I love allforloveofyarn! Angela’s colors are great and the variegation doesn’t pool!
This cowl was knit in Eloquence–70% Bluefaced Leicester, 20%silk, 10% cashmere. It is super soft and drapy, light yet warm!
here’s how I knit it:
1 skein-100gms/430 yds fingering weight yarn.
Gauge: 7sts/11rows=1″. Cowl is 23″ around/15″ long.
US Size 2 needles (for working in the round) cast on 192 stitches. Join being careful not to twist stitches.
Rows 1-3, (K10, p1, k2, p1, k10) 8 times.
Row 4 (K10, p1, k2tog and DO NOT take off needle, knit into first stitch again and remove both stitches, p1, k10) 8 times. Repeat these four rows until desired length or until you have about 3 yards left, bind off loosely.
I took some photos and was visited by my friend Molly Brown. it took me a while to get her attention. There was a trick in the shape of a little green ball.
I just finished another Meghan’s Wrap. It is knit in Sockittome (brown) from Cherry Tree Hill and the white is a yarn is from Yarn2Dye4.
The high contrast of these colors shows off the fun shapes of the blocks of color.
The pattern is easy to knit and fast! It takes a bit of getting used to knitting sock yarn on size US 10 1/2 needles and moves along quickly once you do. A nice drape results from such open knitting
Instead of adding the beads up the fringe as I did on my first wrap, I put three beads on the end of each fringe.
I love love love this yarn! I knit this beautiful cowl/scarf/hood/wrap using two skeins – one of each color – and it is soft and scrumtious! Look for the pattern on Ravelry & Patternfish soon!
button the ends and wear it as a cowl
Meghan’s Wrap is knit on large needles (10 1/2) in garter stitch and works up into a light, stretchy and versatile accessory. The fringe is added before each 8th and 9th row by casting on, then immediately casting off. This one has 4 tiny (8o) beads in each fringe. It would also be fun with one bigger bead at the end of each strand of fringe!
Meghan's wrap worn as a hood
9 1/2 inch buttons are sewn on the ends, 5 on one end, 4 on the other. Button the ends and it becomes a cowl! Unbotton and wear it open and the buttons add pizzazz to the ends!
Meghan's wrap worn as a scarf
The sock weight yarn knit on such large needles makes for a very nice open weave. It’s warm, yet light weight and knits up fast!
Oh yea, and you can wear it as a belt!
Meghan's Wrap worn as a belt
The pattern is at the test knitters and will be available soon!
Thank you to my great model (who was modeling in 90 degree weather with no air conditioning) and my new friend and great photographer Andrea Cole.
I am such a lucky girl! Last weekend I was surround by fiber artists at the Surface Design Association Conference and had a great time learning, looking, and networking!
Pat Hickman was the keynote speaker – showing lots of beautiful images of her work and inspiration to keep experimenting and allowing our creativity as artists to flow in whichever direction we are inclined to go.
Here is a video of one of her works which chronicles the creation of the commissioned entrance gates to the Maui Arts! Fiber to metal in a large scale!
Here are two pictures of a fiber to metal project I did with my sisters a few years ago. Knit rope that I cast and then poured. Thank you Felicia and Veronica for all the beautiful art you give to the world and the work you do in creating community around art!
I love this technique of working two rows in the same direction!
Here are some pics of my latest Falling Leaves Shawlette. Yes it is red and green – a bit cliche – but it works for me!
This yarn is wonderful to work with and though it is difficult to tell from these pics, the slight variegation in the color is quite lovely.
I bought this yarn at Shepherd’s Harvest – the booth was directly across from mine and Angela’s yarn was so sweet that I could have spent all my money there!
The name of this blend is “Opulence” and that is what it felt like to knit – 80% superwash Merino wool, 10% Cashmere and 10% Nylon. All for the Love of yarn! can be found and purchased on line and I can’t wait to buy some more.
