Marly Bird's Blog, page 181

From Modeknit yarns, Annie Modesitt

From Modeknit Yarns, Annie Modesitt visited Yarn Thing with Marly Bird today!

Annie says she learned to crochet as a child, at about age 7. Women who worked for her dad in his coat factory, would give her crochet lessons on Saturday mornings. She learned to knit as an adult. She lived in New York, making decent money, and transferred to Dallas, and learned to knit at the going away party before that move. She continued to knit while at work in a very cold, windowless room waiting to process. That time (she likens to prison) was practice to perfect her skills.

When she left that job, she found work knitting for designers, eventually working for a bit of time at Vogue Knitting. The pay was not as good as when she lived in New York earlier but realized the truth that if you’re happy with your life, you don’t have to earn a lot of money. She said she went everywhere and did a lot of knitting, including for Broadway shows, and designers like Marc Jacobs. Annie continued to design, write books, and contribute to magazines and now she is has a yarn company, Modeknit, which is indie-dyer business. She says she’s pretty much the luckiest person she knows.

Kathleen Pascuzzi is her business partner, Annie says she’s phenomenal, has a background in retail especially in jewelry. In fact, a lot of the earlier yarns they offered were named colors of gemstones. Currently, their favorite yarns are offered in a line called ‘No Spoilers’, based on tv shows like the ‘Walking Dead’ and the BBC’s ‘Sherlock’. Currently, her daughter Andi has her creating colorways based on ‘Steven Universe’, called Crystal Gems which is gender neutral.

Since her last visit to Yarn Thing, Annie released a book, Knitted Wraps & Cover-Ups. Annie is a fan of a garment included called an Armory. There are pieces for all skill levels, with a variety of interests like entrelac, cables, lace and slip-stitch, garments that include boleros, capes and shrugs.

Annie and hubby Gerry are about to move from their current home, now that the kids are out of the house, and they are very excited about the potential of the house and neighborhood. The new yarn dying studio will work to her needs so well, to hear her is to nearly hear her poetic.

To follow Annie Modesitt, visit her website: modeknityarns.com, her Facebook page, Ravelry Designer, Twitter, Pinterest, among other online places.

Also if you’d like to hear her earlier visit to the Yarn Thing podcast from 2009, CLICK HERE. You can watch this visit in Marly’s Facebook page, as a behind-the-scenes video. If you missed getting to hear THIS visit LIVE, you can still listen to the ladies at this link, which is where it aired originally but now has been archived: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/08/23/from-modeknit-yarns-annie-modesitt or in your favorite podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher Radio.

 

The Yarn Guys, Jeffrey & Dennis have a Wall of Yarn

The Yarn Guys, Jeffrey & Dennis have a Wall of Yarn and came to share what it’s all about with us on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird.

Jeffrey Wall and Dennis Rinkenberger own the LYS Wall of Yarn, in Freeport, IL. Their yarn shop just hit it’s 5 year anniversary this May and they are also the North American Distributors for Rauma Yarns from Norway.  Rauma has been producing high quality yarns for about 90 years.  Their shop can also order pewter buttons and clasps from Norway and have an Amish family make wonderful wooden yarn bowls for us as well.

Jeffrey started knitting at age 9 and stopped in high school but picked it up after graduating from college in 2000.  Dennis started knitting in 2011 when they were in the planning stages of opening the shop. He says the mechanics of how yarn works attracted him, weaving initially as many guys who take up crafting. Jeffrey’s mom is the one that thought they should open a yarn store. Their customer’s call Jeffrey ‘the Yarn Whisperer’ because he can recall what they’ve been working on, fix what they’ve been working on, can find and identify patterns.

In the shop, The Yarn Guys try to carry a little something for everyone though they do specialize in Scandinavian/stranded knitting.  Because the shop is in a small town, they try to find other ways to keep the business viable, first becoming the distributors of Rauma yarns and patterns. They have a large variety of colors and yarn, perfect for fans of color work. Jeffrey translates all of Rauma’s patterns from Norwegian into English and teaches knitting classes throughout the midwest.  Dennis is also a yarn rep so he travels around the country trying to find good homes for our yarns. They both travel to large events to share the yarns, like Stitches (where they are news sponsors of the events), Interweave Yarn Fest, Vogue Knitting Live and KnitLab so that they can share this yarn to people who don’t know about it!

