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

Episode 287

It’s the Rhinebeck Review episode, in which I tell you all about my weekend at the New York Sheep & Wool Festival. There’s also a prize, so listen to find out how to enter and post a comment on IG or to my website. Plus, what’s on my needles and a poem by Gabrielle Calvocoressi, winner of the Audre Lorde Prize for Lesbian Poetry. For complete show notes: https://www.yarnsatyinhoo.com/episode-287/

October 24, 2021October 24, 2021

Episode 286

Fall is here! Sweater knitting is picking up and the NY Sheep & Wool Festival is just around the corner. In this episode, I’ll catch you up on the saga of my RB sweater and share chats with MJ Packer of Battenkill Fiber Mill and Carole Foster of Foster Sheep Farm. They are brimming with suggestions for your festival shopping.

October 12, 2021October 12, 2021

Episode 285

You know how it is: complete one pair of self-striping socks . . . cast on another! In this episode, I provide an update on

September 19, 2021September 19, 2021

Episode 284

It’s a catch-up on two recently completed projects, plus the announcement of winners for EZ’S BSJ KAL, and share some thoughts about mending.

August 29, 2021August 29, 2021

Episode 283

It’s been a month (almost), and I have lots of making news, including another Amy jumpsuit hack, an upcycled Anthopologie belt, Tour de Fleece yardage, summer recipes I’ve been loving, and a poem by Teri Ellen Cross Davis.

August 4, 2021August 4, 2021

Episode 282

This episode begins with a list of recent and upcoming fiber events that you can attend in-person and virtually! Then, I continue with updates on my projects and my complete list of summer reading.

July 11, 2021July 11, 2021

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.