On April 30th I took an all day class at Yarn Over (sponsored by the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild) on knitting Cowichan Sweaters with Joan Schrouder. (Joan is retiring from teaching at the end of this year, so I feel fortunate to have had this class with her!) Not only did I learn about Native Tribes of the Pacific North West I learned some really fun techniques that I can use on my other knitting as well! I really enjoyed spending this rainy day inside knitting.
The “baby” sweater shown above took me the full 6 hours of class to knit. It measures about 20″ around and 12 inches long. I started the sleeve on one side to get the idea of how it is done. . .I don’t think I will knit anymore of this because I’m afraid it is too small for even a tiny human:) The yarn is a bulky yarn that I purchased from Gale Woods Farm – a lovely lovely yarn! (after I wound it into a ball, I kept it on my desk so I can gaze upon it because I love the texture and sheen so much!) The arrow shapes around the belly part are traditional and sometimes are knit so the direction of the arrow changes direction in the center of the back. I knit it the same all the way around.
The collar isn’t wide enough. If I would have made more increases to widen it, the collar would fold back better and be nice and neat. Here is a good example of learning something by doing it wrong.
Close up of my too narrow collar
Adult sweaters weigh 4 to 5 pounds and are usually about 1/2 ” thick because they are knit using two strands of bulky single ply wool. Yes, two strands even when no pattern is shown. The stitches are twisted around each other over the color patterns and when knitting with 2 strands of the same color. Knitting with two strands of the same color keeps the sweater the same weight throughout. If you only knit with two strands on the color patterned part and not the solid part the sweater would have areas of thick and areas of thin knitting. . . it wouldn’t be as warm or as consistently stable.
Arrow pattern as seen from the inside
here is a close up of the inside of the arrow design. If I do say so myself it is a nice and tidy job of weaving in the carried yarn!
Inside of the bird pattern
here is the inside close up view of the bird pattern. . . I carried the gray yarn all the way across even though the pattern of the bird didn’t fill up that much of the back.
the "public" side of the bird pattern on the back
This is the right or “public” side of the back showing the traditional bird pattern. It looks pretty good – not as smooth as I would like it to be – the carrying/weaving of the second color on the inside shows through to the outside a bit. But this is “traditional” for this type of knitting and I’m learning to appreciate it. You can see under the bird, where it is all white – I was carrying the yarn in the same way but with 2 strands of the same color. I also need just a bit more practice (or more time:)) on picking up for the sleeves. The sleeve caps are done with short rows. A few stitches are picked up across the shoulder seam and then working back and forth you pick up stitches down the armhole. Very cool!
Cowichan Sweater Shoulder bind off
This is one of the coolest things I learned during this class. It is a way to do a 3-needle bind off that creates the look of two crochet chains down the seam. This gave me the idea for a new project – – – not telling just yet – – – but look for it soon. I had a great day and can’t wait to knit an adult size sweater.
I recently met a woman from Montana who raises Navaho Sheep. . . when she has some spun I’ll get to knit a sweater out of it! Can’t wait!
Here are a few places to find out more info about Cowichan Sweaters and the people who knit them.
Spending 4 days with professionals in the field of textiles will be a great feast! I have spent many inspiring and educational hours reading, Complex Cloth – a Comprehensive Guide to Surface Design, by Jane Dunnewold, who will be one of the presenters as this years conference. One of my most popular items at art sales are scarves I knit in tencel and then dye using some of her concepts.
Summer Tencel Scarves
I can’t wait to attend her session, What Matters, a discussion of finding our artistic voice and authenticity.I also plan on attending her demonstration, Color with Soy Wax.
We’ll get to spend the first afternoon touring local galleries. The Minneapolis-St. Paul area is surrounded by a wealth of galleries and participants will actually be driven around to them. (no worries about parking!) I’m having a hard time deciding which of the many sessions and demonstrations to take part in! We even get to watch movies on Saturday night! “Handmade Nation”, a documentary by Faythe Levine.
and “Woven Lives: Contemporary Textiles from Ancient Oaxacan Tradition” by Carolyn Kallenborn.