Beitha shawl by Anne Podlesak

For the fifth year anniversary, they worked with Anne Poldesak of Wooly Wonka Fibers. The conversation began with realizing the traditional anniversary gift is wood, which made them recall that Birch is the first letter of the druid alphabet which uses tree with a lot of meanings and interpretations in fairy tales. For the shop’s knit-a-long (they’ve had one every month) Anne created The Beitha Shawl pattern and two yarns to represent the leaves and the bark. The next is blackberry (which is a luscious purple), and later will be holly, further out is apple… So much inspiration but a huge project!

They have also recently worked with Alasdair Post-Quinn who was on the program recently, who created a pattern with their yarns for Yarn Box.

Our distribution website is www.TheYarnGuys.com.  Our website for the shop is currently under construction but will be www.WallofYarn.com.  People can follow us on Facebook as the Yarn Guys (the shop) Facebook for Wall of Yarn. They have a Ravelry page for the shop and one for that fantastic Knit-A-Long Ogham, and Instagram.

As a couple, working together they are finding a lot of adventure within the industry. They also look for more of their other interests as they have to travel, breweries that serve vegan food tops the list. We can’t wait to see what their inspirations will come from and what their followers will want to knit.

If you missed getting to hear this live you can still hear this as an archived episode:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/08/16/the-yarn-guys-dennis-and-jeffrey-have-a-wall-of-yarn or with your favorite podcast catcher like iTunes and Stitcher Radio.

Lo-Lo by Bar-Maids owner Kismet Andrews is an Author

Lo-Lo by Bar-Maids owner Kismet Andrews is an Author and she came to tell us what’s new with her and all about the new book, The Art of Schlepping: Proven strategies to get in, fit in, and sell your products at markets and fairs on the YarnThing podcast with Marly Bird.

Here is the link to hear the earlier visit Kismet made to visit with us. You can follow Kismet Andrews through the Lo-lo by Bar-Maids website: www.bar-maids.com, also Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

If you missed getting to hear this visit live you can still listen to the episode as it’s archived: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/08/11/lo-lo-by-bar-maids-owner-kismet-andrews-is-an-author or with your favorite podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher Radio.

Weekend Wraps with one of the authors, Melissa LaBarre

Weekend Wraps with one of the authors, Melissa LaBarre (the other author is Cecily Glowick McDonald was not available to chat with us but we love her work too!) returned to the YarnThing podcast with Marly Bird to bring us up to speed on what she’s working on.

Melissa learned to knit the basics while she worked in the mid-90’s while working in a Nursing Home as the activity coordinator. She wanted to learn more so she sought out books, and soon creating sweaters without patterns. Cecily told her she should be writing things down. Pam Allen purchased her first pattern for publication with Classic Elite and guided her through the process, and still does for Quince & Co now. Melissa LaBarre is a freelance knitwear designer and work-at-home mother. She is co-author of the books Weekend Hats (Interweave 2011), New England Knits (Interweave 2010), in 2012 leaving full-time work to be a Stay-at-Home-Mom and pursue more design work. Her designs have been published in Knitscene, Vogue Knitting, Twist Collective, as well as design collections for Quince and Co, Classic Elite, Valley Yarns, Blue Sky Alpacas, Brooklyn Tweed, among many others. Her third book, Weekend Wraps, which is her second co-author work with Cecily is her newest work to share with us.

Her design work has changed. It used to be that she created patterns, mostly sweaters, for women, occasionally for men. Now she’s creating designs for kids (which means that she the finished project is a garment AND a pattern) and shared that her four year-old is helpful at directing the process of her designs, but not really interested in wearing them. So most of her design time is spent on the younger one. She is currently creating a collection of women’s garments, too.

