One of our designer friends, Julie Turjoman (author of Brave New Knits) recently released her second book called Knits That Breathe, and we couldn't be more thrilled for her! We met Julie, by way of Sandy, one of our long-time employees. They used to work together at a yarn shop in the bay area back in the day and are longtime buddies. When Julie released Brave New Knits back in 2010, she came over to Reno to do a book signing and trunk show display at our shop. What a fun event that was! 

We are so excited to share Knits that Breath with you, which just came out in print last week and uses tons of great summery yarns including some of our favorites, Shibui Linen and Lorna's Laces Sportmate. We just love this collection of light and summery designs, so we did a quick interview with Julie to find out more about the making of the book. Here is what she had to say:

Knits That Breathe

1. Can you give us a super quick history of Knits that Breathe for our readers who might be new to your work?

All 12 garments in the book are designed with cool fibers that drape beautifully, and have moisture-wicking or breathable properties that help keep the wearer cool and comfortable. Some of the fibers will be unfamiliar to knitters, such as Outlast, SeaCell, milk and soy protein fiber - and others are warm-weather staples such as cotton, linen, and bamboo. All are well worth trying! Sizing ranges from XS to 4XL in some cases to flatter a wide range of figures.

Splash Cardigan

2. What was the inspiration for the book?

At Stitches last year, I overhead several knitters complaining that they could no longer wear their warm, woolly sweaters because they were always too hot, or too itchy. Having suffered from the same problem myself and being equally frustrated by the pile of sweaters languishing in my closet, I was inspired to take up the challenge and come up with solutions. I researched alternative and plant-derived fibers and then designed a collection of tunics, cardigans, tees, and more to give knitters some new options for wearing knitted garments.

Pochette

A little behind the scenes...

3. Do you have a favorite design (or designs) from the book that you’d like to highlight for us? What makes this design(s) your favorite?

The Pacific Coast Tunic (on the cover) was the first project I designed for the book, and it remains one of my favorites. It has wonderful movement and drape, and a flattering A-line shape with raised seams and pleats that make it special. I often wear it with a light tee shirt underneath, and get compliments on it every time. The Tencel Tape yarn from Prism was lovely to work with, and was new to me. Part of the joy of this book was experimenting with new-to-me fibers and blends to discover their cooling characteristics. I also really enjoy wearing the Zephyr tunic made from Lorna's Laces Pearl yarn. The yarn has a beautiful shimmer from the silk blend, and drapes softly. I enjoy designing top-down sweaters because they are nearly seamless, as well as including practical pockets in my designs - so this project is among my favorites because it has both of these features.

Pacific Coast Tunic

Zephyr Tunic

4. What kind of knitter would you recommend this book to?

Knits That Breathe is for every knitter who lives in a hot climate, or is sensitive to wool and other animal fibers, or who has an unreliable internal thermostat (i.e. hot flashes). My theory that "it's always summer someplace" is strengthened every time I get messages from knitters in Texas, Florida, Arizona and other hot parts of the country to tell me that they love the book. Of course, I also get great feedback from knitters who simply run hot, or whose hot flashes make it uncomfortable for them to wear designs made from wool, alpaca, or other heat-retaining fibers.

Still Waters

Iced Frappuccino

Flutterby Silk Tunic

5. What future projects are on the horizon for you?

I'm very excited about my next book, which is in production now. It will be released in late fall, in plenty of time for holiday gift-knitting. It's still in "secret" mode, but I can tell you that it's a collection of accessories with a fun and very stylish vintage theme.

Julie now lives in Chicago and spends her time knitting and designing. You can find out more about Julie's work on her website: www.julieturjoman.com or on Ravelry where her username is "juliebean." 

Also, Julie is kindly offering copies of the E-book version of Knits That Breathe to two lucky readers! Please leave us a comment telling us what your favorite design from the book is along with your Ravelry name. Two winners will be chosen at random next Wednesday, July 2nd and Julie will send you a PDF copy of the book on Ravelry. Only entries that include their Ravelry contact info will be eligible.

Updated 7/2/14- This contest is now closed. The two winners (thanks to random.org) were comment #'s: 9 & 18! They will be notified via Ravelry shortly!! Thanks for reading!

If you'd prefer a hard copy of Knits that Breathe instead of an E-book, you can purchase them on our website here. 

Happy summer knitting!
Kristen

Should we start by announcing the winners or by telling you all about our TNNA trip?

The holiday's seem to go on throughout the year here at JBW and that's because it is the most amazing place to work in the world!!! We just have fun no matter what is going on and that's even when tons (literally) of yarn are delivered, or we need to work a bit harder to make sure you all get your orders on time...we just have fun around here!

We had our annual holiday dinner party and boy was it something truly special this year! My son Chris was in attendance, as his sweetie Sara has been working here for a couple of months now and he was her date.

Lots of new faces and some that have been around for a bit too! Allison (our original shop manager) is back on board, but was sorely missed as at the last minute there was a family emergency. Luckily it turned out to be only a scare, phew!

Her daughter Amanda was there for the 50th time?? Ha ha! Amanda has left, come back, left, come back and none of us are sure how many times, but she is a real asset to the shop!