The weekend will leave me breathless and filled with inspiration and lots of ideas. My big challenge will be to carry the inspiration with me and organize my time so I can carry through with my new ideas!
I’ve got the van loaded up and ready to drive the the Washington County Fairgrounds to set up my booth for Shepherd’s Harvest.
I’ll be vending my hand knitting patterns: Here is a photo of Hannah wearing the “Wrapped in Camel” shawl.
This pattern is hot of the press and ready for you to pick up! In case you can’t make it to Shepherd’s Harvest it is also for sale on <a href=”buy now“>Ravelry.
I knit a rectangular shaped shawl that screamed for tassels – I made 4 tassels and attached them to the corners of the shawl.
This shawl is knit in 1 strand of 100% camel yarn and 1 strand of variegated sock yarn
I uploaded a video of how to make these tassels on YouTube. It’s a bit long (7:37 minutes) but does show a very good way to make tassels.
I love this new way of knitting that I’ve discovered! It’s really quite simple. . . knit a row, purl a row. The catch is to use a circular needle and knit with one color. Then instead of turning the work around to purl back, you slide the stitches to the other end of the circular needle and purl across with a 2nd color.
Then you turn the work around as usual and repeat the knit and purl rows as described above.
I’ll be selling this new pattern at Shepherd’s Harvest this year. Come and see me! I’m sharing a booth with Gale Woods Farm.
Here are a few more photos of the shawl to tempt you.
I really don’t know what to call this yet. . . is it a pattern? Probably. This fun scarf was my first attempt at my new way to knit stockinette. Really! Knit a row, purl a row. The trick is to knit on circular needles because you will be slipping the stitches back and forth. It’s much easier to do than to write about. . .try it, you’ll like it!
Both sides of the fabric are the same and no rolling edges!
Scarf knit in Corntastic yarn from collage
Maybe I should call this my corn row technique because I first tried it on this scarf knit in Corntastic from Kollage – 100% corn fiber! It is really soft and has a beautiful drape! It knits a bit like linen in that it doesn’t have much stretch and it did tend to split if I wasn’t careful.
Here is the free pattern for this scarf: You can knit this in any 2 colors of yarn and get a great result. I’m finding that high contrast colors show off the pattern best.
Corntastic from Kollage 105 yards/50 grams
1 skein each of Amethyist and Citrine
Size 5 circular needle – (can be any length)
Scarf size:40″ long x 5″ wide
Cast on 30 stitches.
For the braided look on the edge I did this (but you don’t have to of course) (An even number of stitches is requried.) Row 1 *Knit 1 A, knit 1 B* repeat from *
Row 2 Knit 1 with B, *pick up A under B and knit 1 with A, pick up B under A and knit 1 with A* repeat from *
Row 3 *Pick up B over A and knit 1 B, pick up A over B and knit one A* repeat across.
The yarn will be twisting around itself but I think untangling it is well worth the beautiful edge it creates. I first learned this technique from Anna Zilboorg in her book Magnificent Mittens.
Now for the main part of the pattern:
Pick up A and bring it over B (always do this when starting with A)
Row 1 Knit across with A. Slide stitches to the other end of the needle. (do not turn work around as usual)
Row 2 Purl across with B. (now you can turn to the other side)
Repeat these two rows. That’s it. Really. Work these two rows to desired length, then work rows 1 to 3 of the braid and bind off.
If you want to change which one is “in the valley” as I think of it, or “on top of the row” switch colors. You can see the difference in the closeup below: The scarf on top has Citrine as A (it seems more on top) and Amethyst is B. For the part of the scarf that is shown underneath, I switched A and B – so now A is the amethyst and Citrine is B (or in the valley). The stitches will be closer together (and on top) for color A. The B color stitches are lower, or in the valley. I hope you have as much fun knitting in this way as I do. And be sure to catch my fingerless gloves class at Shepherd’s Harvest, May 8th.
I love allforloveofyarn! Angela’s colors are great and the variegation doesn’t pool!
