Mandy Moore's Blog, page 84

Jillian’s Spinning: New Knittyspin Column and Rhinebeck!

The new Spring+Summer Knitty is live!

I have a new column, called Knittyspin. I’ll be writing about spinning yarn for knitting. The first column is about why I knit with handspun and all of the things I think about when I make yarn to knit with. I’ve gotten many big email hugs from spinners who’ve read it. I have to say it feels wonderful. I was nervous. I think a lot about spinning and knitting, sometimes too much. I was worried I was rehashing things all spinners knew already or just twirling in mental circles. Whew! Now I can start working on the next column.

Yarnhollow BFL, colorway Chai – spun 7 ways

 

I have big news – I’m teaching at Rhinebeck this year!

Workshops aren’t up yet, but here’s a list of what I’ll be teaching:

Yarnitecture: Building Exactly the Yarn You Want
Color Play: Stress-free Ways to Spin with Color
Square Peg in a Round Hole: Using Your Handspun for Knitting Patterns Written for Commercial Yarn
The Difference a Ply Makes: Choosing the Right Ply for Your Knitting Project
Straw into Gold: Knitting with Handspun
I Like Big Yarn and I Cannot Lie : Spinning Big Lofty Yarn

I hope I get to meet a bunch of you in person!

 

My Hansen miniSpinner and I are getting to know each other. I spent a while just spinning little bits of a lot of things in a bunch of different ways. It was my version of opening all of my birthday presents all at once – fiber flying everywhere, spinning woolen, worsted, fat, skinny, thick and thin all only for a yard or two. It was a blast.

First miniSpinner spun yarn.

What are you spinning this week?

WWW: Before they were famous; a ‘great relationship with yarn’; Lorna’s Laces Sample Sale

Keen new knitters!

A nice piece about Four Purls, a flourishing yarn shop in Winter Haven, Florida. A great overview of a thriving community and a thriving industry (and not a single mention of old stereotypes). The article has what has got to be one of the best quotes of the year so far: “One of the store’s customers, Phyllis Collins, a knitter for only three years, said she’s got a great relationship with yarn.”

Yarn dyers and friends of Knitty, Lorna’s Laces recently did a bit of spring cleaning. They found a whole heap of sample garments and accessories, many of them one-of-a-kind, that they simply don’t have room to store. They are auctioning these samples on eBay, with funds raised going to two charities: Between Friends, an organization whose mission it is to end the cycle of domestic violence, and the Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research.

Note: the first auction closes later today, Wednesday, but more items will be going up soon. Follow Lorna’s Laces Facebook page for more info.

In the early days of their careers, many actors do some modelling. And sometimes they show up modelling knitwear… Eddie Redmanye of Les Mis fame, and Roger Moore, Mr. Bond himself.

Just what we need to cheer up the city in the last few weeks of winter. Photo courtesy The Toronto Star.

Yarn bombers have been spotted at work in Toronto. Although Amy and Kate both live nearby, we both claim innocence on this one!

Just perfect.

We did wonder if it’s the work of the Bissell Bombers, a group of yarnbombing students from nearby University of Toronto…

The Bissell Bombers’ most recent public installation was this fabulous effort both indoors and out at the Art Gallery of Ontario.

The Bissell Bombers are well-known for decorating the University campus, and will happily take suggestions for what areas of the campus need decorating – bike racks, railings, the dean’s office…

Jillian’s Spinning: The Hansen Has Landed

All of you who guessed that a Hansen miniSpinner is my new wheel are right!

Here’s what UPS brought on a day so snowy my husband and I had help dig out the truck when it got stuck at the end of our road.

My birthday came early!

Yes, two boxes, I got many things, just a second and I’ll show you.

The boxes were so well packed, not one thing shifted.

Snug as a bug in a rug.

Here’s everything unpacked:

All the spinning things

I got a maple eSpinner and it’s beautiful. I got a WooLee Winder, the regular Hansen flyer, extra bobbins, the quill, orifice reducers and the brand new Lace flyer. I’m a little overwhelmed. I’ve been spinning a little and it’s dreamy.  I forgot about the fumbled fingered way I spin when I get a new wheel. I try to spin about six different types of yarn simultaneously.  I’ll be doing a big review in the First Fall issue of Knitty and until then I’ll be getting to know her.

My next decision is which to get:

What color?

Those of you that have Hansen eSpinners, I would love to hear any tips you have!

 

WWW: Cost of a Handknit; Thriving Wool Industry Thriving; Constable Knit

The work of our hands is valuable, and should be valued.

Designer Terri Shea recently conducted an interesting experiment. Asked how much it cost for  her to make something handknit, she decided to count and calculate the value of the time spent. She set up the project just as a consultant or lawyer might – billable hours, hourly rate, materials used.

She blogged about it here.

Jimmy Beans has kicked off their annual Beans for Brains Scholarship program. They have five scholarships for post-secondary study available for students who know how to knit, crochet or sew. More information and application details here.

