Shannon Dunbabin of Cascade Yarns shares 60 Quick Knitted Toys

Shannon Dunbabin of Cascade Yarns shares 60 Quick Knitted Toys with her personal touches on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird.

The history of Cascade Yarns began in the late 1980’s. Bob Dunbabin found a location for Cascade Yarns® in a vacant storefront, in Pioneer Square, Seattle. The space was modest, squeezed between a mission for the homeless and the main north-south rail line. To Bob, the modest but logistically well located space suited the company’s needs. Best of all, it came with a good price. Bob believed that knitters cared more about the quality of the yarn, than the prestige of the office location. Bob would use the savings from the location to provide a better yarn at a better price. The real estate market in Seattle changed and Cascade Yarns® has moved 3 times, but the dedication to quality and value in the yarn remains.  [Read more…]

Have You Met Josh Bennett?

Have you met Josh Bennett? He was our guest this week on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird.

Josh Bennett grew up in Pennsylvania where he learned to knit from his grandmother when he was 8 years old. After a short time, he stopped, because boys don’t knit. Then he got interested in musical theater, because all boys sing and dance. In 2000, Josh worked at the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam, CT where he picked up knitting again from the cast members in the show, and hasn’t stopped.

After moving to New York City in 2001 and knitting constantly, Josh worked at a yarn shop on the Upper West Side that wrote custom patterns for their customers. Noticing the lack of menswear patterns being designed and published, he took his pattern writing skills and was determined to change that.

Since, Josh has collaborated with CFDA Award winner Michael Bastian on a hand knitted line, Michael Bastian by Josh Bennett sold at Bergdorf Goodman, Sak’s 5th Avenue and stores worldwide. They have also worked together on projects for the Folk Couture: Fashion and Folk Art at the American Folk Art Museum, Le Cabinet de Curiosités of Thomas Erber, and a fashion helmet for the NFL/Bloomindale/CFDA Super Bowl XLVIII collaboration which was auctioned off for the NFL Foundation.

He was the Men’s Sweater Designer at Tommy Hilfiger and has also worked with and designed for GANT by Michael Bastian, Perry Ellis, Alexander Wang, Project Runway winner Irina Shabayeva, Rowan Magazine, Vogue Knitting, and other knitting publications. He is the designer of his own exclusive capsule collection of men’s hand knitted sweaters at Bergdorf Goodman, Josh Bennett + Goodman’s.

Josh studied Menswear Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).

For more info visit JoshBennettNYC.com. He can also be followed in both Twitter and Instagram as @JoshBennettNYC

If you missed getting to hear our chat with Josh Bennett LIVE,  Watch Marly’s behind-the-scene video she posted LIVE during the visit on her Facebook page.