i have been wanting to introduce you
to harrisville design’s new yarn ‘flywheel’.
this sport weight is so sweet
to work with and
the tweediness is spectacular.
today, harrisville blogged and said everything
that i thought i wanted to say.
so, you can simply check out the details
‘today’ taken from 6:11 of matthew.
photo by caryn of caryn scanlan photography.
stockinette stitch is flexible.
that’s one of the great things about it.
it drapes, it stretches, it organically curls at the edges,
but can it also be strong and firm and stand straight?
that was the question on my mind
when the seed of an idea
for the ‘sirkel’ cowl
started to grow
in my head.
the thinking went something like this:
if folded hems are strong, thick and lay flat,
(which they are)
then, a circular folded hem big enough around to be
worn like a cowl would stand tall
all on its own, right?
one ring wouldn’t be very interesting though…
could two be worn together of different sizes?
and what if
they were connected,
without having to stitch seams,
to each other or
maybe
partially connected
so there was still room for them to move a bit?
ok, that works in my head, now will it really work?
that’s when the ruler and scissors
came out to cut a little
fleece and see.
sure enough, it worked.
it could all be knit in one piece
with a few
edges for folding upon
and some three needle bind-offs
to separate the two rings.
ta-da! it’s sirkel.
short hair is
so great, except when it’s not.
those of you with short hair know exactly what i mean.
for those of you who don’t,
i’ll give a quick review on ‘bedhead’.
the more short strands of hair on any given head,
the more likely that in the simple act of sleeping
these strands will meet the pillow in an off-kilter way
producing what my kids lovingly call
‘mama’s morning hair’.
when i had longer hair, the sheer weight of the length of it
would pull sleep related quirkiness straight after a short time awake and vertical.
with short hair, this is not the case.
some times (emphasis on ‘some’), a little water and
a brush will smooth things out,
but my hair is nothing if not stubborn
so more often throwing on a great knit hat
is the best way to go.
but, in the warmer weather, a hat is too much.
irregardless, bad hair days persist through the summer months.
‘asheville‘ is my cure
for turning every warm and sunny day
into a good hair day
or for adding that added extra touch of pizazz
for any old day that the mood strikes me.
the lycra in the silverspun pulls the stitches in just enough
to keep your bad hair secret safe
and the cotton is dreamy soft.
for those of you who have enviably good hair days consistently:
first, don’t tell me who you are
because it will make it hard for me to continue to like you.
second, the ‘asheville’ pattern includes a longer version
that can be worn as a breezy scarf.
because, although i am
a bit jealous,
people with good hair should have nice knit things, too.
‘envy’ taken from 14:30 of proverbs.
photo courtesy of feel good yarn company. photographer: caro sheridan
one day i
saw this great pic
(i think it was on etsy)
of crochet fingerless gloves.
what caught my eye was the horizontal thumb holes.
the thought that an elogated buttonhole could work for a thumb,
led me to leap onto an entirely different train of thought.
it meant sleekness (which i love).
it meant that a stitch pattern could be uninterrupted (which i love).
it meant no fussy shaping for a knitter to get bogged down in (which i love).
all that was holding me back from knitting some up
was the matter of how to not lose
the elegance of the simplicity
when adding curves,
because loose, ill-fitting gloves
i really don’t love.
the lycra in the mix of silverspun
easily solved that lingering dilemma.
so i sketched (albeit badly)
and swatched,
and submitted
and waited
and thanks to feel good yarn company,
the look book for the full ‘simply silver’ collection can be found here.
the back porch step asked me sit a spell and knit on it. seriously, it did. so i obliged.
light as air.
harrisville tweed ‘spring thaw 2014’.
sunshine won’t ‘cha come out and play?
we’re more than ready.
the summer i was fourteen years old,
i spent two weeks immersed at language camp.
this meant only french
spoken, all the time.
the thing is,
most of us campers
knew very little french.
we’d whisper
in english
in our bunks at night
or behind
the counselors’ backs
trying to stave off
the deep feelings of homesickness
that were only intensified by the language gap.
in an effort to connect 
(and to calm us down),
our cabin leader ingrid
would quietly sit
humming
while she brushed
our hair until it shined.
she would then
do different
braids each day.
french braids (of course),
dutch braids, pigtail braids and my favorite, fishtail braids.
four of us had long hair then and became known for our daily locks.
we loved our matching braids and we ate up the attention.
we were so far
from home and from
our own sweet mamas.
even now,
braids
make me feel hugged.
this piece
of my history
is the inspiration
for today’s
new pattern.
‘water under the sky’ feels to me like a warm hug around the neck
and the fishtail braids are like emotional comfort food.
don’t you dare let
the braids scare you.
there are clear
step by step directions.
if you want more,
is easy to find
on youtube,
and tomorrow you can
to enter to win
enough yarn to knit and braid, your own ’emotional comfort’.
see you then…
1st and 3rd pics: julie asselin’s ‘yotta’.
‘water under the sky’ taken from 1:9 in genesis.
2nd and 4th pics: camaj fiber arts ‘boheme sari ribbon yarn’.
this is a favorite proverb of mine:
“better to live on a corner of the roof than share a house with a quarrelsome wife”.
you better believe it.
when i start to feel all snarly and discontent
i remind myself of this.
no man of mine is gonna wish he was on the roof.
when i think of a roof,
i think of a pagoda. no idea why.
the new england roofs of my childhood are nothing like them.
i’ve never even seen one in real life.
still, that’s what comes to mind at the mention of the word.
amazingly intricate and interesting.
i was aiming to capture
both of these things in this new cuff design.
the way the increasing creates a textural ‘x’
across the top of the square is pagoda-like to me.
do you see it?
now that roofy-ness on my arm
is a good reminder to take a deep breath and be grateful
no matter what. and always.
pagoda pic from www.novaexperience.net.
This gallery contains 3 photos.
Long knit stitch columns form wide triangle motifs in the reverse stockinette stitch of this boatneck pullover. Released as part of Knitscene, Fall 2013. Available here for $5.50.
timbrel.