podcasts

Episode 214

January 13, 2019January 13, 2019 by Sara

Happy New Year! In this episode, I share an update on recent projects, and respond to prairiepoet’s question about the tubular cast on and bind off that I have referenced so frequently over the past few years. It has really become a favorite set of techniques. If you haven’t yet tried them, I hope that this episode provides some inspiration and encouragement. I also hope that knitters experienced with these techniques will share some of their tips and suggestions on the episode thread in our YAYH group on Ravelry.

A new four-session series begins on February 2nd at Hope’s Favorite Things in Richmond, PA. Send me a PM if you have questions about this course, or call Hope’s shop to sign up!

I completed the Wood Hollow Hat & Mittens set designed by Kirsten Kapur and I am just in love with these warm woolies for the cold weather. Knit in Blacker Yarns TOR from The Woolly Thistle and topped with a fur pompom from Hope’s Favorite Things. I began this hat with a tubular cast on on US 3 needles; when I joined to knit in the round, I shifted to US 4 needles and worked a twisted rib.

Working the Hedgewitch Shawl along with so many wonderful knitters has been one of the joys of my holiday season. With only the border left to knit, I feel confident that I will complete this project by January’s Wolf Moon.

TUBULAR CAST ON and BIND OFF

Ysolda Teague’s long tail tubular cast on video
Very Pink Knit’s tubular (sewn) bind off video
Quick & Basic Coffee Cozy by Reed Piernock

The tubular cast on method I use requires knitting the piece flat for the first few rows, then joining in the round. This results in a gap, as you can see in this photo of my sock cuff.

Use the tail of your long-tail tubular cast on to seam up the gap.

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 214

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