In 2008, while attending Rhinebeck with Cecily, it was suggested that they write a book. When they got home, Cecily e-mailed Melissa her book idea (Melissa says that was the sign that this was real) and that became New England Knits. They have also collaborated on Weekend Hats and Weekend Wrap has grown from that. For Weekend Wraps, they created a theme about color and put out a call for wraps, shawls, cowls and scarves using heavier yarns like worsted an up, so that the project could be completed in a weekend. They each contributed two designs, Melissa created the Getaway Poncho with it’s beautiful collar and Hikers Shawl which has a rustic texture both in the stitch pattern and the yarn. Cecily created two sweaters, The Wander Shrug and the Sailing Bolero which Melissa says could be knitted as a full length sweater easily. Other contributors include Angela Tong, Kate Gagnon Osborn, Thea Coleman, Bristol Ivy, Carrie Bostick Hoge and Tanis Gray.

Melissa says she and Cecily are very close (her daughter says she’s her best friend) and they will probably work up future books, just haven’t come up with a plan yet, so we have something to look forward to. It’s a mystery what it could be.

Melissa LaBarre can be followed through her website is: www.KnittingSchoolDropout.com, she can also be found on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Weekend Wraps can be purchased through Amazon with Marly’s code. Marly alluded to an early YarnThing episode with Melissa, but it must have been one of those early lost episodes it’s not in the archives. We can’t wait to have her or Cecily come back.

If you missed getting to hear this live it is still available to hear as an archived episode at the link where it aired originally: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/08/02/weekend-wraps-with-one-of-the-authors-melissa-labarre-rogers or in your favorite podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher Radio.

Red Heart Cares Knit Cowl Pattern

The Red Heart Cares Knit Cowl Pattern is the newest FREE PATTERN I teach how to knit for the August, My First with Marly Bird.

This cowl is super easy and fun to make, perfect for any beginner.

To make it even easier, I’ve created a spreadsheet that can be used in conjunction with the pattern and video to ensure that the knitter doesn’t get off track. Brilliant, right?

Here is a direct link to the google sheet if that is better for you: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Guest Steven Be

Guest StevenBe warmed up the visitors chair on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird, now that everyone is back from hiatus.

Steven Berg is a whirlwind of color and texture and every encounter with him will leave you irrevocably changed–awed, inspired, and ready to tackle a new challenge. Steven’s adventurous and fashion-filled life has taken him around the world and back home to Minneapolis where he holds court in his 6,000 square foot firehouse-turned-fiberhouse, StevenBe.

Steven’s fiber career began knitting at 4 or 5 years old, continued through high school, worked very hard to get into design school, he wanted to be a fashion designer. After school in Minneapolis, he spent time in Manhattan in the creative pop culture scene, and also back in Minnesota working in men’s clothing. After working in the industry for 25 years, he came home to Wisconsin where his mother owned a shop (since 1971), she told her dear son, ‘Your inheritance comes in bags of ten, go sell yarn’ so that is what he did. His work with ‘found resources’, unusual materials like the tape from cassettes, telephone cord, 8mm film. ‘Let no continuous strand remain unknit’, he says, and backs it up with eclectic fun. His goal to make ‘The StevenBe Way’ transitive verb meaning to take something further than it was intended to go into the the Urban Dictionary. His booths at the knitting events, Marly says, are the ultimate ‘StevenBe Experience’.

Because of that unique sense of play he puts together, he’s been asked lend his magic to Stitches Midwest in support of Halos of Hope, with contest that is BeYond. Open for a year, contestants are invited to submit CRAZY HATS. Lately, StevenBe has been creating fun with pompoms, fringe, tassels, ALWAYS with glitter, at the event will be added other elements! The goal is to raise money for hats to be shipped to the various cancer centers around the country.  There is more information at THIS LINK (takes you to Halos of Hope’s Website). Participating are Universal Yarns, Purl Soho, Three Irish Girls, Draw Four in launching this event.

StevenBe has a website: www.stevenbe.com Also Check out StevenBe.TV where the motto is: All the class and twice the sass for your viewing pleasure! His shop StevenBe, is a converted firehouse in downtown Minneapolis. If you happen to be in the area, the shop address and hours are listed here. Also, follow the Steven and Stephen (the dynamic duo of StevenBe and Stephen West of Westknits) can be followed in Facebook.

