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Episode 129: Peaches and Paisley

July 23, 2016 by Sara

cover129 This episode contains the following segments: The Back Porch, Ever-expanding Skill Set, and Sew Forth. The weather service informs us that we’re trapped beneath a heat dome, so I’ve been focusing a lot of my attention on hydration this week, drinking switchel (also known as haymaker’s punch). I’ve also started a batch of snaps, using market-fresh peaches, pineapple sage and whiskey. Two long-term projects are complete and I’m working on more sewing. This episode includes a thorough review of the Endless Summer Tunic pattern and Creativebug tutorial.

The Back Porch

Agatha socks: pattern by Claire of NH Knits; Gynx yarn BFL sock in the sea salt ice cream colorway

599 yards handspun: Three Waters Farm wool/silk blend in June greens colorway

Ever-expanding Skill Set

Snaps is an unsweetened alcohol infusion. The term comes from a general term from Sweden / Denmark. It's important to keep produce submerged beneath the level of alcohol. I used a small mouth jar lid to weigh down the contents. The flavors of the infusion can take hold within a few days, but it can take several weeks or even months to develop. The typical ration is 1 cup produce : 1 cup alcohol. — Snaps is an unsweetened alcohol infusion. The term comes from a generic term from Sweden / Denmark meaning “strong alcoholic beverage.” It is distinct from schnapps; it has no added sugars. It’s important to keep produce submerged beneath the level of alcohol. I used a small mouth jar lid to weigh down the contents. The flavors of the infusion can take hold within a few days, but it can take several weeks or even months to develop. The typical ratio is 1 cup produce : 1 cup alcohol. Pictured here – peaches and pineapple sage in whiskey.

snaps article by Michele Graham in Taproot Issue 18: Preserve
Why You Should Be Making Switchel article from Bon Appétit

And Sew Forth

Endless Summer Tunic pattern
Endless Summer Tunic tutorial on Creativebug
Dritz Ezy Hem pressing template

I store sewing supplies in these clever boxes that look like books. I have one for thread and bobbins, one for sewing notions, and one for zippers and bias tape.

Self-drafted tank in Liberty fabric. The back is black linen.

Self-drafted skirt in plum-colored linen.

Endless summer tunic in lightweight denim chambray.

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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.

Yarns at Yin Hoo

Episode 129: Peaches and Paisley

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