podcasts

Episode 51: Down by the River

August 28, 2014 by Sara

This episode includes the following segments: The Back Porch, The Front Porch, Ever-expanding Skill Set, Yarn Lover at Large and Gratitude Journal.

LISTEN:

The Back Porch

Scrappy Felted Oven Mitt pattern by Kelly Schroeder

Felted Vessels

Simple Yoga Socks pattern by Jennifer Wang

The Front Porch

Booga Bag pattern by Julie Anderson

Planorbis Corneus Shawl pattern by Hunter Hammerson

Clincher pattern by Ash Kearns

It’s not too late to enter the Asymmetri-CAL, an asymmetrical craft-along. Post your finished object to the prize thread by September 26th.

Ever-expanding Skill Set

Use #bulkbinscal when you post photos of your culinary adventures with nuts during the month of August. Barley will be in the spotlight for the month of September.

You can find all of the recipes I’ve developed during the Bulk Bins Cook-along here.

Yarn Lover at Large

New Jersey Sheep & Fiber Festival September 6 & 7 Hunterdon County Fairgrounds

Gratitude Journal

“Many Miles” by Mary Oliver from Why I Wake Early

One thought on “Episode 51: Down by the River”

Judy says:

September 2, 2014 at 11:01 pm

I recently found your podcast and have to tell you how much I am enjoying it. I adore Mary Oliver and was delighted to hear you read “Many Miles”. (I also have Billy Collins’ book “Poetry 180” and while I knew that he had been our Poet Laureate, I did not know how the book had come about. I thank you for educating us on that!). I also enjoy hearing about your Ever Expanding Skill Set…..the grilled peaches sound great! And of course, there’s the knitting…..can’t omit that! 😉 I could go on and on about how much I enjoy listening to you, but suffice it to say that I hope you podcast for many more years!

Happy Knitting!
Judy

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