We had dinner at a the WONDERFUL Charlie Palmer Steak House in the Grand Sierra Resort here in Reno...and I am sure that everyone would agree the whole night was spectacular!

There were gifts, toasts and texts with pictures of our sleeping angel Huck to reassure our head beans Laura and Doug that all was well at home!


Thanks Emily for sending me this great picture.I have it set as my phones wallpaper to remind me what is really important in life...isn't he a doll?

Everyone was having fun. Here Bethany and Victoria struck a pose for me as I ran around with my camera trying to catch all the action.

I was Bethany's secret Santa and made her a flower (pattern from Brave New Knits) out of Koigu At the last second included a hammered brass piece I made over the button. She was tickled and it looks great on her!




Our two head beans got into the spirit of things and happily posed for me too! Awww what can you say!! They are super duper neat!! Thanks you guys for taking such great care of all of us and for this fantastic party!!


Our gift to the Zander's this year is a throw out of squares done by the little beans in various shades of blues and browns...knit and crocheted! The unfortunate thing was that we didn't quite get them all put together, so we gave them the squares as is with the promise of a finished throw. Laura immediately noted that she would not be sewing the squares together...it was hilarious!! They enjoyed looking at each square and hearing about who had made it. Stay tuned for the finished throw as Kristen will be blogging about that soon.

We had a special bean pop in for the week our very own Leanne who is now living in Boise came down to be with us. It was awesome to see her!! She still works for us in cyber space and will be coming back to town soon, yippppeeee!!!

Here she is getting a hug from Victoria...how can you resist that smile?


Here are Kristen and Nick the newlyweds cuddling in a corner...come on you two!! Aren't they a fantastic couple?







Here Amber is snuggling with her new Unicorn that Tiffany gave her!! If you couldn't guess Amber is in LOVE with Unicorns and Tiffany really scored on this present! I hope you get to meet Tiffany sometime, as she is one of the nicest people I know!






To the right Terry is looking lovely and is with her friend Dave who is just the nicest guy! Then to the left is Marilyn who has been one of our best customers and is now a little bean!



Erika and Nicole are listening to something interesting.






Below right, Kathy is hanging with Victoria. I am sad to report that Victoria will be leaving us to spend more time with her family in February, but Kathy is helping out with all the buying and what not. Kathy started with us as a temporary employee last holiday season and has really filled a need, thanks Kathy, you rock!












To the left we have Amanda M. with her honey Shane. Both of them are working for us now! Amanda is also a return bean and these days I don't know what we would do without Shane to help around the shop...drowning in yarn that's for sure!

Then we have Ailene and Holly (left) who are working their way through school and are so much fun to have around the shop that I don't know what we will do when they graduate. I think Holly is scheduled to graduate this spring and Aileen well I am not sure...but I can tell you we will keep them as long as we can!





To the right we have Amber and Sharon smiling with Leanne laughing (again that smile). I hope you are lucky enough to have Sharon help you sometime, or Leanne, or Amber...gosh all the little beans are amazing!

I am going to let some of the pictures do the story telling for me...as we have more beans now than we have ever had before, phew! It makes me wonder what it will be like next year? Maybe we will have to rent a ballroom some where?



Shevawn with her honey and her Darth Vader...what's not to love? A neater gal you can not find than Shevawn who is always willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done!






Chantal with her sweetie looking very stylish! Chantal is one of our brilliant high school Students who will be graduating in the spring and she really adds a bright spot to the shop!


Then to the right we have Sara and Elyse her best friend...these two gals are super neat to have around and will both graduate from high school in the spring. Of course Sara is pretty special to me, as she puts up with my great son Chris and is a budding knitter!

Well I hope I didn't leave anyone out and here's wishing everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

Thank you to all our fantastic customers and friends who have helped to make 2010 one of the most amazing years ever!

As always happy knitting and crocheting!

Jeanne

Drum roll please...we have chosen our 3 finalists,
Tracy your idea for the scarflette/veil is in, Leah your hip zig zag baby hat is in and Daria your lace based hat is in!! CONGRATULATIONS and I can't wait to see your ideas done up!


I hope you will check back and leave your comments on the blog the week of January 24th-28th which will help us choose the final design!

As always happy knitting and crocheting!

Jeanne

I am getting very excited about Julie Turjoman coming next week on Thursday the 28th from 6:00-8:00 pm! She will be here signing her new book Brave New Knits and will have the entire trunk show with her!!

Several of us have already knit projects from the book and there isn't much in this book that I don't want to knit up!

Julie decided that the 'cyber' knitters needed to be recognized and she gathered them all into one forum and the result is WOW!

Sandy is knitting the Orchid Thief Shawl by Ysolda Teague's and she knit the Hydrangea Neckwarmer by Anne Hanson. I knit one too out of the Classic Elite Fresco in red. It is a great project and worked up quickly.





Sandy is using the Malabrigo Sock for her Orchid Thief and I can't wait to see it finished!

We are getting a nice little group that have RSVP'd and I know we are going to have a ton of fun!! I hope you can come and visit with Julie and just have a great time!




I met Julie at Stitches West last year and she is really down to earth, so I know you will love meeting her. If you can come let us know and will save a spot for you!

As always happy knitting and crocheting!

Jeanne