Mandy Moore's Blog, page 111
July 26, 2011
Spinning Tuesdays: Marled Textures
I spun and knitted samples of Merino/Tencel, Silk, Merino and BFL from CJ Koho Designs all in the same colorway: Henry.
I wanted to know how the difference in the texture of a fiber or fiber blend plied with a different fiber or fiber blend changes the look of the knitting – marling with texture.
I took these:
Merino-Tencel, Silk, Merino, and BFL
spun singles:
Merino-Tencel, Silk, Merino, and BFL singles
I was most interested about how the Merino-Tencel and Silk would look with the Merino and BFL, because while the Merino-Tencel and Silk are shiny and Merino and BFL are matte, they are all shiny or matte in different ways. So I plied Merino-Tencel and Silk singles with BFL and Merino singles.
BFL and Merino plied on themselves
Merino is lofty and so matte it looks velvety. BFL has a visual density because of the bit of of luster and less loft than Merino because of staple length.
Merino-Tencel and Silk plied on themselves
Even though the Tencel is mixed with Merino it gives a bigger pop of shine, Tencel reflects the light more and the contrast with the matte of the Merino makes it look shinier. The silk greys out the the colorway and even though I spun it worsted it absorbs the light, especially when plied on itself.
First up Merino-Tencel and Silk plied with BFL
Merino-Tencel plied with BFL and Silk plied with BFL
In these two combos I can really see that BFL has luster, the Tencel and the Silk don't seem as shiny as they do with the Merino. The swatches are both physically and visually denser, but I like the subtlety of the not so shiny shine. I'm wondering about a sock yarn with the BFL and Silk. I think I'd add some nylon to the BFL first.
Merino-Tencel and Silk plied with Merino
Merino-Tencel plied with Merino and Silk plied with Merino
I have to confess that I've done a bit with combining Merino-Tencel and Merino before and I love it with a deep passion – the loft, the shine, the super squeezey sponge-y love. I want to spin and knit a sweater out of this combination. The Silk combo is not too shabby, the Silk shine really pops against the Merino.
And because I know you want to see it – Merino-Tencel and Silk plied together:
Merino-Tencel plied with Silk
This one surprised me the most. I love how both the Tencel and Silk shine but differently. I thought the Silk would get lost, but it holds it own against the Tencel. I want experiment more with this combination, it would make spectacular sexy lace.
Tour De Fleece Update:
It is with a big sigh that I must report to you that I completely sucked at the Tour this year. 1 bobbin, that's all I spun. I was hoping for a pound at least. Life and deadlines just got in the way. Next year the yellow jersey will be mine!
So how did you do on the Tour? What is my experiment with texture inspiring you to do?
July 22, 2011
Looking forward to Sock Summit!
Cannot wait!
Knitty will be well represented at Sock Summit this year… Amy, Kate and two of our lovely columnists are teaching classes. Amy is teaching her ever-popular "Making the Next Monkey" class – all about how to create an excellent sock design that will attract the attention of discerning editors and knitters, and her brand-new Autopilot Sock class: a toe-up sock with a gusset and heel flap that she's proud to say has converted more than one top-down knitter to the joys of toe-upness!
And Kate is teaching a class that goes well with Amy's Monkey class: "Writing Up An Awesome Sock Pattern" – all about how to write up the instructions for your excellent design so that knitters and technical editors will love you.
Two of our columnists will be there, too: Franklin is teaching a class about photography, our newest columnist, Donna is teaching a class about how to recreate Folk Socks. Between classes, Amy will be handing out special! new! Knitty buttons. Those wearing anything knit from a Knitty pattern may find themselves buttoned without warning. And if you see Kate while wearing a pair of socks she's designed, you'll get a free hug and she'll have a few buttons, too!
In addition, Kate will be at the Cooperative Press booth, #206, on Saturday with preview copies of her upcoming book… Yes! A book! And Amy will be signing books (No Sheep For You, Big Girl Knits, More Big Girl Knits, Knit Wit) between 5:30-6:00 on Saturday at the Bookstore in the Marketplace in booths 913, 915, 917, 919.
One of the Sock Summit events we're looking forward to is the Shower for Eloise. As we told you a little while ago, the Ravelry team welcomed a new member recently, baby Eloise. Sock Summit is hosting a meet-up on the Saturday evening, and will be collecting baby gear and clothes to be donated in Eloise's name to SnowCap, a Portland area charity that provides food, clothes and support to local families in need. Eloise is one of the most knitted for babies we know, and so we'd like to share the knitterly love to babies who weren't lucky enough to be born into such circumstances.
July 20, 2011
WWW: The Longbottom Fair Isle, Potter Craft, 3500 Sq Ft of Sock Yarn
Spoiler alert: A sweater for saving the world?