The Campaign for Wool in the UK continues their wonderful wool promoting the local wool industry, and the benefits of wool. Their latest initiative, ‘Wool House‘, held at Somerset House in London March 13th to the 24th, is a showcase of all things wool. The exhibit will demonstrate the uses of wool in home decor, crafts and fashion. There will be demonstrations of everything from spinning to rug weaving to “crochetdermy“, and workshops on a broad range of topics. The event curated by renowned designer Arabella McNie.

And their initiatives seem to be working: wool is making a comeback. Sales of wool have in the UK have soared 50% in recent years, and the industry provides 5000 jobs in the UK. There are 40 fully-functioning mills in the UK, and production is up 12% – thanks in no small part to hand knitters!

The RCMP detachment in Castlegar, British Columbia, is taking an innovative approach to their in-school police liaison program.

Rugs not drugs?

Constable Rob Gardner, liaison to Twin Rivers Elementary School, has joined the after-school knitting club. Constable Gardner is learning to make a bookmark, along with other students in the school. The police liaison programs are common in schools throughout Canada, to help students become comfortable with members of the police services, and build bonds and trust. I know I feel more comfortable around fellow knitters – I bet the kids do, too!

Yay!

Love this: knitter Jilly47 has taken three designs and combined them to make one brilliant lace piece. She used the basic shape and structure of Laura Nelkin’s Skywalker shawl, stitch patterns from Sivia Harding, and the TARDIS motif from Bigger on the Inside.

Kate’s Leopard Hat

As I reported last week, I’m going through my annual “tired of my winter gear” phase, and like every year, I’ve made myself a new hat to cheer me as we see out the last weeks of winter.

A friend alerted to me to the Stray hat on Ravelry, and so in a fit of late-night-startitis, I dove in the stash and came out with the required three coordinating colours….

Not exactly authentically leopard, but I do think they work rather well together.

You can see why I need some colour – grey skies, grey snow.

Note that I did make two adjustments – the original hat is a fab beret style, but I prefer a more fitted hat, so I took out one pattern repeat; and I worked the band in the darkest colour rather than the main colour. Otherwise it’s worked as written.

I used Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light, less than one skein each of three colors. And I LOVE IT.

Just the thing I need to liven up a black winter coat.

Love for Love; On Learning Double Knitting

We’re loving all the Love that the Love Actually is All Around cowl is getting.

What’s great about this is seeing so many knitters fall in love with the design and trying something a little outside their comfort level to make it happen: double knitting.

Kattak’s version

I adore the “non-traditional” natural colors!

RichelleCK’s “I Actually Love Grasshoppers”, also in a great color combo. Richelle says that she’s never tried double knitting before, and although she feels it might have gone better, she learned tons in the process.

I asked her about the project, and she said:

Double-knitting was on my “learn it” list for a long time, but nothing inspired me as much as this cowl did to actually jump in and give it a go. I’d recently taken a class in colorwork, since my tension there had been a problem area. In this class, I gained confidence in two-handed knitting (um, not purling). I think without that class, I may not have even attempted this cowl – and the cowl is what made me jump to learning a continental purl (which I don’t care for much, but can actually do if I have to now!). I’m sure my tension will get better with practice, but I’ll have to find another pattern I want this badly to give it another go!

A perfect example of complementary colors – color theory ahoy!

DianneK’s chocolate cherry version is just delicious

Yummy!

When I asked DianneK about the project, she said

I was always afraid of double knitting. I love this pattern and learned specifically for this. I had fun making this and learned some fun new techniques. I started a second one already.

CraftySBS learned double knitting specifically because she adored the project.

Learning, in action!

If you’re intrigued by the project and want to learn more, the designer recommends a couple of resources…

The cast-on is a bit tricky, and this video has helped a lot of people.

And Space Cadet Creations Yarn is running a knit-along for it. There’s lot of helpful tips and discussions in the Ravelry forum.

If you’ve tried the cowl and love the technique, have a look at some of the other patterns we’ve published at Knitty for double knitting:

The Weeping Willow Hat
The Tanis Hat
Not Your Grandma’s Hat
The Hoover Baby Blanket

If you want to go further, there’s Kate’s War & Peace socks – two socks, knitted one inside the other, using the double knitting technique.

Not easy, but very very rewarding.

And if you want to explore even further, the designer Alisdair Post-Quinn is doing amazing work in this area. His book is called “Extreme Double Knitting” – and it’s breathtaking.

WWW: London Fashion Week, Mathematical Knitting, Good Causes

The winner of the Soutache bead knitting kit from Laura Nelkin is Jennifer in Delaware. Thanks to Laura for the prize, and we wish Jennifer happy knitting!

Not just a donut.

boingboing brings our attention to Sarah-Marie Belcastro’s fabulous article in American Scientist magazine, “Adventures in Mathematical Knitting“.

Ms. Belcastro gives a brief history and overview of the uses of knitting to express and explore mathematical concepts, and she discusses and demonstrates the mathematical properties of knitted fabrics. Most interestingly, she talks about the challenges of designing mathematically.

I wish I’d had access to Sarah-Marie’s work when I was studying topology at University – seeing a torus rendered in yarn makes it much easier to understand.

