podcasts

Episode 1

August 16, 2013April 14, 2017 by Sara

Backstory

The cliff’s edge of Newport, RI was our destination this summer. There, on the grounds of Marble House, is a Chinese tea house that Alva Vanderbuilt installed on her property in the early 1900’s. The structure was a spectacle and the backdrop for elaborate costume parties and fundraisers to raise money for women’s suffrage. This ornate structure, we believe, served as the inspiration for our modest and rustic tea cottage near Delaware Water Gap, PA.

The Back Porch

Completed and blocked this week was Pressed Leaves, a knitted hat designed by Alana Dakos. The most challenging chart I’ve followed to date, this hat does not have a single knit stitch. The pattern, though challenging, was extremely clear and easy to follow. Here is the hat, damp and stretched over a plate to block, as suggested by the directions. I am very pleased with the result and can’t wait to knit my next pattern from Botanical Knits. Next up is Oak Trail, which has a very pleasing design and some additional knitting challenges.

Double Happiness

My kombucha is finally effervescent and refreshing after a summer of experimentation. It is an acquired taste, for sure, but I’ve become quite attracted to the taste and interested in the health benefits. I have some ideas in mind for a kombucha episode in the future. Stay tuned.

Gratitude Journal

Thank you to Samuel, who helped me navigate all of the software necessary to make this podcast a reality. He also designed the banner for this website and the logo for Facebook and iTunes. I am so grateful for your patience. Thank you to everyone who listens to these early podcasts. I am especially grateful to those who leave star ratings and reviews on iTunes.

One thought on “Episode 1”

Spinner's End says:

September 3, 2013 at 11:47 pm

Lovely Sara! Your tea house sounds enchanting and the perfect inspiration.

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 1

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