podcasts

Episode 176

August 20, 2017August 21, 2017 by Sara

It’s been a beautiful week here on the porch of Yin Hoo. In this episode, I talk about making progress on knitting, fleece processing, and sewing projects. I also review some of the gorgeous Brushwork yarn from Blacker. Listen for the details of how to enter a prize draw for 4 balls of this plush and beautiful limited-edition yarn.

The Front Porch

I’m knitting Vanilla is the New Black socks on US0 dpns, using Fibernymph Dye Works’ S’mores Swirl in the Bounce base.

The Back Porch

This week, I took the time to wash a portion of the Cheviot X fleece I purchased at Maryland Sheep & Wool this year. Just look at the extraordinary crimp. The staple length averages 6″ and the fiber is wonderfully lustrous. After a 24-hour cold water soak, which removed the majority of the dirt and grease, the fleece endured one hot scour bath and one hot soak.

Brushwork Review

Blacker Yarns sent a ball of their new yarn for review. I received the Impasto colorway, and knit two swatches on US4 needles.

This sport weight, 2-ply, woolen-spun yarn is plump and bouncy as you knit; it is plush and velvety upon soaking and blocking. The knitted fabric has real integrity and softness, a combination that is quite unusual. Because the fibers have been dyed in the wool and blended, some qualities in the color include tweediness, heathering, and even a bit of frostiness, as undyed fibers form a halo above the knitted surface. The first thing I thought of was a hat, cowl and mitts set, maybe with some colorwork. This yarn would be incredible worked up into cables or texture. At first, I was doubtful about the appropriateness for a shawl or anything with drape — but a bit of drape did emerge in the soaked and blocked swatch. I think this yarn would pair well with any woolen-spun yarn in stash. What comes to mind is a sweater in a neutral color featuring a colorwork yoke knit in two or three of these Brushwork colorways.

Katie sent along 4 balls of Brushwork yarn (660 yards) in the Velatura colorway, a beautiful, rich blue. Yes, I peeked into this package! Enter to win by posting in the Yarns at Yin Hoo thread on Ravelry.

Arrows and Doorways

The design for this super-cozy cowl was inspired by textiles in a hotel lobby. Concentric geometric shapes kept playing in my mind until finally I was able to chart the pattern and get it onto my needles. The interplay of this chevron-like patterning has a mesmerizing effect–while you’re knitting and when you wear the finished accessory.

Knit up a cowl with yarn from your stash, adding some magical new mini-skeins from your advent calendar, or exchange leftover yarn with a friend. The design invites frequent color changes, and makes an ideal knit for the advent season. It could be just as striking knit with two high-contrast colors.

While most cowls of this type are seamed within a band of a single color, this pattern incorporates a technique called stranded donut grafting, an incredibly clever and completely seamless graft that allows you to maintain colorwork patterning so that your starting and ending rounds are undetectable. Really! With many possibilities for color play and a new technique to add to your skill set, this cowl pattern is really an opportunity for knitters to level-up!

NEW PATTERN DESIGN!

ONE DARK BLUE NIGHT

This hat is the third in a series of patterns inspired by teachings in Clarissa Pinkola Estés’ Women Who Run with the Wolves. This time, I drew inspiration from Estés’ retelling of a Japanese tale, Tsukina Waguma or “The Crescent Moon Bear,” in which a young woman travels to the cave of an incredibly intimidating and ferocious bear. She makes several journeys to the cave, leaving food and quickly retreating, until “one dark blue night,” she musters the courage to stand her ground and ask for what she seeks--one hair from a moon-shaped patch on the bear’s chest--which she is granted. The young woman returns, triumphant, to the old healer who has sent her on this quest. She believes this single hair is the magic ingredient in solving the problem that plagues her. She holds it forth, but the healer tosses the hair into the flames. The young woman is in despair until she realizes the true lesson of her quest: that using her determination, courage, and patience, as she did with the crescent moon bear, will help her to confront the challenge at hand.

The moon phase motif of this colorwork hat is meant to capture the magic of a dark blue night--when the moon shines brightly overhead, the frosty air sparkles with possibility, and we succeed in summoning accumulated wisdom from deep within ourselves so that we can apply it to our own healing. Choose colors to conjure a wintery night sky, or select a palette of your signature colors.

Available on Ravelry December 20th.

Yarns at Yin Hoo

Episode 176

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