Who here subscribes to Vogue Knitting? Check out our cool feature in this fall's edition! We've got Jimmy's SmartStix and a Namaste Maker's Wallet perfectly paired for Vogue Knitting's display...or for your stash!  Interested? Check out SmartStix and Namaste. We've even got that ChiaoGoo Blue Shorties Set too! Got your notions covere...

It's third period, JBWU students, which means it is time for a social studies lesson. Here at Jimmy Beans Wool, we sell yarn from over 100 manufacturers, companies big and small. That's a lot of yarn, and it comes from a lot of places! Today, our lesson is on just that: where does the yarn come from? What makes it different from place to place? Lots of yarn suppliers are very open about their yarn's origins. To list a few, we stock yarns that uses fibers from China (Cascade), South Africa (Madelinetosh), Italy (Berroco), New Zealand (Love Fest Fibers), Turkey (Universal Yarns), Uruguay (Manos del Uruguay, of course), Peru (Malabrigo), the United States (Lorna's Laces), and the UK (Rowan)! And that's just the beginning!  Suppliers get their yarns and fibers from all over the...

Hello crocheters and knitters! So you passed your first quiz, did you? I hope you studied hard and tucked away some facts about the history of knitting; you never know when you'll need to know something! Great work, my friends. Now it's time to move on to your second lesson: chemistry. Chemistry?? What does chemistry have to do with yarn? Believe it or not, chemical reactions are behind one of the most important considerations you'll make when you start out any sort of project: color. We know that, broadly, yarns can be put in three categories: protein fiber (like wool and other animal-sourced fibers), plant fiber, and synthetic fiber. But did you know that each of these fibers have to be dyed differently? All protein fibers, like wool and silk, are colored with acid dye. Acid dye uses...

Welcome, knit and crochet students far and wide, to your first summer school lesson here at Jimmy Beans Wool University! You were accepted into this program because you have a passion for fiber crafts, and the skills to bring that passion to life -- but there is always more to learn. And so we begin with one of the most serious and most often-neglected topics: HISTORY. Specifically, the history of knitting. Micro-specifically, the history of men in knitting. Since Father's Day is this week (Sunday the 16th!), you can come to your Dad's cookout prepared with some cool facts to entice him to learn to knit, too. There is a stereotype today of knitting as a woman's craft, but it certainly hasn't always been that way. The oldest knitted item that has been found is an Egyptian Sock from...