podcasts

Episode 323

January 22, 2024January 22, 2024 by Sara

The Yarns at Yin Hoo podcast is supported by Ko-fi subscribers and contributors. I’m grateful for all Ko-fi contributions, and each quarter, I offer up a prize. The next drawing will by March 19, 2024 and the winner will collaborate with Woolen Waves’ Sarah Ellis on a pair of custom socks. The YAYH podcast will pick up the bill! Visit the Woolen Waves website to learn more about custom socks and upcoming shows. Pictured here is the Sporty Tab sock.

I’m knitting a modified version of the Därta sweater with a botanical motif around the body. The yarn is gorgeous botanically-dyed yarn from Tidal Yarns.

Here is my very first pair of sneakers: pre-assembly. I learned to make sneakers with Joan Radell of Bucklebee who provided kits and instruction. The class was hosted at my local Pocono Sew and Vac in Stroudsburg, PA. My version took a bit longer because I fussed quite a bit over pattern placement and because I opted to finish the bindings with hand stitching for more control.

Here are my finished sneakers and I’m so proud of the results. One of the most satisfying aspects of the process was stitching the uppers and tongue to the sneaker base. It made me appreciate shoe construction and quilting.

Projects under Consideration

Woven Warmth by Nancy Marchant
Selvedge by Julia Wilkens

Off the Shelf

“How to Stuff a Pepper” by Nancy Willard

4 thoughts on “Episode 323”

Sara says:

February 14, 2024 at 5:28 pm

Hi, Joan. Thanks for tuning in here to give a listen to this podcast. I am wearing my sneakers with pride! I am indeed looking forward to making another pair of sneakers, and I wonder if you have any experience with using a wool, rather than a foam, batting between the layers of interfaced cotton. Happy teaching and I hope it goes well when you work on the leather sneakers in Chicago!
Sara says:

February 14, 2024 at 5:26 pm

Hi, Nancy. Thank you for the compliments! Yes, I do think that the embellishment and quilting of these sneakers could be done entirely with hand stitching. It would take awhile, but then again, there would be more control and less unpicking of stitches. I am also interested in investigating (in a future pair) an alternative to the foam batting we used, which is entirely synthetic. I wonder if a light wool batting could work just as well.
Joan Radell says:

January 23, 2024 at 7:27 pm

Thank you, Sara, for your kind words! I love to teach, and your insights into my teaching style inspired me to think more about the “how” of what I do, and to remind myself throughout a class period to speak *with* my students, not *at* them. Your shoes are darling, and I can’t wait to see what kind of projects you tackle next! Best wishes and sew out loud! –JLR
Nancy says:

January 23, 2024 at 12:26 am

Well, this takes the cake. Sneakers!! They’re gorgeous and will be so much fun to wear. Do you think they could be made entirely with hand stitching?

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!

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 323

4 thoughts on “Episode 323”

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