New Blog- WE'VE MOVED!!!!!

Take a look at our new blog - www.bruceandmark.com

It's easy to navigate and full of fantastic knitting advice, stories, some patterns (coming soon), information on my knitting books, and also tons of recipes and info on my 21 cookbooks as well.

Just click and you're there. Don't forget to bookmark it so you can get there the easy way next time.

--Bruce

upcoming Austin knitting classes

I'm teaching in Austin at Hill Country Weavers!

While I'm in Austin next week to teach cooking at Lake Austin Spa I've agreed to teach some knitting classes at HCW. They're charging a really low fee so everyone can come and knit with me! You’ll pay only $30 for a 3 hour class!

Call today to reserve your spot: 512-707-7396

REVERSIBLE CABLE SCARF
May 14, 10 am - 1 pm
$30

Rule #10: Men are Oblivious.

We don’t pay attention to our clothes. In fact, you might find me on any given day wearing my shirt inside out. So how do you knit for a guy and get over this problem? Knit a reversible cable scarf. The pattern in KNITS MEN WANT takes 5 cables and ribs and combines them to create a scarf that not only is the same front and back, but it’s also challenging and fun to knit.

You’ll find it so gorgeous, you might just want to knit it for yourself. Come start this amazing pattern with me and I’ll show you how to vary the pattern to fit any yarn, thicker yarn makes it more feminine and he’ll show you how to adapt the pattern to make it work.

Want to turn this gorgeous pattern into a blanket or throw? I will show you how to do that as well. We’ll spend the first part of class choosing yarn and doing our swatches. Not necessarily for gauge, it’s not crucial, but instead we’ll swatch for fabric - to see how changing needle size changes the fabric we make and changes the finished document.

Knitting requirements: You must knit and purl - have experience with ribbing, and if you’ve never done cables, well if you’re a quick study we can make that work but this is not a intro to cables class.

WOVEN KNITTING
May 15, 10 am - 1 pm
$30

There’s nothing quite like creating a knitted garment that looks like it came right off a loom. It’s easier than you think but goes against common sense. Very thin yarn… but much larger needles. Really? Sometimes.

I will show you how to knit his reversible herringbone scarf which looks loomed. But this one is made with a fairly thick yarn.

Then we’ll move onto the linen stitch as well as a tweed stitch, and three and one (which I like to call a woven dense garter). Each of these is made with thinner yarn. Slipped stitches create dense fabric that’s just perfect for throws, shawls, scarves, and even table runners.

Knitting requirements: You must knit and purl and be comfortable with a wide range of yarn gauges and needle sizes.

Spaces are limited. Call today! 512-707-7396

Sweaters for the new Book

Well, after months of sketching and designing - swatching and ripping, the first few projects are going out to my tech-editor, Therese.

The new book is called The Boyfriend Sweater and there will be 14 sweaters and 4 scarf projects designed for men or women. The first one here is a willow green 3-dimensional honeycomb in a women's medium.... it will be knitted in black for a man - photographed two ways in the book.

Also going out are 2 scarves using a woven stitch that makes the scarves look like they were loomed.

Along with writing and designing and knitting for The Boyfriend Sweater, I'm writing a whole grains cookbook to be published by Rodale sometime in 2012 and I'm testing recipes for Weber grills. Busy busy busy.

Next week, I'm off to Texas for 2 weeks of book publicity for my latest book GOAT: Meat Milk Cheese, teaching goat classes all across the state. Ending with 2 days of knitting classes at Hill Country Weavers in Austin.

Stay tuned... more to come as projects progress including a houndstooth jacket, a plaid pull over, and the prefect varsity sweater in cashmere and baby alpaca!

As a knitwear designer, it's always heartwarming to see the results others get from my patterns. The color choices are enlightening and while gauge changes make my designs look completely different than I imagined, it's always wonderful to see people put their own stamp on things.

Nine months ago, I put this reversible herringbone scarf up for sale on ravelry.com and over 100 people have bought their copy. Here are some wonderful versions folks have shared with me.

Justine made the scarf for her husband in a two-tone colorway of hazelnut and chocolate. It looks as delicious as it does warm and comfy.

Natalie from Laval, Canada made if for her husband in these two shades of gray. Perfect if you want to blend into the snow. But gorgeous nonetheless.

Luisa in Austin made this beauty in a solid blue.

Subtle and beautiful.

Please, keep sharing your photos of finished projects. We all love seeing them!!!

Where does your yarn come from?

As much as I find the word locavore over-used, I do eat that way. Mostly, by eating local meat,

I not only know and support local farmers, but I know the animals: how they lived, what they ate, and how they were slaughtered. It's all important to me and I talk about how important it is to know more about your food in my book REAL FOOD HAS CURVES.

And as much as I can, I also like to know where my yarn comes from. Some factory in China?

Good to know. A native artisan in Peru hand spinning baby alpaca? Even better to know. What about tracing the yarn all the way back to the flock of sheep? Incredible -- and doable with Mountain Meadow Merino.

I discovered this at Stitches East in Hartford this past Autumnyarn from Laurel of www.handknitting.com. She offered me a skein of Mountain Meadow to try out and

I couldn't refuse. It's the merino of my childhood. The kind of yarn that my grandmother

would have loved, natural colors, soft and bouncy, and it just calls out to be knitted.

But best of all I know it comes from this flock at Camino & Sons KID Ranch.

I had one skein to play with and came up with this adorable cabled Yurt Hat.

To purchase this pattern, simply click the button