podcasts

Episode 242

February 23, 2020 by Sara

Thanks to recipe ideas contributed by listeners, I have continued to experiment with fruit in savory dishes this week, and have discovered a dish that will go into regular rotation. It’s the perfect #powerpantry dish, too. I was invited to write an article for the NJFibershed blog, and I’ll be teaching a deep study of wool course at BLUE: The Tatter Textile Library. Also in this episode: a late-entry #homedecmal project and a Hadley top, plus a beautiful example of the sestina from the recent issue of Taproot.

News & Events

“A Day on the Farm” published on the njfibershed blog
Spinning Fleeces from NJ Fibershed w/ Deb Robson — May 29
Fiber Farm Market — May 30
A Deep Study of Wool @ BLUE: The Tatter Textile Library

Knitting Projects

toe-up cotton socks
Wit Beyond Measure mitts designed by Diana Walla
Scalloway Tam designed by Marie Wallin
new toe-up sock cast on

#powerpantry

The discussion of adding fruit (fresh, dried, preserves) to savory dishes continues on the Ravelry thread. Based on momdiggity’s suggestion, I tried Ina Garten’s recipe for Chicken Marbella and was thrilled with the results! Next up is Peach Chickpea Curry.

Sew Forth

Before and after a long-awaited upholstery session. I’m very pleased with the result, having no experience with this type of sewing. I used a zipper foot to put fabric around some upholstery cord, cut new foam for the seat, and re-purposed the old cover by turning it inside out to lend a little more stability to cover.

Off the Shelf

I was pleased to find a sestina by John Reinhardt in the SPARK issue of Taproot magazine. An unusual example of formal poetry, the sestina makes use of an ever-changing order of six key words at the ends of lines. Reinhardt’s use of enjambment gives the form some subtlety and variety.

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 242

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