If you missed getting to hear this episode of the Yarn Thing podcast, it is still available as an archived episode where it aired originally: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/07/28/guest-steven-be or in your favorite podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher Radio.

Glisten Holiday Throw

The Glisten Holiday Throw is a made up of lace motifs joined together to make a stunning piece that is the perfect accent for your living room any holiday season.

[image error]Holiday season?!? Marly, have you lost your mind? It’s only July! Well, it is the time of year when knitters and crocheters pick up their yarn and tools and make projects for #ChristmasinJuly. That’s right, Christmas is less than 6 months away so you better get started on those hand made gifts.

I used same stitch motif I used for the Pineapple Shawl (Free Pineapple Shawl Pattern Available Here) but this is in a square instead of in a triangle.

Because I love to work with crochet charts I have had the chart made up for both the initial square and the subsequent joining squares. When I get a chance I will add written instructions, but for now, here are the details and the charts

Details
Yarn

RED HEART® Holiday®: 6 balls 9040 Red/Silver B Yarn needle 

Hook

Susan Bates® Crochet Hook: 5 mm [US H-8]

Notions

Yarn Needle

Gauge

One block measures about 9 x 9” (23 x 23 cm) square. CHECK YOUR GAUGE. Use any size hook to obtain the gauge.

Pattern

Make a total of 25 motifs.

Using Chart 1, make one full square. Then make each following square using the join as you go method; Chart 2 illustrates this.

Optional Border

I did not add a border to my blanket but I think it would look lovely with a border. So, I am writing one for you. The instructions are at the tech editor now and once I get them I will add the border to the original blanket and show you how it looks. So, All of that is to say that I will update optional border instructions and this is a place holder.

Key for Charts

Chart 1

Chart 2

 

Note

It occurs to me as I write this that I don’t have a picture of the full blanket flat! I will be sure to take a picture when I get home and add it to this post.

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The Secret Stitch by C Jane Reid

The Secret Stitch by C Jane Reid is a historical fiction novel that traces the history of crochet, which is something we don’t see on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird often enough!

Jane’s visit came about by way of Laurinda Reddig, who has appeared on the program herself. The way Jane tells it and from what we know of her ourselves, Laurinda is quite the enabler!

It was actually Laurinda who taught Jane to crochet. Jane says she had been wanting to learn but confused by the difference in terminology between US and UK patterns. Between Laurinda’s help and Google, with lots of practice, Jane has actually progressed to where she can help with Laurinda test knitting the patterns she creates for publishing in magazine. Along the way, she’s also picked up knitting and she will pick up that craft when she needs a change from crochet. Over the ten years, they have become best friends that ‘spend too much time together’. It sounds, too, that even though Laurinda is left handed that’s not hampered Jane’s learning or there friendship whatsoever.

Jane’s career in writing began much earlier, in middle school she began as a poet. She admits that truly exceptional writers are those that have persue it their entire life. Sometimes inspiration comes from reading what others have written, and there was a book that she read that was not ready to walk away from when she reached ‘The End’. (She shared that it was the Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, published in 1983. She also mentioned the books by Elizabeth Peters and Laurie King. Including those in case you’d like to add them to your summer reading list…) After a while, she outgrew writing based on someone else’s work and by college, took every creative writing class that she could get into. She says her genre was ‘Fantasy’ fiction, but while she tried short-story writing, found it unsatisfying because she could really go into the detail she needed in her writing. Then, family pursuits interrupts the literary until she met up with Laurinda Reddig.

C Jane Reid has worked alongside Laurinda Reddig, ‘falling into it’, with Monica Lowe, who hand carves crochet hooks (Craftwhich Creations), they have created kits that included Monica’s hooks, local hand-dyed yarns, Laurinda’s designs and a story from Jane. The kits FicStitches, themed on the story, with the pattern, yarn, crochet hook, with yearly sign-ups (pre-orders are now open) are quarterly shipped.

