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News & Announcements

I’m in need of a few test knitters for my new design — a colorwork beanie.  Please get in touch via Ravelry if you’re interested.

The Knit Local Getaway is fully booked!  I’ll be putting up a brief podcast with details, packing suggestions, etc. for those who are attending the retreat.  Look for this episode in early April.

The Back Porch

I’m so pleased with my completed Arlequin Cowl, a design by Sidney Rakotoriello.  I used a variety of handspun yarns in natural and botanically-dyed colors.  This cowl was lots of fun to knit and will be a cozy accessory as well as a helpful teaching tool.  I found Sidney’s cowl in a bundle of patterns by BIPOC designers, which is featured on the Solidarity Swap group page.

The Front Porch

• The Clincher by Ash Kearns, knit in NYS BFL/silk dyed by Maya of Mad Mermaid Fiberworks in the colorway Sea Urchin
• Deschain by Leila Raabe in yarn from Battenkill Fiber Mill

Ever-expanding Skill Set

• Corn, Spring Onion and Ricotta Tart

Savory pies are nutritious, filling, and last for several days.  They can be eaten hot or at room temperature, and make an excellent lunch. This recipe didn’t get great reviews, so I knew that I needed to do some doctoring to amp up the flavor!

Instead of following the recipe for the tart crust, I made my usual dough for a pie crust, replacing 1/4 of the flour with cornmeal.

For the filling, I added sliced asparagus, diced yellow onion, and crumbled bacon to the corn and spring onions.  I like to sauté all of the vegetables to remove excess water.  I stirred the grated rind of one lemon, plus some salt and pepper into the ricotta, and added dallops of this mixture, which stayed on the surface of the pie.

Off the Shelf

• “The March Thaw” by Edwin Curran

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This week I talk about knitting and sewing projects, recipes, and a recent purchase of leggings and a sports bra from Girlfriend Collective.

If you’d like to sign up for the Knit Local Getaway lottery, use this LINK to enter your information.  HERE is further information about the event.

Current Knitting Projects

• Arlequin Cowl by Sidney Rakotaorivelo
• Wit Beyond Measure by Dianna Walla

Review

• Paloma Bra and LITE High Rise Leggings from Girlfriend Collective
• Do you have suggestions for sustainably-made garments and footwear?  I hope that you will post your suggestions on the Ravelry discussion thread.

Ever-Expanding Skill Set

• granola recipe from A Wooden Nest
  • I’ve been replacing a cup of the oats with unsweetened coconut and using date syrup as well as one egg to coat the mixture before putting it into the oven.
• French Braised Chicken and Lentils

And Sew Forth

• Thea Rachelle Raglan designed by Ellen Mason (Odacier)

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In this episode, I work on cultivating a contemporary warrior princess vibe with a completed Nimue sweater, plus, new cast-ons and and my discovery of a new collection by a poet whose work I have long admired.

The Back Porch

• Nimue cropped sweater designed by Cirilia Rose

The Front Porch

• Wit Beyond Measure mittens designed by Dianna Walla
• Arlequin Cowl designed by Sidney Rakotoarivelo
• I’ll be gifting some patterns from the bundle of designers featured in the Solidarity Swap.  If you would like to enter to win a pattern or to win one for a friend, enter with a post on the Ravelry thread for this episode.

Off the Shelf

• Natasha Trethewey author bio found on Poetry Foundation website
• “Meditation at Decatur Square”
• interview with NPR’s Scott Simon
• selection of poems from Trethewey’s collection Bellocq’s Ophelia

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In this episode I share the details of my newest sock design, Venus & Cupid, as well as completed and just-begun knitting projects.  As I often do on this podcast, I investigate how poetry helps me to consider important subjects.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been turning to the poems of Lucille Clifton, both as a source of personal healing and because Clifton’s has been such an important voice on the topics of race and identity.

News and Notes 

Venus & Cupid is available for digital download on Ravelry at a special introductory price until midnight EST 2.10.19.  Your purchase helps to support the work I do in recording and publishing episodes of the Yarns at Yin Hoo podcast.

Do you have an interest in contributing to the Barbara Walker Knitting Project? Find out more on the Tatter website. While you’re there, check out the workshops and classes available at the workspace in Brooklyn, New York. I fell in love with this stitch pattern, Carillon, which is named for bells in a bell tower, but which reminds me of seed pods.

