podcasts

Episode 197

May 28, 2018May 29, 2018 by Sara

The Back Porch

Handmade Endless Summer Tunics in knit and woven fabrics radiant despite a light drizzle. My mother has made several of these and Laura is modeling her first knit version, which is even lovelier in person because she has such a fantastic hand for embroidery. I’m also wearing my completed Iris shrug, which pairs with so many things in my wardrobe that I foresee getting a lot of use out of it this summer. Join in the #iriskal, which extends to July! I’m co-hosting this knit-along with Emily of the FibreTown podcast. Check out our Ravelry pages and post for a chance to win prizes.

Yarn Lover at Large

Some purchases from MDSW. Battlings from Hobbledehoy; core spun necklaces from Anne Choi; a stole stitched in the kantha tradition from Wild Fibers, and assorted other goodies.

Ever-expanding Skill Set

A favorite recipe for a quick dessert, Rhubarb-ginger Downside Up Oatmeal Cake. I make this with peaches in the summer, but Samuel really made it special by creating a quilting pattern with the rhubarb!

I couldn’t resist trying this pizza after hearing about it on a recent episode of Good Food. Tinky Weisblat talks about savory applications for rhubarb and I was smitten with the notion of caramelized onion and rhubarb to make a really tasty pizza topping. YUM!

And Sew Forth

I’ve only recorded one episode of the audio podcast this month, but I’ve been celebrating #mmmay18 by posting photographs of my making on IG. This has not been easy, but I have really wanted to honor the designers, producers and friends who have helped and inspired me to get this far with my #mostlyhandmadewardrobe. On a recent episode of Love to Sew, hosts Helen and Caroline talk about assessing everything you have made, and looking for the gaps in your wardrobe (for me that is where I’m wearing commercially-made items) in order to establish a direction for your making. This was an incredibly helpful exercise even though I initially resisted it. I discovered three large gaps that I am ready to address over the next six months: shrugs, sweaters and boleros to wear over sleeveless tops and dresses; pants, leggings and trousers; slightly-structured jackets. Congratulations to everyone who has been celebrating Me Made May by posting photos and stories of their making.

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 197

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