The Secret Stitch is the beginning of a series C Jane Reid is creating called The Unraveling. She is very much a character driven author, she writes as if the character was telling the story, trying to keep up with the details, researching what would have been happening around, her character Ailee. A second book is coming out later this month, Elsie will be the character in that book, Jane says the character wasn’t completely truthful with the story so there was a major revision in that process. (If you peek at Jane’s newsletters, she is several books forward in the thinking, planning writing of subsequent books.) Adding the crochet elements is a result of her research, and becomes part of her American historical development as well.

The exciting thing for us is that Laurinda has created a book of patterns, to go with C Jane Reid’s book, The Secret Stitch, A Crochet Companion that includes 9 patterns. The shawl on front has really fascinated those that have seen it as it really does look knitted. Other items include a bag, hat and mitts with a cabled celtic knot (YES, crocheted).

C Jane Reid can be followed at her website: www.CJaneReid.com. She also has a Facebook page. In addition to the FicStitches link above, Laurinda has a website, too, she was unavailable today as she’s traveling to TKGA/CGOA happening in the next few days. She will have the books with her in the Hooked for Life booth, with MaryBeth Temple.

If you missed getting to hear this LIVE it is still available where it aired originally as an archived episode: 

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/07/12/the-secret-stitch-by-c-jane-reid or with your favorite podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher Radio.

Busy Man, Alasdair Post-Quinn

Busy man, Alasdair Post-Quinn was our guest on the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird today.

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Alasdair’s began knitting in college, at a craft sharing event, where he was teaching an Origami class that nobody showed up for, so he went to sit in on a knitting class. His mother knit and other family, he thinks they didn’t teach him because they didn’t want him to have access to pointy sticks. From the time of the class he was hooked on it. His progressed from that first class by teaching himself. He found a book called ‘Reversible Two-Color Knitting’ by Jane Neighbor (sadly out of print) which got him inspired and exploring, ‘knitting in a vacuum’ having fun. He says the techniques were undocumented, so he began to write patterns and sharing what he was learning. 

His first pattern, The Corvus Scarf, which was designed for his sister who was an amateur ornithologist, particularly studying Corvids or crows and ravens. He approached Cooperative Press as well as other knitting book publishers. He met Shannon Okey at a Knitting Guild meeting in Boston, afterwards what he was knitting caught her eye and somewhere in the conversation she told him ‘You have to publish a book about this’ and eventually that came to be.

Alasdair Post-Quinn is the author of the book “Extreme Double-Knitting: New Adventures In Reversible Colorwork” (published by Cooperative Press in 2011). Because of the progress he was making at that time, he admits the pattern may have rough edges, but the opportunities to learn techniques is present. It was written as a primer for those who have not done double knitting.

Hesperos scarf will appear in the upcoming book!

Once the initial accomplishment of that book wore off, about six months, he began planning for the next book. By that point, he’d already learned more double knit techniques, like Double-Knit Cables, both with a cable needle and without. Alasdair says he knew how to do cables before, but this was a more ‘elegant way’ to do it. His new book in the works entitled “Double Or Nothing” will be out sometime in late 2016. (PLEASE NOTE: that last link is to pre-order the self-published book. He also shared that he will be able to drop it in the expected price with more of us pre-ordering. HINT, HINT!) While he was working on ”Extreme Double-Knitting” he attended Cat Bordhi’s Visionary Authors retreat, as a unique potential author in that he already at a book deal with Cooperative Press. What he learned, he says, about self-publishing worked so well with his adventure with CP, that it was almost like self-publishing, which he will be doing with “Double or Nothing”. He says having his first book published was wonderful because you share in the work, you share in the process, and then the process. With this one, he will be printing locally, everyone behind the scenes like tech editors, sample knitters are all local. As he used to layout a newspaper, he has the background in design to do this on his own.

There was another book he self-published between “Extreme D-K” and “Double or Nothing” called Parallax that included 5 patterns. If that term is unfamiliar, Wikipedia says: ‘Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight, and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines’. The patterns Alasdair has included are really the visually stunning images that make the eye think it’s looking at curved surfaces…. SERIOUSLY cool!

