podcasts

Episode 264

January 5, 2021 by Sara

In this episode, I provide a review of some recently completed knitting and stitching projects, and share some ideas for using espresso powder. Known as “chocolate’s best friend,” this product deepens, darkens and intensifies all sorts of flavors. We have had some fun experimenting with it.

UPCOMING ZOOM STITCH & CHAT

I have signed up for Holly Merker’s Basic Birding Skills webinar, hosted by Hawk Mountain. The cost is $9.40 including fees, and takes place on Thursday, January 21 form 7-8 pm EST.

Afterwards, Yarns at Yin Hoo listeners are invited to join a zoom session. We will stitch and chat and talk about what we learned from the webinar, as well as our own birding tips and insights. If you would like a zoom link, contact me via Ravelry, email or IG.

Hello, Waffles. You are a seriously cute puppy. LINK to Ravelry project notes.

Currently on the needles:

shortie socks knit in KnitSpinFarm’s Apple Cider colorway
cabled pillow (gift kit from WildRoseTextiles)

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My marsma. With thanks to Sarah Hunt, who walked Emily and I through this process. The layout you see above was achieved after hours of maneuvering. I decided to reverse the motifs so that they can be appreciated when the pouch is folded up (see below. I also decided to incorporate some of the shisha embroidery techniques I learned from Shanaz Khan — and this also helped me pull the yellow into the wide end of the case.

The interior is lined with fabric. I chose a paisley from stash. There is a pocket for storing stitching supplies. Then, I decided to add some storage for needles and a pin cushion. My pin from Katie Green monitors the situation and helps to keep everything in good order.

The pouch at the narrow end of the marsma is tempting for storage of scissors, but they tend to slide out. So I find it’s useful for thread, which stays in place a little better. Below you can see how the pouch is folded and wrapped for storage, so the contents stay neatly tucked away.

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.

Episode 264

#powerpantry

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