blogs, Andrew Gelman’s stats blogs — and that’s before even getting to book/reading blogs). I guess what unifies all of my favorites is a strong point of view and voice, good writing, and thoughtfulness. Blogs that update frequently are fun (it’s nice to know there will be something to read when you go looking), but I am also devoted to blogs that post infrequently but with high quality. I get tired quickly of blogs that post just to post, and I have also been sad to see some favorite bloggers burn out because they couldn’t find a pace that was sustainable for them. For craft blogs, beautiful visuals are definitely part of what I’m looking for, but I still enjoy thoughtful and informative writing very much. I’m not just here for the eye candy (otherwise, I’d stick to Instagram!).
For the Kelbourne Woolens blog: love highlighting "real people" projects made with the yarns, and the overall visual appeal of the blog. Enjoy the tips/tricks content (though I think I’m a step or two past the intended learning level). I’d like to hear more about your design process (for yarns, colors, patterns), even —especially?—if it sounds kinda "business-y". Kelbourne Woolens is a creative enterprise, but you’re still working to identify and serve a market and I’m fascinated by how that all comes together. Also, add me to the chorus of voices who love posts with styling ideas for patterns! Can’t get enough of that. Finally, my nitpicky critique: it bugs me a little that I can’t always tell who is writing a post when I start reading it. Is it Courtney, Kate, or the disembodied voice of Kelbourne Woolens? Especially when the post is written as "I" (I get that "we" posts might not be written as a specific person speaking). I like that this blog is potentially multi-voice (I’d love to see even more individuality/distinctiveness there), and I know that there are often initials at the end of the posts, but it feels weird to me not to know at the outset whose voice I’m hearing.
Thanks for making a great blog (not to mention beautiful yarns and patterns!), and taking the time to listen to your readers’ thoughts! I hope you don’t feel pulled in too many directions by all our opinions 🙂
P.S. One more nitpick: I had a devil of a time posting my comment from my iPad (my primary blog-reading device). The form for entering my name/e-mail kept crashing, causing the whole page to reload. After three rounds of that, I gave up and re-wrote everything from a desktop computer. Problem could be on my end, but since we’re offering blog critique I thought I’d mention it.