podcasts

Episode 238

December 28, 2019December 28, 2019 by Sara

Beth’s shawl in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women took my breath away. The whole film is a whirl of beautiful textiles, but this piece in particular caught my interest. The colors are rich; the garter stitch is sumptuous and squishy. So I was thrilled to find that the Beths Shawl pattern is already available on Ravelry–posted by the designer herself–AND the money raised through pattern sales will support the efforts of Barefoot College. I’ll be giving away two copies of this pattern. Enter by leaving a post on the thread for this episode.

#homedecmal

The home dec makealong runs through the end of December. In this episode, I announce a few additional prizes that have been contributed by generous listeners. Post to IG and the Rav thread to enter the prize drawing. I’ll be announcing winners in mid-January.

I’ve been working on a linen stitch table runner in Starcroft’s Mucklemarl, as well as some knitted mushrooms using Hunter Hammerson’s pattern, Foraged.

The Back Porch

I finished Burra, a cowl designed by Marie Wallin. Making some adjustments to achieve a long, skinny cowl, I was able to use up lots of my J&S yarn leftovers from Yell.

And Sew Forth

My Ginger Jeans are all sewn up and ready for button and rivet installation. I’m so proud of this project, as jeans represent a major achievement in my #mostlyhandmadewardrobe. Thanks to Emily for providing so much excellent guidance and nudges to keep me going!

I found the video tutorial by Sew Sew Live (chickenboots) to be very helpful in getting me past the waistband hurdle. Although I did not end up using her method, I learned a lot by watching the last half of the 3.5 hour video.

Rabbit and Bullfinch by Archibald Thorburn

Winter Sleep

by Elinor Wylie

…Just as the spiniest chestnut-burr is lined within the finest fur,

So the stoney-walled, snow-roofed house, of every squirrel and mole and mouse

Is lined with thistledown, sea-gull’s feather, velvet mullein-leaf, heaped together

With balsam and juniper, dry and curled, sweeter than anything else in the world.

O’ what a warm and darksome nest where the wildest things are hidden to rest!

It’s there that I’d love to lie and sleep, soft, soft, soft and deep, deep, deep.

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 238

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