Read
The Gigantic MDK Rabbit Hole
Dear friends,
We hear often from readers who start their day with the email we send every morning containing the day’s MDK post.
This makes our day, obviously. And it’s got me thinking about why we publish something new every day.
It’s because, a decade ago, Kay and I wanted to build a website that we wished for: an online place that explored knitting in the broadest way possible.
Nobody was covering it the way it deserved to be celebrated. And we’re the only place doing it now.
At this point we’ve published 3,938 posts. (Not including the decade when Kay and I were blogging!)
Where does all this good stuff live? At the top of the MDK homepage, you’ll find a word: READ, it says.
It’s kind of like the DRINK ME bottle in Alice in Wonderland. Click on READ, and you’ll find yourself in a rabbit hole of surprises.
Posts from 112 contributors—a who’s who of teachers, designers, and writers with great taste and a sense of humor.
It’s a mighty trove of stories, ideas, patterns, inspiration, and yes, occasionally super-random detours.
Travel, self care, food, music, movies, TV, podcasts.
Spotlights on designers we love, yarns to discover.
I bring all this up because we’ve just launched the MDK Society 2026 membership, and we (of course) hope you will join us for the coming year.
When you join the MDK Society, your support directly makes possible this stream of beauty, inspiration, humor, and community for everyone in the knitting world.
As the new year approaches, we’re working hard to plan our curation of what’s delightful in the world of knitting.
We can’t do it without you.
The Benefits
As a member of the MDK Society in 2026, you will receive our undying gratitude and these valuable benefits.
• Twenty bucks in the MDK Shop. New this year! When you sign up for 2026, your order confirmation email will include a PDF with a coupon code of $20 to use as you like in the MDK Shop. Treat yourself to a copy of any one of the 29 MDK Field Guides we’ve published—or put it towards anything else in the Shop that catches your eye.
• Savings of 10% on every virtual event in 2026. As in 2025, we are planning more than two dozen virtual classes, workshops, and talks in 2026. A bounteous cornucopia, from a rich array of teachers and experts and designers, at a variety of price points. You’ll have first access, and always at a discounted price. Every virtual event will be recorded, so you can watch it whenever your schedule allows.
• 10% savings in the MDK Shop. A coupon code for 10% off all full-price merchandise, all year long.
• The Snippets Show. Every month, Kay and I host a monthly Zoom, exclusively for MDK Society members—and there’s always a special guest. How special are these guests? So far in 2025: Arne and Carlos, Franklin Habit, Natalie Chanin, Jeanette Sloan, Clara Parkes, Dana Williams-Johnson, Amanda Hesser, Jillian Moreno, Kate Atherley, and Trisha Malcolm. The Snippets Show is always recorded so you can watch whenever you like. It’s a chance to put the kettle on, grab your knitting, and listen to lively conversation.
• Monthly Virtual Hangouts. Each Snippets Show concludes with a happy half hour where we switch off the recording and split up into small breakout rooms for friendly conversation with each other. This was an experiment in 2025, and boy did it succeed! Connections made, laughs laughed, tips exchanged.
• 365 doses of Vitamin MDK. MDK’s daily posts are the heart of what we provide to you, and it’s important to keep them accessible to the knitting community that relies on them. We are literally still publishing every day because of the MDK Society—and we’re so grateful.
• First notice of classes, special offers, sales. When we have a hot ticket, we offer it first to MDK Society members. In 2025, several very special events sold out to MDK Society members, and never were on sale to a wider audience, for example, a one-day workshop with Brandon Mably. All 25 spots for this very special day with Kaffe and Brandon were snapped up by MDK Society members.
•Early entry to Nash Yarn Fest on April 17 and 18, 2026. Get in the door early, and once you’re there, enjoy a special MDK Society gathering spot. Will we take a group picture? Will we fall over ourselves thanking you for being members of the MDK Society? Yes and yes!
• MDK Society 2026 enamel pin. Of course. We have to have a pin. This year’s design by our own Hannah Jones celebrates our warm, busy, chatty community. The pin ships out automatically when you sign up, with free worldwide shipping.
Thanks, as ever, for being here at MDK.
Love,
Ann
PS If you’re wishing for our New Post emails, sign up right here.
Ann, thanks. I was a member last year, and was debating about signing up again. I was quite good last year about not buying too much new yarn (I’m a very slow knitter so it really piles up); not to mention adorable little knitting doo-dads. And for various reasons I can’t take advantage of most of the other benefits: But I find I really need to support the source of my favorite daily email, and you all are doing such a fantastic job … So, you got me today, and I’m glad you did! Many thanks to you all for all your excellent hard work, and especially to you and Kay for starting it all.