Mary Jeanne Packer of the Battenkill Fiber Mill is taking a trip to Denmark and invites you to join her this fall. The Knitters Tour of Denmark promises to be a delight for any fiber enthusiast.

The Back Porch

I’m so pleased to finally be wearing the Hog Island fiber that started out as a shared fleece with Emily of FibreTown.  Over the course of a year and a half, I scoured the fleece, made carded batts, spun a three-ply worsted-weight yarn, dyed it with indigo, and knit a poncho of my own design.

The Front Porch

I’m working on Nimue (bottom right), one of the designs I’ve selected for the MakeNine challenge in 2019.  I love the drape of silky wool, and the deep chocolate color I chose is very close to the sample pictured.  I think this piece will be a good fit in my wardrobe; the weight of the garment makes it appropriate for several seasons.

Off the Shelf

In this segment, I mention a few different entry points into the poetry of Lucille Clifton.  If you’re new to Clifton’s work, the best way to begin, in my opinion, is “Homage to My Hips.”  Even better, watch her read it!  You can find this poem, and many other frequently-anthologized works, in her collection Good Woman: Poems and a Memoir.  If you’re already familiar with Clifton, I suggest that you investigate Generations, which is the title of her memoir in verse and which appears at the end of Good Woman.  When I first encountered it, about fifteen years ago, it really broke open what I thought was possible in terms of personal narrative, storytelling, and verse.  To me, it is an American epic.  Finally, I share a Lucille Clifton poem that has held personal significance to me over the past year: 1994.

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News & Announcements

• contact me via PM on Ravelry if you’d like to enter the lottery for the Knit Local Getaway
• the winter session of Fleece to Finished Object is fully-subscribed, but you can contact Hope’s Favorite Things for a waiting list or to find out about other fiber arts classes

The Back Porch

• Hedgewitch by Nat Raedwulf in Isle Yarns Clayground & Barnleaze

• NYTimes obituary
• Mindful

The Pine Woods

by Mary Oliver

Just before dawn
three deer
came walking
down the hill

as if the moment were nothing different
from eternity–
as lightly as that
they nibbled

the leaves,
they drank
from the pond,
their pretty mouths

sucking the loose silver,
their heavy eyes
shining.
Listen,

I did not really see them.
I came later and saw their tracks
on empty sand.
But I don’t believe

only to the edge
of what my eyes actually see
in the kindness of the morning,
do you?

And my life,
which is my body surely,
is also something more–
isn’t yours?

I suppose the deer waited
to see the sun lift itself up,
filling the hills with light and shadows–
they were leaping

back into the rough, uncharted pinewoods
where I have lived so much of my life,
where everything is so quick and uncertain,
so glancing, so improbable, so real.

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Happy New Year!  In this episode, I share an update on recent projects, and respond to prairiepoet’s question about the tubular cast on and bind off that I have referenced so frequently over the past few years.  It has really become a favorite set of techniques.  If you haven’t yet tried them, I hope that this episode provides some inspiration and encouragement.  I also hope that knitters experienced with these techniques will share some of their tips and suggestions on the episode thread in our YAYH group on Ravelry.

A new four-session series begins on February 2nd at Hope’s Favorite Things in Richmond, PA.  Send me a PM if you have questions about this course, or call Hope’s shop to sign up!

I completed the Wood Hollow Hat & Mittens set designed by Kirsten Kapur and I am just in love with these warm woolies for the cold weather.  Knit in Blacker Yarns TOR from The Woolly Thistle and topped with a fur pompom from Hope’s Favorite Things. I began this hat with a tubular cast on on US 3 needles; when I joined to knit in the round, I shifted to US 4 needles and worked a twisted rib.

Working the Hedgewitch Shawl along with so many wonderful knitters has been one of the joys of my holiday season.  With only the border left to knit, I feel confident that I will complete this project by January’s Wolf Moon.

TUBULAR CAST ON and BIND OFF

• Ysolda Teague’s long tail tubular cast on video
• Very Pink Knit’s tubular (sewn) bind off video
• Quick & Basic Coffee Cozy by Reed Piernock

The tubular cast on method I use requires knitting the piece flat for the first few rows, then joining in the round.  This results in a gap, as you can see in this photo of my sock cuff.

Use the tail of your long-tail tubular cast on to seam up the gap.