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RED WING by Meghan Babin Hello, everyone! It's been a wild few weeks. It seems impossible that just two weeks ago we were in Northern California shooting our Spring 2020 collection with our friends from Harper Point Photography. Since then, the world as we know it has turned on its head, and we thought that sharing a pattern early from our new collection was just...

Kuffel by Alexis Winslow Turns out I've been preparing for social distancing my entire life. I'm an introvert with extrovert capabilities, but staying home for weeks with my knitting, Netflix, and a list of podcasts hasn't been unmanageable...so far. My new WIP, Kuffel by Alexis Winslow, is growing exponentially after my first week of doing little else but knit. Truth be told, I had an entirely different post...

Hi everyone!  Wow, the last few weeks have been a crazy ride, and it looks like there is no end in sight. We've battened down the hatches at both HQ East and West, as both Sloane and I live in places heavily hit by the virus. Both our families and loved ones are doing well, despite being a bit stir crazy, but we are...

Hello, Designers!  It's that time again! Our Autumn/Winter 2020 collection is inspired by Sloane's colorful and eclectic hometown, San Francisco. For this collection we're seeking city chic knitwear garments and accessories that translate from the workplace to weekend. We're thinking about the modern workplace, which encourages a comfortable, self-expressive, but polished wardrobe. If you're not already signed up for our designer mailing list head...

Well, that escalated quickly. Like many in the Bay Area, my family was already preparing for some form of social distancing a couple of weeks ago, but things have changed dramatically in the last few days: my kids are out of school, probably for the year, and our entire region is under a "shelter in place" order. We feel incredibly fortunate that so far, all...

This is a strange and challenging time for so many reasons, as many of us figure out how to adapt to "social distancing" requirements, school closures, and a climate that seems to change, day to day. At H+W, we're so proud to support our network of flagship stores, local businesses that form the backbones of the communities they serve and the knitting community at...

Kuffel by Alexis Winslow  My knitting needles are empty. Well, sort of. My selfish knitting needles are empty. After binding off my Star Crossed and immediately putting it on I realized that I have our entire Deep Winter 2020 collection to chose from for my next selfish knitting project. Kuffel by Alexis Winslow is my next sweater on deck and I've been thinking...

Meghan's Star Crossed in Forge + Weld  It's been a whirlwind month of knitting, but my Star Crossed by Jacqui Cieslak (@jacquelinecieslak) is finished! Emme's (@rocksteadyemme) gorgeous test knit of Star Crossed in Forge in our fawn colorway and Spincycle Dream State inspired me to immediately cast on a Star Crossed of my own!   Ever since I finished my test knit for Stagleap, I've been itching...

At Hudson + West Co., we strive for modern and approachable knits for our collections, including fresh and fun shawl designs. Craghill by Cheryl Toy, from our Deep Winter 2020 collection, turned out to be the perfect complement to the rest of our colorwork pieces. It's been a fan favorite on the site and at Stitches West this past weekend.  While we love the original color combination, we started dreaming...

Winter is here! This design is for all my GoT-lovin' House Starkers out there who will never be ready to say goodbye GRRM's epic series, A Song of Ice and Fire. The pattern is available for FREE on Knitty.com (Winter, 2019). Woohoo!!! The easy-peasy yarn bundle is available for this project here. Simply click the size you want to make and the yarn totals...

So, confession time: between design samples, yarn development, and teaching, I have not actually knit anything on a purely-for-myself basis since I made my first-ever Rhinebeck sweater in—wait for it—2015! (I suppose I knit each of my kids a sweater that winter, but does that count as selfish knitting?) But, I'm determined to change that this year, and to spend some time knitting things...

It's that time of year when the temperature plummets, the snow storms are piling fresh pile of powder on my doorstep, and all I can think about it knitting by the fire. It's around this time when my selfish knitlist bubbles to the front of my mind, so I thought I'd share with you my top 5 wishlist knits to make in Forge and Weld.  1. The...

The time crunch is real. It's that time of year where the days are literally and figuratively so short that my gift-knitting time seems to evaporate. Nevertheless, I've pulled together my most-coveted quick knits, gift list for the people I love the most. The only problem is I kind of want them for myself, too!  For Mom: Sangaku by Melanie Berg Image by Melanie...

It's that time of year: our needles are busy with gift knits, and we know many of yours are too. Deadlines are always better in a group, so we thought we'd provide a little extra motivation to share those gift-knit projects on Ravelry and Instagram over the next month by having a Giftalong of our own! The rules are really simple (we like it...

It’s one of the most wonderful times of the year: Ravelry’s Indie Designer Giftalong! Every year, a sizable chunk of the independent designer community comes together to run a massive knit-along (and crochet-along) to make holiday gifts with some of the amazing patterns coming out of the indie design world. At H+W, we love independent designers (and, hey, we’ve both been independent designers), who...

Now that we've had a minute to breathe post-launch, we wanted to take a closer look at the patterns from our Autumn/Winter 2019 collection, and let you hear a little more from the designers behind them about their inspiration, key techniques, and some color ideas (since we love our naturals, but, there's a whole dyed range out there, too!). For our first go, I...

Both Forge and Weld are spun at Battenkill Valley Fibers in Greenwich, New York, by Mary Jeanne Packer and her team. MJ is an industry veteran who has spun many of our favorite small-batch yarns, so she was an obvious choice to partner with when we were looking for a mill (and we admit it: we’re also pretty into the fact that she’s a...

As knitters and designers, we understand that how our yarns behave in your hand and in your finished garments is their most important characteristic. Lots of tiny choices along the way go into producing that particular hand feel and that particular kind of finished garment, however, and we want you to be able to understand both how our yarns are made and why they...