Yarns at Yin Hoo

Episode 307

It’s been an exciting month as a fiber enthusiast, with a teaching engagement, finished projects, plans for 2023 — and a giveaway for YAYH listeners.

January 31, 2023January 31, 20232 Min Reading

Episode 306

In this episode, I talk about some stitching projects completed over the winter holidays, plus quilting, mending, visiting a textile exhibit, and a poem by Billy Collins.

January 11, 2023January 11, 20231 Min Reading

Thanks to my Ko-fi supporters, I’m returning with poems selected from Days 31-40 of my #100daysproject. Check out my Ko-fi page to find out how to contribute, and to see special posts, prizes, and items up for grabs!

January 8, 2023January 8, 20231 Min Reading

Episode 304

I’ve been finishing up knitting projects — mostly small, as well as planning for the year ahead. This week, I share some excerpts about the importance of realism and specificity in poetry. I also share the results of sewing my first-ever zero waste garment — and what I will pay more attention to next time. Finally, I encourage my fellow fiber enthusiasts to consider funding a scouring facility in the Northeast US.

December 26, 2022January 2, 20231 Min Reading

Episode 303

Thanks to my Ko-fi supporters, I’m returning with poems 11-20 of my #100daysproject.

December 15, 2022December 15, 20221 Min Reading

Episode 302

I’m reading a poem every day until March 5th. In this episode, I share a reading of the first ten poems, thanks to the generosity of Ko-fi subscribers and contributors.

December 6, 2022December 6, 20221 Min Reading

Episode 301

Scrappy sewing projects have multiplied and now I’m thinking my way slowly to my first quilting project. I’m starting and re-starting Xmas knitting and immersing myself in 100 days of poetry.

November 30, 2022November 30, 20221 Min Reading

Episode 300

It’s episode 300 and I’m finally talking about my visit to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival. It was a LOT of knitting, but

November 10, 2022November 10, 20223 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.