There's been much excited discussion in the knitting community about the rather wonderful Fair Isle cardigan worn by the character of Neville Longbottom in the latest and last Harry Potter movie.
It'll be interesting to see who comes out with the first pattern adaptation…
On the topic of Harry Potter, a few sites have posted some Potter knitting patterns, to help (ahem) keep the magic alive.
FreshIsle Fibers from Manitoulin Island, Canada – some excellent shadow-knitted socks and mitts!
Lion Brand Yarns – the obligatory scarves, and a rather cute wand craft project.
The Leaky Cauldron fan site has a huge list of all sorts of patterns and projects.
And a run down of some broader Potter-related crafting projects on the Guardian.
Imagine those shelves fully stocked...
After 6 years as an online-only store, the Simply Socks Yarn Company is opening a 3500 square foot store in Indiana. They are renovating a 1948 Post Office building, and there's some amazing pictures of the renovation on the blog.
Let me say that again, so it really sinks in: 3500 sq ft dedicated to sock yarn. They're entirely supportive of non-sock uses of sock yarn, by the way…
We wish Allison and her team all the best for the store opening, and look forward to visiting! Road-trip, anyone?
Tiny! Adorable! Carroty!
On the Craft Magazine blog, an interview with Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochiland fame. Anna talks about her "Tiny Things" project - a two-year long challenge to design and knit a new "tiny thing" every week.
From skunks to firecrackers to asparagus to holiday decorations, Anna has produced over 100 truly wonderful little things.
July 19, 2011
Spinning Tuesdays: The Hot Ate My Brain
I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but here in Michigan it's hot. I am lucky to have air conditioning which keeps my body cool-ish, but man, oh, man, the Hot Ate My Brain.
It's hard to put coherent sentences together, much less actually think.
I did spin. I like to mix textures as well as colors when I spin. Can you marl a texture?
I have this lovely fiber from CJ Koho Designs:
cjkoho Designs colorway: Henry
All the same colorway, but different blends.
Left to right: Merino/tencel, silk, Merino and BFL.
I spun them and plied the singles together in different combinations and knit swatches. I kept track, made tags, took notes.
Then my brain stopped.
It kind of feels like this:
Many combinations of fiber
I was surprised how some of the combinations came out. Next week, I promise I will find coherent words to describe it all.
In the meantime, popsicles for everyone!
July 14, 2011
Winners! We got winners!
The lucky winner of the Lexie Barnes contest was Kristin R from Utah!
And the lucky winner of a class at VK Live is Heather N from California!
We'll have more contests — always more! — so stay tuned to the blog for your next chance to win!
July 13, 2011
WWW: The industry, technology and fashion.
The Guardian paper in the UK has a great article about the state of knitting in 2011 – about the industry, trends and the influence of knitting on the broader culture.
Farhad Manjoo, the well-respected tech columnist for Slate magazine, wrote a rather wonderful and not-at-all patronizing profile of Ravelry last week. We all know Ravelry is that cool, but it's nice to see that the muggles appreciate it, too.
Step-by-step instructions, with a bonus helping of lively commentary.
Italian fashion house Prada showed purses hand-knit out of strips of leather for the Fall 2010 season.
Pop culture blog Jezebel features a tutorial on how to knit your own Prada-inspired purse. Jezebel's writing style is irreverent and just a touch snarky – it's a fun read even if you don't want to make the bag.
The artist Cobey in her studio.
A lovely profile of Maine fiber artist and author Katharine Cobey in a local newspaper. There are some fabulous pictures of her work on her website.
Her book, Diagonal Knitting, published by Schoolhouse Press in 2010, is absolutely fascinating.
A great way to spend an autumn weekend.
Awesome event alert! The inaugural KnitEast, the Atlantic Fibre Festival is running September 30-October 2nd in St. Andrews By-The-Sea in New Brunswick. The weekend features some seriously great shopping and a terrific slate of classes, with such luminaries as Lucy Neatby, Cat Bordhi, Veronik Avery and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee.
July 12, 2011
Spinning Tuesdays: Knittyspin's Fiber Fiesta
Recently I've met a few spinners who love Knittyspin and Spinning Tuesdays on the KnittyBlog, but had never heard of or seen Knittyspin's Fiber Fiesta.
Batts from Hands+Notions
Fiber Fiesta is our way of letting spinners know about fabulous fibers to spin. There are a lot of amazing independent dyers and fiber artists creating wonderful things to spin and may not travel to shows. Plus, not all spinners travel to shows regularly, and really, we're just doing our part as fiber enablers.
Yarn spun from Woolgatherings fiber
Every issue a small group of spinners (4-6) spins, sets and knits a small (2oz) sample of fiber as it speaks to them, then they answer some basic questions about the fiber and their process. We usually work with 5 different fibers an issue.
