Purl: Slowly taking over the crafting world

It all started with a Purl Soho, a beautiful (if trendy) yarn store in New York. Then there was the wildly popular knitting book Last Minute Knitted Gifts (just check out the number of Google results for "Hourglass Sweater" if you doubt my use of the phrase "wildly popular").

Then, sisters Joelle and Jennifer Hoverson opened Purl Patchwork, a drool-worthy (if not exactly affordable) quilting store, down the street from their yarn store. Next came Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts, a book of quilting patterns to match.

But why stop there? Joelle (the better known of sister pair) recently partnered with Moda Fabrics to produce Purl's very own fabric line. The patterns are inspired by naturalist history and come in 5 color families. The line won't be available at retail outlets for another few months, but I'm guessing when they are, they'll be kinda pricey. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that eventually they'll end up on sale at Hancock's of Paducah; at least some fabrics from every new quilting collection seem to end up on their discount pages at some point.

Meanwhile, I'm taking bets on what the Purl empire's gonna get its crafty little fingers into next...