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

Episode 242

Thanks to recipe ideas contributed by listeners, I have continued to experiment with fruit in savory dishes this week, and have discovered a dish that

February 23, 20202 Min Reading

Episode 241

This episode’s cover art features the fiber art of Becky Stevens. Her sashiko-inspired wall hanging, More Stories to be Told, was among my favorite pieces

February 9, 2020February 9, 20201 Min Reading

Episode 240

In this episode I share the details of two finished projects and my recent visit to Vogue Knitting Live in NYC. Katy of Katrinkles demonstrates

February 1, 20202 Min Reading

Episode 239

There were so many lovely posts about listener interest in Little Women in the thread for Ep 238. Thank you for sharing. I learned that

January 12, 2020January 12, 20203 Min Reading

Episode 238

Beth’s shawl in Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women took my breath away. The whole film is a whirl of beautiful textiles, but this piece

December 28, 2019December 28, 20192 Min Reading

Episode 237

#homedecmal prizes Use any of the fiber arts to craft something for the home. This MAL will run through the month of December and prizes

December 15, 2019December 15, 20192 Min Reading

Episode 236

What considerations guide your clothing purchases? In this episode, I share some of my thoughts on this subject and talk about a few places I

November 24, 20192 Min Reading

Episode 235

A farm visit, a friends’ getaway, shopping at Finch, finished projects and jeans making! This episode is packed with fiber-y goodness. #homedecmal Join in the

November 17, 2019November 17, 20191 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.