Knitters and crocheters from the U.S. and beyond will “plaza-bomb” TODAY on Friday, January 18th, 2013, to call attention to the #1 killer of women: heart disease. Adorned in red knitted/crocheted items from head to toe, the group will wave signs with tips for preventing heart disease and present anchors Matt Lauer, Al Roker, Savannah Guthrie, Natalie Morales, Kathie Lee Gifford, Hoda Kotb and others with their very own red handmade garments and products from the Needlearts industry’s Stitch Red campaign that was started to bring awareness and education about heart disease to women everywhere. The group will hand out other items like Stitch Red tattoos, red yarn and educational materials to other audience members in the plaza as well to further spread the message about the importance of heart health.

Jimmy, aka Laura, just came back from Vogue Knitting Live in New York and I am in awe of the time that was had by Laura and Kaity!!! They went to get the word out on our Stitch Red campaign! There were events, charity auctions and so much more!

The book, titled Knit Red, will be coming out in June and so many wonderful people were excited to hear about it at the event that they wanted to be on board.There are a couple of things in the book that are near and dear to us here at JBW as Kristen, Sandy and I are all in the book!!!

Kristen designed the most wonderful market bag, I designed a special spa set (for use after a workout, remember we are working on fighting heart disease) and Sandy got to test knit the most lovely shawl designed by Kieran Foley...sigh!

The book proof!! Woohoo!

Here is a proof of the upcoming book and I am so thrilled to be involved that words just won't do!!

My humble spa set :)

Kristen's spectacular market bag!

Kieran Foley's shawl that Sandy knit...yummy!

I am excited to knit Kristen's Market Bag and am having a hard time waiting for the pattern to be published!!

Of course, there isn't much in the book that I don't like....hmmmm actually I love everything!!



There are 30 designs in the book, all from amazing designers (if I do say so myself. Ha ha)!!

Laura also went to the trouble to get some superstar signatures on the Charity Auction Programs for Sandy and me....WOW!!!

Alice Starmore signed 1st, then there are Debbie Bliss, Sarah Hutton, Kaffe Fasset, Nicky Epstein and a whole bunch more. Thanks, thanks, thanks Laura! I know that these will be treasured by both of us forever!! We will both be framing them and hanging them up for inspiration!!

All in all, the event was more than a success in so many ways. Remember that heart disease is the #1 killer of women. Exercise and diet are the best ways to fight this disease. You can read more about this silent killer here at The Heart Truth. Believe me, being part of this project has opened my eyes!!

Sandy's lovely collection!

Jeanne's collection...swoon!

I have added walking (how simple is that?) to my daily routine and am always working on my diet. I am finding it easier and easier to make those healthy choices.

As always happy knitting, crocheting and sewing!

Jeanne

PS Jimmy Beans Wool is the official yarn, knitting and crochet supplier to U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing! To encourage people to be creative on and off the slopes, we have partnered with Red Heart® yarns to create “Stitch Mountain." Check out the free Stitch Mountain patterns at www.jimmybeanswool.com/StitchMountain and like our Facebook Fan Page!

Happy Friday! We made it through another week! It's been a bit crazy this week as we attended Vogue Knitting Live in NYC, where we introduced our new project--Stitch Red. Some of the Beans, including Jimmy herself, are currently in Phoenix, AZ for TNNA today! So many exciting things happening around here! We are all just trying to keep up!

Speaking of keeping up, we have so many new Beans around here and almost all of them are knitters! Even our newest knitters have been making their needles click at the speed of light, producing some amazing and beautiful knitted items. On that note, I thought I would share some of our newest Customer Service Beans with you today!

Rachel came to us after years of working in archaeology. She was so excited about turning her passion (knitting) into a career and thank goodness she turned to us! We are so lucky to have her knitting expertise. She knit a Honey Cowl (one of Madelinetosh's free patterns) for her sister-in-law for Christmas and almost didn't send it to her. She loved it so much that she decided to make one for herself. She is using Tosh Vintage in Opaline--isn't it gorgeous?!? (Also, yes, that is a "Rusted Root" top she is wearing in the background! Her collection of knitted garments is seriously impressive!)




Another of our newest Beans, Casey, who recently learned how to knit, has been creating all kinds of wonderful items! She has been drawn to the simple yet beautiful aesthetic of Churchmouse's patterns. She is currently knitting a pair of Welted Fingerless Gloves. In fact, here is the first one already finished in Madelinetosh's Tosh Vintage in Alizarin!



She also recently finished knitting an Annabella's Cowl out of Tosh DK in Parchment paired with Debbie Bliss's Angel in Ecru. She was all smiles as she showed it off to me-- isn't it beautiful? It's really the perfect accessory! I am so impressed with all of our new little Beans and their amazing knitting skills!



Ok, so now it's time to announce the winner of the Swan's Island Giveaway!  Drumroll please..... and the winner is commenter #32- Andi who said, "Pick just one color? Seriously?  That's mean... ;)  But I guess it would be Beetroot.  Gorgeous yarn!!!  I will definitely have to try it out if I don't win!"  Well Andi, you did win!  Please e-mail me directly at: kristen@jimmybeanswool.com to claim your prize.  (Thanks to the random number generator at random.org for picking our winner for us!)

Also, for those of you participating in the KAL, we have more of the Anna Cowl pattern and some more of the out of stock colors of the worsted on order and it should arrive next week.  Don't worry about getting a late start--this pattern should be a quick knit!  If you've already got your kit on order, that batch of patterns should arrive today and your orders will ship right away!  We've had such a great response to this KAL--I am so excited to start knitting!

Thanks everyone for tuning in this week for FOs and WIPs. Next week's post will be baby-centered as we all gear up for Bethany's baby shower this weekend! I can't wait to see what all the Beans come up with to give to the little bean in the oven. I'm sure it will all be adorable!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Knitting,
Kristen

PS. Jimmy Beans Wool is the official yarn, knitting and crochet supplier to U.S. Snowboarding and U.S. Freeskiing! To encourage people to be creative on and off the slopes, we have partnered with Red Heart® yarns to create “Stitch Mountain." Check out the free Stitch Mountain patterns at www.jimmybeanswool.com/StitchMountain and like our Facebook Fan Page!