Alasdair lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his wife and cat; his day job is in computer repair. In his spare time, he travels around North America to teach, and he’s slowly transitioning to spending more time designing, publishing and teaching double-knitting techniques and patterns. We can continue to follow him at his website: www.Double-Knitting.com, he also has a blog, and a Facebook page. Double or Nothing can be pre-ordered, to get on that mailing list, CLICK HERE! Also, he has a Craftsy Class for those who learn by watching others, USE MARLY’S LINK.

If you missed getting to hear this LIVE it is also archived where it aired originally: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/07/07/busy-man-alasdair-post-quinn or with your favorite podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher Radio. You can also watch the behind-the-scenes video through Marly’s Facebook Page.

 

Rugged Knits author Andrea Rangel

Rugged Knits author Andrea Rangel was the topic on this beautiful July Tuesday at the Yarn Thing podcast with Marly Bird. That book title sounds like a summer full of adventure…

Andrea lives on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. She was born in Peru, which may that she was born a world traveler, Tuscon, AZ, Jordan as Peace Corps Volunteers, Seattle, Washington… She learned to knit with her grandmother, but when grandma passed away, there was no one to continue to learn with. At age 18, moving to Seattle for college, and auntie was knitting at a family gathering. Andrea received from her purple mohair knitting and size 5 knitting needles. Her hands remembered how to knit and she kept knitting while she got her degree in English with a education certification. Eventually she stopped teaching and became a knitting designer. She’s also learned to crochet, which she does and says ‘I love me a good Granny Square!

Andrea says the first year she knit, she JUST knit. That purple mohair eventually became a vague rectangle which she attached to a piece of canvas and she used the finished project to carry her books to class. She later went to a yarn shop and asked to learn lace. The photocopied a pattern from a Barbara G Walker treasury, cast-on a few repeats and proceeded make a few scarves! She admits she didn’t understand gauge, was twisting her stitches, ignoring the directions. (Andrea credits Marnie McLean’s technical videos as helping her, and a lady at the yarn store, researching books, the internet, Ravelry… Plus JUST Doing!) She did eventually find the joy in all of those things and as a designer she loves seeing what other people are enabled to do.

Her first pattern, Andrea says, was in Knitty 2009, called Hex Shawl, and still Andrea says would go back to publish more with them because of their support. She created ‘The Dude‘ as a dare to copy the sweater Jeff Bridges wears in the ‘Big Lebowski’. She says it was a torture to knit, that people probably think she hates knitters, her goal was to copy the original as best she can. Andrea has since created more “knitter friendly” and she loves that people are loving it, knitting and wearing it.

Andrea’s written a new book, Rugged Knits with Interweave, based on ideas that were chunky knits. Andrea’s turned that idea more toward knits she would wear in every possible occasion, last a long time, and classic so that you would WANT to wear it for a long time. Pieces included are for men and women, many unisex. She says she wants men who knit to feel there are patterns available for them, too. Some ideas in the book are just about the color, like Bright River, which is a tunic length raglan pull-over with a cowl neck and short sleeves. The vertical sleeves slim elegantly, but it’s the color that draws the eye. Woolen Explorer is a Lopi-inspired, created to wear as a coat or jacket, with big pockets. Andrea’s husband created the charts! Elderberry Road textured yarn with color blocking in a cardigan makes for fun! The Wrap-up Hoodie is a super-soft, super comfy and goes anywhere cardigan, done in Hazel Knits. Surging River goes back to that original bulky knit, works up quick and is elegant done in Imperial yarns.



Boreal Toque is taking Andrea out to yarn shops to teach and sign books. To see where that might be, you can follow Andrea Rangel at her website: www.AndreaKnits.com, also she’s in Facebook, has a Designer page in Ravelry,  also Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter.




If you missed getting to hear this live its still available as an archived episode where it aired: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/yarnthing/2016/07/05/rugged-knits-author-andrea-rangel or with your favorite podcast catcher like iTunes or Stitcher Radio.