Yarns at Yin Hoo - A Podcast About the Fiber Arts and Other Post Apocalyptic Skills

Episode 195

Thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy of Humblebee, my first pattern for knitted socks. Your purchase funds Heifer International‘s effort to provide

April 17, 2018April 18, 20182 Min Reading

Episode 194

The Humblebee pattern will be available on Ravelry on Saturday, April 14th. Knit from cuff to toe, these socks feature a beautiful textured pattern on

April 10, 20183 Min Reading

Episode 193

I’ve decided to seize the opportunity to record a short episode on a Tuesday afternoon so that I can fill you in on some of

March 27, 2018March 27, 20182 Min Reading

Episode 192

Winter Storms Reilly and Quinn sent us packing for a few nights, and we were grateful for the warmth, coziness, and good food of my

March 11, 20182 Min Reading

Episode 191

This episode features updates of my stitching on several projects, a new design ready for test knitters, adventures in fermentation with paneer and water kefir,

February 25, 2018February 27, 20183 Min Reading

Episode 190

This episode includes three completed knitting projects, a lettlopi sweater in progress, a review of Addi’s Flexi Flip needles, and the details of how I’ve

February 4, 20184 Min Reading

Episode 189

This episode includes introductions, projects in progress, the very short history of my first fermentation experiment, and an update on the Knit Local Getaway. I

January 15, 2018January 15, 20183 Min Reading

Episode 188

This episode features contest news, The Back Porch, The Front Porch, Ever-expanding Skill Set, and Sew Forth. Enter to win this beautiful handspun laceweight yarn,

December 31, 20172 Min Reading

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.