You write about and show us how to make beautiful, interesting stuff. You share all of it with a smile and sometimes a wink, or a recipe. It is the world I want to live in for an hour+ a day.
Thank you!
The MDK rabbit hole is a treasure trove of knitting advice, lore and inspiration! Thank you! Already signed up for Society again! Love the community you’ve created, appreciate you every morning!
This is such exciting news and definitely worth the cost of membership. It is super important to keep our small businesses supported as well!
I am a proud MDK Society member and even gifted a membership to my daughter. Together we attended Shakerag last June, fulfilling a bucket list wish of mine. MDK and everything you do and create is so important to my knitting life. I’ve learned so much from it and just love it and wish you much continued success!!! THANK YOU!
Every morning —- such a wonderful way to start the day ! Thank you Ann and Kay !
Found myself in Nashville (for the very first time!) and yesterday ubered out to MDK irl. Had to pinch myself — I had arrived at Mecca! It was so much fun to see and touch all of the samples that I’d seen online and in the field guides. And everyone was so nice and fun! Can’t make the Junko Okamoto “Plum” sweater with the yarn that I bought. Congratulations on 10 years. What an achievement! Well done!
Can’t wait to make, should have said.
I am so happy to be a pin-wearing member of the MDK Society! You bring me so much joy, and in so many ways – I am so grateful! ☺️
Gratitude. You are my first read, every morning. It’s a delight to know that around 4 am my in-box will hold my daily MDK vitamin of joy!
I start every day reading my daily MDK email! It gets the day started off on the right foot. I loved being a founding member of MDK Society 2025 and have already received my pin for 2026! Keep up the great work!
I fly through my emails every morning and save MDK for last so I can slow down and savor it! Also, sharing that I met a new friend at Nash Yarn Fest. We have kept in touch this year and we have now planned to attend Nash Yarn Fest 2026 together. Being MDK Society members was our link, and it’s so nice to have a knitting friend across the miles. Thanks for all that you do.
I’m so glad you are my knitting friend – yet another advantage to joining the MDK Society! I can’t wait to do Nash Yarn Fest again, this time with a wonderful friend!
I completely agree with all the loving praise given and I immediately went to shop and spend my $20 (and more!) But so much sold out already, waah! Will you restock soon?
Last year I took a leap and joined, and am so glad I did. I haven’t watched as many of the monthly snippets as I want, but that didn’t stop me from renewing again for 2026. I love the wealth of information in the “Read” section!
The one thing to maybe (???) add (if technically feasible) is when I click on a link in an email to read the day’s post, it takes me there to read, but I’m not logged in. If I log in so I can Save the post for future reference (we’re talking Patty Lyons, Kate Atherley and many others), then it’s a production to get back to today’s email–hitting the back button logs me out. The only way I’ve found is to go to >Contributors, >scroll to the contributor of the article and click on them >scroll to find the post I wanted to save and click the save ribbon. Is there some way in your next website update to add to the “Read” Dropdown “Today’s Post” or something similar?
THANKS for all you do. I’ve got two big trips planned in ’26 and ’27, then will stay in the US and am hoping NashFest will be what I do next!
I’ve found that when I log in from the Daily Post page, all I need to do is to click on the MDK at the top of the page and the Daily Post is always at the upper right-hand corner of the resulting page. It is a bit clicky, but I don’t get bogged down. Good luck!
Thanks for bringing this issue up. I too have found this a problem. Thanks for your work around.
Thanks to you and Kay for creating MDK, it’s a wonderful site and every morning I look forward to reading the daily post, have never been disappointed. Have learned from the occasional virtual classes that I have taken and have taken advantage of every virtual event for MDK society members. If you’re on the fence of whether or not to join, join….you won’t regret it.
I cannot always make the actual Zoom classes but loving having them available! Fantastic!!! Thank you so much. I learn so much from daily post, Snippets, and now the Society place. Inspiration and community—even if distant and virtual is always worth an extra penny or two!! Keep it going!!! I might be a few projects behind but learning every encounter!!!
10 years is great! I too love the daily posts. As one reader said, I save the post for last after I have gone through other emails. I am a charter member of MDK and have renewed for this year. You have such a unique site, and I love it. Thank you
I joined MDK Society last year because I am one of those people who read the blog every morning. I had no expectation of participating in anything else but it was my way of paying back for all that you contribute to my morning routine.
And then oddly enough, I have taken MORE of the classes this year and bought MORE of your yarn/kits than I have in a while. Crazy how that works….right?
Happy Anniversary!
And to think it all started with you two mooning over Rowan magazines from afar.
Congratulations on what you’ve built together.
Plan to re-up on the MDK Society and looking forward to another year of daily fun.
It’s great to be a member. I highly recommend joining.