Item #47,589 in an ongoing series: now it’s the Indepdent’s turn to tell us that knitting is “not just for grannies”. The headline is wearing, but the article is actually great, talking about the use of knit, crochet, embroidery and other crafts in collections shown at London’s recent Fashion Week.

More “granny” references, but the BBC tells us about how the resurgence of knitting is helping revive the British wool industry.

Absolutely not grannies: two young sisters in Tulsa, OK, have kicked off a project to give a little warmth and love to their local police force. Issued with a challenge to spend $1 to make an impact on someone’s life, sisters Savannah and Madeline bought garage sale yarn and are knitting scarves for members of the police. They’ve got schoolfriends, members of their church and staff and customers from a local yarn shop to contribute, too, and they hope to have 100 scarves by the end of the month.

Love it!

I enjoyed this story about a school counselor teaching fourth grade (9 and 10 years old) students to knit as part of an initiative to support a program in Romania to help move institutionalized children into homes. Each student made a square the was sewn into a blanket, which will be taken to Romania and given to one of the children in the program.

Jillian’s Spinning: Spinner’s Flock Sale – A Midwinter Blast of Color

Saturday I went to our local spinning guild’s fiber sale. I didn’t really need fiber, but I desperately needed some color in my life and wanted to support my local fiber growers and dyers. Here’s a little photo essay, I hope it adds some lift to your middle of winter.

The Spinner’s Flock has fiber sales 4 times a year.

Locally grown Corriedale and mohair

A special guest

Bundles of batts

Beautiful felt

Now that’s color

Knitterly mugs

Do you need a whole bag?

Tweedy add-ins

An armful of handspun yarn

My haul, I think I was trying to buy blue skies

Naptime

 

What do you do when the middle-of-winter blahs get you down?

 

 

What Kate’s Knitting

Come mid-February, the winter doldrums start to set in. I’m officially tired of my winter coat, tired of my boots, tired of the early dark, tired of the grey skies and grey slush.

Come mid-February, every year, the same things happen. I could set my watch by them: First, I knit myself a new hat. By this time, I’ve been wearing the same hat since December, and I’m deeply bored of it.

I also start to crave color: bright, outrageous, silly color.

Which results in something like this:

Well, it is colorful.

(This is the Stray leopard print hat, but worked in colors that only I would think were a good idea.)

Turns out I’m not the only who suffers this problem. Friend of Knitty Sue showed me her solution. I do like it, as it doesn’t require any new yarn purchases: leftover sock yarn socks!

This isn’t a new idea, but it’s the pure insanity of Sue’s iteration that I adore: no more than 10 rounds of a color before changing.

Also fairly colorful.

They’re clearly a pair, because Sue has used a solid color for the heels and toes. Of course.

So as soon as my hat-of-questionable-taste is complete, I’ve starting into my own leftover sock yarn socks.

I’ve certainly got enough yarn.

Lots to choose from… And this isn’t even all of it..

If you want to see this idea taken to its (perhaps not entirely) logical conclusion, check out knitpurlhunter’s Sock Opus leftover sock yarn tights, on Ravelry.

 

Knitty Friday: Franklin’s Contest – One Month to Go!

There’s only one month left to submit your design to Franklin’s Templeton Square contest.

Rev up your needles and your creative ideas, we need your designs knit up, photographed and sent in by March 15, 2013, midnight, EST.

For all of the details, keep reading. We can’t wait to see see what you come up with!

Templeton Squares

Contest Time: Square Off with Knitty

 

Here’s what you’re gonna do:

Use the Templeton Square pattern  as the basis for a finished project. It can be anything at all: a coverlet, a piece of home decor, a garment, a party tent — the type of project is up to you. The only requirement is that the Templeton Square must be a prominent and essential piece of it.

Send us glorious photos of your creation, as many as you want, but three must be:

a full shot of your design
a flat shot of your design
a detail shot of your design

The judges will be judging from your photos so make sure they are lovely and in perfect focus, no smaller than 750 pixels wide.

Include a short paragraph describing your piece, including your inspiration.

Tell us your name, email address and what yarn was used for the project.

Deadline for entry: March 15, 2013, midnight, EST

And here is what will happen:

Our World Famous Panel of Judges:

Ysolda Teague
Brooke Nico
Fiona Ellis
Shannon Dunbabin (of Cascade Yarns)

…will choose one winner in each of three categories:

Best in Show
Most Creative
Most Ambitious

Winners will be contacted by email by April 10, 2013

Winners will be announced in the Surprise for the Spring+Summer Issue of Knitty in mid-April, 2013.

Here’s what you could win:

Best in Show: Original Franklin Habit illustration, prize value $500, plus 10 skeins of Cascade Sierra yarn (your choice of in stock color), prize value $110, total prize value $610
Most Creative: 1 set of Addi Turbo Lace Clicks, prize value $169.95 plus 10 skeins of Cascade Sierra yarn (your choice of in stock color), prize value $110, total prize value $279.95
Most Ambitious: 10 skeins of Cascade Sierra yarn (your choice of in stock color), prize value $110

What will you make?