podcasts

Episode 212

December 16, 2018 by Sara

I’m smitten with this little ceramic village by Allison Borthwick of Buchlyvie Pottery. It’s such a charming addition to our holiday decorations and sits in tranquility on my kitchen window sill. At the opening of the episode, I go on quite a bit about IndieMart in Narrowsburg, NY. Some other spots I mention are The Heron and Tusten Theatre.

Did you miss out on the fall/winter sessions of From Fleece to Finished Object? I’ll be starting up a winter/spring series beginning in February. Check the details on the website of Hope’s Favorite Things and call the shop to sign up!

The Back Porch

Here’s a glimpse of my recent sock design, to be published in early February. The pair you see here is knit in Carole Foster’s Northumberland 100% USA made superwash merino/nylon blend–dyed by Carole.

As I knit along with my test knitters, I’ll be trying out a new base from Lisa of Fibernymph Dye Works. The color here is Wild Bergamot. Isn’t it gorgeous? I’ll be reporting back with my impressions of this new base as I knit.

The Front Porch

Stringband hat/cowl by Stephen West
Wood Hollow hat & mittens by Kirsten Kapur
Doocot by Kate Davies
Yell by Marie Wallin
Seachange by Jennifer Steingass
Nimue by Cirilia Rose

And Sew Forth

Gustav Klimt’s THE KISS cut into a front dress panel. This could be a very cool holiday frock or a total disaster. I’m going to use the burrito roll method and try for a completely lined dress.

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 212

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