Knit Photography

Gale Zucker and Joan Tapper have a new book out called Craft Activism.  Their book is about promoting a more meaningful DIY lifestyle, featuring some inspiring crafters and projects.  I had the pleasure of a class taught by Gale at Fiber College, and while I was there I got a sneak peek at her book.  It's super.

Photos are of me at Fiber College, modeling my 'Sue' sweater, courtesy of my girlfriend Suzanne (puppylove on Ravelry).  Gale taught us about light and shadows, depth of field, and tons more.  As you can see, Suzanne was a quick learner.

My pal Elizabeth over at Dark Matter Knits has some other great photography resources as well.  I'm coming to the conclusion that there are some spectacular photographers out there - I think I would like to just have them shoot my work.

Barbara Walker's Double Increase #2

Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top is a fantastic resource that I highly recommend.  On page 20 she outlines ten ways to make double increases, my favorite being #2.  It is a symmetrical stitch, making one stitch into three with a small eyelet at its base.  She describes it as (k1, yo, k1) in the seam stitch.  I call it a sdinc in my patterns, or symmetrical double increase.

Here is a series of photos showing how it is done, as if one were knitting Round 31 of my Eileen Mary sweater. It all happens between the markers.  Click on any photo to see larger, and do admire my dyer's manicure.

 1. insert right needle in next stitch as if to knit,

wrap yarn as usual

and bring loop to front, but do not slip new stitch off of left needle. (k1)

 2. bring yarn from right to left between needle tips,

bring loop to back as if purling,

but do not slip new stitch off of left needle. (yo)

 3. wrap yarn back around as if to knit

and bring loop to front (k1),

and slip the whole three stitch cluster off the left needle.

Completed sdinc



Rounds 31-36



Here is the final product.  If this technique were used without all the other decorative stitches, the result would be a series of stacked small eyelets, a "handsome increase" in Barbara Walker's words, indeed.

Fiber College 2011

 I'm home from Fiber College with lots to share, more than I can fit in one post.

I made this little cut out at my campsite at Fiber College.  I drove the 175 miles to Searsport in my family's 37 foot motorhome all by myself.  I'm pretty keen on myself right now.

This is where I was sitting while I made this little cut out at my campsite at Fiber College.  Yep. 

This is the class I taught at Fiber College.  We were working with our tricked out ball winders, winding yarn from recycled sweaters.

I have added a small cup hook to the top of each winder so that it can be used like a drop spindle.  Unthread the yarn from the eye, loop it onto the cup hook, hold two or more yarns at arm's length and crank the handle until the resulting plied yarn has the desired amount of twist.  Remove the loop from the cup hook, rethread it through the eye and wind it onto the ball winder in the usual fashion.  Repeat, many times. Many thanks to Knit Picks for donating two ball winders to our class.  Your generosity is kindly appreciated.

When I pulled into Searsport Shores Ocean Campground on Wednesday afternoon, Astrig and Steve were out on the porch waving and beaming.  And it just got better from there.  More to come ...

Surface Design

Fiber College is coming up quick, September 8 - 11!  If you have not taken a look, I think you should.  And if it does not fit in your schedule this year, please consider making time next year.

I am taking  Beth Berman's silkscreening class.  Surface design has been percolating in my head, including all the places that surface design can be used - clothing, furniture, freestanding art pieces, knitwear ...

Below are some examples of freeform machine embroidery I did a while back.  This is what we call "the asylum", a bedroom in our house up north.



beds from ikea





lamps from Brimfield



Hope to see you at Fiber College!

Hey Nineteen

Last week I delivered my 19-year-old back to school for her Sophomore year at Virginia Tech.  I do miss her, but she's so happy there I wouldn't want her anyplace else.

In my Sophomore year I had the good fortune of a roommate that knit, and friends that knit too.  I think that was a little unusual for 1985.  And we all knit with Lopi, mostly hats and sweaters. 

Lopi Icelandic, 1985

Knitting this Icelandic sweater was my salvation during finals, guided by Knitting in the Old Way by Priscilla Gibson Roberts.

an update with a nod to my daughter

In 1985 my friend Skooie was taking a class in elementary education, and one of her assignments was to learn something new, something she knew nothing about.  So we all taught her to knit. We started her on a hat in the round.  She had many teachers, and also many followers who wanted to learn to knit as well.  She would pass her knitting to non-knitting friends and let them have a go at it.  Gauge was never considered, and I think maybe which direction to knit in may have confused her once or thrice.  She soldiered on, never frogging a single stitch, and ended up with a hat that would fit a rhinoceros, horn and all.  With the hat on her head, she gave a presentation to her class on her learning-to-knit experience and I do believe she earned an A.  And she became a tremendous school teacher.   

In other news, I have finished my un-named cowl made from recycled yarn, as well as a pin to hold it just so.  And my man has finished one wood shed.  We're rich.

Yarn Revival

I deconstructed a men's all cotton sweater a while ago and dyed the resulting yarn to self stripe.  The colors were happy and bright.  Too happy and bright.  Ick.

So I plied the yarn with the yarn from another deconstructed all cotton sweater, this time a grey and white rag cotton twist.  Yech.

So I threw it in a dye lot with something else ... I can't even remember, something red.  Ack.

Last chance.  I tossed it in a dye bucket with some blue and black dye, and the sleeves of an old cotton tee. Hooray!  I'm loving the resulting mellow blue stripey yarn, and it feels like velvet.  It's still on the needles, and the tee has been cut into little rosettes for embellishment. 

Money spent was next to nothing, and the time spent has been a sweet lesson in perseverance.

A Whole Lot of Win

We have winners from the Fiber College Blog Tour!

Giveaway #1 goes to Genevieve Monks Keller.  Your prize will be waiting for you at Fiber College.  There is a table at the entrance with smiling faces to greet you and point you in a direction.  They will have your yarn and your free pass for Saturday evening.

Giveaway #2 goes to Bekky.  Please email your shipping address Bekky (odacierATyahooDOTcom), and I will send your yarn on its merry way.

Giveaway #3 goes to Leamonteach.  Wait.  #3?  There was no #3.  Well, there were some folks that were unsure about whether they could make it to Fiber College or did not indicate, and I appreciate that they left a comment anyway, so I threw in one more giveaway, just like giveaway #2.   Leamonteach, please email your shipping address to (odacierATyahooDOTcom).

Have you ever used a random number generator?  I am embarrassed to say I felt a little nervous clicking on the 'generate' button.  Yikes, good thing I'm not a gambler.  Thanks Y'all!