Swatch knit from Spirit Trail North Ronaldsay
I started Fiber Fiesta for Knittyspin because I always wanted to know more about fiber I saw online or in magazines. In a photo you can see the colors, but you don't know how it feels or behaves. This became increasingly frustrating for me as I had more and more disappointing on line fiber purchases, so Fiber Fiesta was born.
Yarn and swatch from Natural Obsessions fiber
Not all fibers that are submitted get a slot in Fiber Fiesta. A fiber offering has to have a positive response from most of our spinners to get in an issue, some fibers don't even make it into our spinners hands.
Indigodragonfly fiber
If you haven't seen Fiber Fiesta before pop over and take a look. If you love Fiber Fiesta and have suggestions to make it better let me know.
If you're a dyer or fiber artist and want to be considered for a slot in Fiber Fiesta or if you are a spinner with a favorite dyer or fiber artist you think should be featured, you can write to me at jillianmoreno@gmail.com
Sorry, I'm not looking for new spinners for our test panel right now. I keep my spinners local because the timeline and budget doesn't allow for shipping.
Tour De Fleece Update:
I am behind! I've managed to spin 4oz of the 16oz I want to get done. I need to spend some quality time with my wheel and the TV this week! How many of you are on track for your Tour goals?
July 8, 2011
First Fall 2011: WIPs & FOs
We love seeing all the great projects underway!
Loobles' crimson version of the Pretty Twisted Cuff
Perfect button & yarn combo.
Meyham08's totally different and equally wonderful version. The designer is right – this is a great way to showcase a cool button.
Extra coolness points for the button.
AppleBlossomSF's chic and flattering Leaflet Cardi – finished in record time, too!
Great color choice, and fits so very well.
DeceptiveCookie's excellent Creekbed in progress. Great choice of colors – entirely different than the sample, and just as effective.
Can't wait to see this grow.
RaintownKnitter cast on immediately for her Double Heelix socks, and reports she's already started a second pair…
Wow.
Jesst70 picked a terrific blue for her Commuter Mitts.
Beautiful work!
Vanauta's wonderful start at the Rhodion shawl.
Just beautiful.
And Tammina's very promising Undercurrent cardigan. It's worked in the colorway that was used for the sample, and as is the way with Noro, it looks very different.
Noro stripes = happy.
And very exciting, Yarndancer's start at the Lingerie socks.
Wonderful knitting!
July 7, 2011
A peek into Amy's classes at VK Live this September!
July 5, 2011
WWW: Knitting for animals; another great knitting Kickstarter
Pirate Captain Cat Battler. Image courtesy Guardian newspaper.
The Guardian newspaper has published a pattern for a most excellent catnip-stuffed cat toy. The pattern was developed especially for The Battersea Cats & Dogs Home, and they are hoping that knitters around the UK will make a mouse or two and send them in to help entertain the 200+ feline residents of the home, as they await adoption. More details on the donation program, including additional patterns, and the address to send them to can be found at the Battersea Home website.
At Knitty we're big supporters of animal shelters and rescue organizations. Even if you're not in the UK, consider knitting a mousie or two to donate to your local animal shelter – or indeed, adopting an animal. We've done our fair share of animal rescuing, and it's a great way to expand your family and save a life.
The Snuggles Project, started by a cat lover in Portland, Oregon in 1996, has published a collection of free patterns for animal blankets. The Snuggles Project encourages crafters to knit, crochet or sew blankets to donate to animal shelters, to provide some comfort to the animals as they wait to be adopted.
If you do wish to knit for animals, a few things to keep in mind:
Check your local newspaper or the internet to find animal rescue organizations in your area.
Always check with an organization before sending anything to them.
Do consider using washable natural fibers – a lot of cats don't like the smell of man-made fibers.
Even if you've not got time to knit, many animal shelters also appreciate donations of old blankets and towels.
Not only is this a great cause, it's an ideal way to use up some of the leftovers in your stash!
The Ladies of Mischief.
The Ladies of Mischief, a collective of talented designers, knitters, writers, illustrators and other wonderful creative minds, have launched a Kickstarter campaignfor their upcoming book project.
The book, Needles and Artifice: A Victorian Knitting Primer, will feature the work of numerous knitwear designers, costume designers, writers, photographers, illustrators, and independent yarn and fiber artisans. The book will be plot driven, focusing on the Steampunk theme and a group of fictional characters called The Ladies of Mischief living during the 1890s. In addition to being the featured characters in the story, the Ladies also model and explain the knitting patterns. The patterns will all be designed by local, independent designers within the project and will feature yarns from independent yarn and fiber artisans, most of whom are not widely known to the knitting community.
Even if you're not a supporter, the blog is a repository of cleverness, great writing, and patterns, all in the voice of the fictional Ladies. And there's a great video about the project on the Kickstarter page.
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