podcasts

Episode 219

March 24, 2019May 5, 2019 by Sara

News & Announcements

I’m in need of a few test knitters for my new design — a colorwork beanie. Please get in touch via Ravelry if you’re interested.

The Knit Local Getaway is fully booked! I’ll be putting up a brief podcast with details, packing suggestions, etc. for those who are attending the retreat. Look for this episode in early April.

The Back Porch

I’m so pleased with my completed Arlequin Cowl, a design by Sidney Rakotoriello. I used a variety of handspun yarns in natural and botanically-dyed colors. This cowl was lots of fun to knit and will be a cozy accessory as well as a helpful teaching tool. I found Sidney’s cowl in a bundle of patterns by BIPOC designers, which is featured on the Solidarity Swap group page.

The Front Porch

The Clincher by Ash Kearns, knit in NYS BFL/silk dyed by Maya of Mad Mermaid Fiberworks in the colorway Sea Urchin
Deschain by Leila Raabe in yarn from Battenkill Fiber Mill

Ever-expanding Skill Set

Corn, Spring Onion and Ricotta Tart

Savory pies are nutritious, filling, and last for several days. They can be eaten hot or at room temperature, and make an excellent lunch. This recipe didn’t get great reviews, so I knew that I needed to do some doctoring to amp up the flavor!

Instead of following the recipe for the tart crust, I made my usual dough for a pie crust, replacing 1/4 of the flour with cornmeal.

For the filling, I added sliced asparagus, diced yellow onion, and crumbled bacon to the corn and spring onions. I like to sauté all of the vegetables to remove excess water. I stirred the grated rind of one lemon, plus some salt and pepper into the ricotta, and added dallops of this mixture, which stayed on the surface of the pie.

Off the Shelf

“The March Thaw” by Edwin Curran

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 219

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