KNITTING Articles 1 min read

Yarn, Audio Books, and More Yarn: Great Gifts for Crafters

Join us at Maker Festivals Colorado, the ultimate crafting extravaganza in Loveland from April 10-13, 2024, where the beloved Yarn Fest evolves with an exciting addition of beads and jewelry artists!

|Sponsored| We recently wrapped up another set of unboxing videos, where we open a package featuring cool new gifts for crafters. While shooting any video has its own set of challenges, this time around was truly The Most Abstract Video Shoot Evah. In a medium designed for HD images, we had to show off largely invisible products. Good thing we like a challenge.


Oh, Canada! Sugar Bush Festivity yarn

Sugar Bush Yarns

Thankfully, the first product unveiling was comfortably traditional. Sugar Bush Yarns has a new line of yarn called Festivity. Hand-dyed in Canada, the line comes in 12 shades: 6 tonal and 6 variegated. Each shade has an appropriately Canadian name, like Northern Lights or the Bay of Fundy. We had a giant bin of pretty yarn, maple-flavored accoutrements, and a project to show. Easy-peasy. And the yarn is fabulous.


Books, schmooks. I like to think these penguin cookies were the stars of the show.

Penguin Random House Audio

Then things got a bit more complicated. Audiobooks from Penguin Random House Audio might be a huge fave with knitters and crafters in general, but how do you show an audio file? Penguin Random House Audio provided some props and USB “books,” and we spliced various images with actual audio. Researching one title set in rural Kentucky during the Great Depression, I found some great archival photos. If you are a bookworm, Jojo Moyes’ novel about packhorse librarians delivering books in rural Appalachia is particularly sure to resonate.


We are not acting here: It’s 14 degrees, I’m excited, and Laura is really, really cold.

Yarnspirations

But the true test of our ability came last. Yarnspirations recently introduced a yarn called Heat Wave. True to its name, this yarn heats up when exposed to UV rays. That is, put on a hat made of Heat Wave Yarn, walk outside on a brisk day, and that hat gets up to 12 degrees warmer than the surrounding air. For real.


All of this begs the question: how do you show a yarn heating up? With a variety of UV bulbs, several lamp fixtures, a thermometer gun, and co-workers who don’t mind being shot at with a thermometer gun for several days straight. We tested this yarn over and over, and each time it really and truly GOT HOT. How does it work? We really have no idea, as it’s a patented technology. The yarn feels like yarn (no weird chemical coating), except it turns into a mini-toaster when you’re outside.

The really great part of this shoot is that all of these companies offered fabulous giveaways. Bins of yarn and candy; audiobooks and a smart speaker; and a Heat Wave yarn kit to make an entire stadium blanket. Because the spirit of the holidays is giving, after all.

Happy crafting!

Allison

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