Be Inspired Hand spun wool and mohair yarns for knitting and crocheting sweaters and accessories.

Hope everyone had a fantastic end of the summer! I'm sad it's all over but starting to get excited about wearing sweaters and cozy accessories again! Last week I worked on finally putting together inspiration boards for our two collections of yarn that are full of trims, Gypsy Garden and Rolling Stone.  Take a peek below...

The Gypsy Garden yarns are the first collection of yarn that I designed and spun.  The idea behind these yarns was probably mulling inside my mind for a long time before I actually sat down to spin them.  The main idea I hoped to infuse them with was a feeling of happy dreamlike freedom. The image of the dancing girl and embellished bicycles show here embody that essence.

I’ve always loved flower chains and they were a natural inspiration for me as well as wrists

stacked high with bright friendship bracelets.  

Below are the images and materials that inspired the Rolling Stone yarns...

Our Rolling Stone yarn is inspired by all things India, mainly the collection of trims and

materials that I brought back after countless trips while starting Knit Collage there.

When I first began traveling to India I instantly fell in love. Just being there and watching life around you unfold is amazing. 

A few of my favorite things from India are the insanely gorgeous flower markets, the

intricately painted elephants and the trucks that their male drivers fill with colorful

plastic chandeliers to decorate them. The collection of colors, fabrics and sparkles

present everywhere here are the main inspiration. This collection of yarn features

recycled sari silk, trims from local markets like rhinestone paisleys and metallic

flowers as well as hand-printed fabrics from Jaipur. This is just a small glimpse

into what inspires us but hope you enjoy it! Our big shipment of yarn arrives soon and

we're super busy prepping for that...but we will have a few new free patterns

coming soon, so stay tuned!

Knit Collage HQ is currently the basement of the house I grew up in.  That has it's ups and downs (being in suburban Philly isn't exactly awesome!) but I love all the quiet, light and space I have to splay out all my trinkets when I feel like making something.  This morning, I am working on a doile belt and a shell necklace, just because I need a break from all the numbers I've been crunching this week.  Take a look into the office space below and see why I love it here!

Prayer flags my sister and I knit up for the last tradeshow we went to.

Doile belt I'm working on...

I have a lot of beads.....

And ribbons and crochet doiles and beading needles! 

My favorite lamp, from a thrift store in Syracuse, NY. Why don't they make stuff like this anymore?!

A detail shot of our new Buttercup Glow yarn knit up into a prayer flag triangle.

Rejected skeins of yarn (for one reason or another these aren't up to par with our quality standards) I still use them for my projects.

I have a large collection of vintage suitcases from thriftstores!  

Table I collaged back in high school.

view from the top!

Craziness as usual from Knit Collage headquarters! We're busy preping for our next tradeshow in Cologne, Germany in April. Booking flights and ordering fixtures for our booth.  It's bigger than what we're used to at other shows so a little bit intimidating, not sure how we're going to fill all of that space yet!  I've also planned another trip to India for the 2nd week of March to check in on the spinners and see how progress is going. We have more wheels and fiber on order so hopefully everything will be moving along smoothly! Stay tuned for pics of that. On another note, I've been working on a gradient idea for the Pixie Dust yarn. I love how the colors merge together subtly when knit together in gradient rows.  A cozy winter sweater knit up in this colorway would be perfect for the freezing east coast weather we're having right now!

Pixie colors from the end, Pomegranate Blossom, Mango Glitter, Honey Tea, Lemon Meringue and in the center, Snowflake. Yum!

I knit 4 rows for each color.