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Episode 311

May 31, 2023May 31, 2023 by Sara

Thank you to everyone who has made a financial contribution to help the Clean Fleece project — to create a fiber scouring facility in the Northeast. I received an enormous banner, which is decorating my porch and reminding me of all the positive energy surrounding this project.

It’s the conclusion of #memademay. I made an effort to post photos of a few looks each week to Instagram. Thank you for the positive feedback and enthusiasm for this project. My conclusion regarding the combination of hand-sewn and handknit garments is that I like cropped sweaters worn over dresses and jumpsuits with long lines. I’m also becoming a little more flexible and imaginative when it comes to mixing colorful pieces. The Amy Jumpsuit and the Ogden Cami are some of my most-worn patterns, so there are plans afoot for more of those in the future.

Check it out! This is the Bear Mountain Sock, one of several local Hudson Valley yarns that Gail offers in her Cornwall Yarn Shop. This yarn is 100% Dorset, so if you’ve been looking for a non-superwash yarn that stands up to machine washing — you MUST try this. The yarn is beefy and lofty, which is why I’m knitting on my Blackthorn dpns for dense gauge. What’s more, this (soon-to-be) pair of socks could be yours! To enter, become a Ko-fi supporter or make a one-time contribution before June 21. I will customize this pair of socks for the lucky winner.

I’m participating in the #outsidethesocksCAL hosted by JoAnna of KnitSpinFarm. It may look like I’m knitting socks now, but these will turn into some mitts for the unflappable phlebotomist at my local cancer center, who has been such a professional and a champ throughout my treatment.

I’m working on the final step of the Moonshadow Table Runner from Taproot Issue #44 EMERGE. The grid outline was due to an oversight on my part, but I’m pleased with the results. I am very happy with my color choices and all of the handstitching I’m doing. The only machine stitching was to attach the binding — but I’m handsewing the back to finish it. HERE is the tutorial I mentioned in this episode, explaining a clever way to sew in the end of the binding without any hassle or measuring.

This episode features a passage from Wendell Berry‘s “A Native Hill,” first published in *The Hudson Review* in winter of 1968-69.

2 thoughts on “Episode 311”

Twinsetellen says:

July 28, 2023 at 8:55 pm

I enjoyed listening to WB twice – then backed up to listen again.
Nancy S says:

June 3, 2023 at 4:23 pm

What an excellent save on the table runner! It’s going to look so good. And thank you for the reading from Wendell Barry. You always seem to pick just what I need to hear.

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 311

2 thoughts on “Episode 311”

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