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When an event moves to a new venue, I never know what to expect. Will the layout be challenging? Will the lighting be awful? Will people come?
Yesterday The Great Rhody Yarn Crawl wrapped up a weekend of fiber festivities in a new location. This year the Market was held at Mount Hope Farm. We were in a restored barn on beautiful grounds with the ocean as a backdrop. I don't think anyone was disappointed with the change in venue.
Follow along for a photo tour.
The grounds are full of impressive stonework, including this column.
At the end of the drive you'll find the ocean.
Just hanging out above the barn doors . . .
Animals inside.
Animals outside.
Top it all off with lovely spring weather, and you have a perfect afternoon.
Today there's an air of festivity in Massachusetts as we celebrate Patriot's Day and Marathon Monday. With back-to-back shows I can't take the whole day off, but I will mark the holiday. A round of coffee and knitting with a friend sound just about right.
The other day I was busy with the dye pots and decided to experiment with a few colorways. I took colorways from one base and used them on a different base. I started by selecting a handful of colorways from Lillian - 100% Superwash Merino. I dyed Lucia - 75% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon - with the exact same dye formulas as the Lillian colorways.
As a general rule I don't expect colorways to look the same from base to base. They all have different fiber content. Some bases are tightly plied, others are more loosely plied. All of these factors have an impact on the finished product. But no matter what the outcome, it's always fun to experiment.
I started out with March Sky.
Lillian is on the left, and Lucia is on the right. These two are almost identical. Twins.
Then I tried Apricot.
Again, Lillian is on the left, and Lucia is on the right. Same formula, different result. These two share some of the same characteristics. Siblings.
And then because I got tired of repeats, I tried something new.
I want to cast on with this nameless colorway right now, but first I have to decide . . . socks or a shawl?
Rhode Island-area knitters are hot on the trail this weekend. The Great Rhody Yarn Crawl is in full swing with knitterly fun and games all weekend long. I'll be at Mount Hope Farm on Sunday to wrap it all up at the Marketplace. The Rhode Island knitters know how to put on a yarn party. If you're in the area, venture out for some of the festivities.
What a difference a few days can make, especially in spring.
Just the other day these branches were bare, and now they're full of blossoms.
My color inspiration for the week.
Just a hint of pink.
Knitting can be boiled down to two ingredients - the knit stitch and the purl stitch. It's the extended techniques that make knitting so intriguing. For example, take short rows. They are magical. Short rows allow for shaping and adding extra fabric just where it's needed.
Lately when the situation calls for short rows, I've been experimenting with German short rows.
Draupner has a series of scallops along the bottom edge, and the scallops are constructed using short rows. I opted for German short rows since they are so neat and tidy. If you want to see step by step instructions for making German short rows, check out a previous blog post.
I've been making scallop after scallop after scallop.
My cable is full of scallops. I think it's time for a scallop count.
Speaking of shapes take a look at the work of Kiyoshi Mino for detailed needle felted animals . . . lovely works of art.
Yarn shop parties are usually a blast with plenty of yarn, prizes, snacks and knitting time. What's not to love? Saturday I was on hand at Sisters of the Wool to help them celebrate their two year anniversary.
Sisters of the Wool is a cozy shop with comfy seating, good lighting and a nice selection of yarn and books. I brought a sampling of kits and a few yarn blends to add to the festivities.
People were coming and going all afternoon. I met a man who took up spinning three years ago as a form of physical therapy. Kim, one of the teachers at the shop, also does sweater repair and finishing. Several people talked with her about sweaters in need of help, and she left the shop with a couple more projects in tow. I discussed ganseys with a knitter who is plotting his first gansey sweater. Somewhere in between all the talking I gave demonstrations on thrumming. Beware. There's a new wave of inspired thrummers on the loose.
And of course there was time for knitting. Saturday morning on my way out the door I grabbed my Grayling. This sweater is really too big to be a handy on-the-go project, but it was near the top of the pile. I'm glad I took it.
The body is finished and the edge detail is done. Just a couple more rows and I'll be binding off. Bring on the sleeves.
Blocking can make or break a knitting project. I love blocking - I really do - but sometimes there are obstacles along the way. I have to clear a big enough space, the pins go missing and they must have kidnapped the yardstick because it's nowhere to be found. But once I have the necessary ingredients assembled, blocking is magical.
Picabeau.
A crescent shaped shawl.
Light and airy.
A perfect little wrap for spring and summer.
Yarn overs create a lacy contrast to the garter stitch, and the outer edge has a small picot detail.
I followed the pattern as written except for a slight adjustment I made with the help of an Anne Hanson technique.
On the garter edge I worked the first stitch by wrapping the yarn twice. The double wrap gives the garter edge just a little extra when it comes time for blocking. I found that I only needed this extra wrap on the increase section. On the decrease section I worked the first stitch as usual with a single wrap.
The pattern starts with the increase section. As I worked through this section I weighed my ball of yarn. I wanted to use half the yarn before switching to the decrease section.
For once my calculations were right on target. I added one more of both the increase and the decrease repeats and ended up with just enough yarn to spare.
The yarn is Dirty Water DyeWorks Paula, colorway Orchid. Blue Faced Leicester is one of my favorites to work with - smooth and strong yet almost silky.
I always enjoy a new traveling companion. and Picabeau will be with me tomorrow as I head to the trunk show at Sisters of the Wool.
There isn't much color outside, but once the temps warm up, I'm sure we'll have an explosion of color. I was lucky to find this bright little patch - my color inspiration for the week.
A glimpse of green.
We won't discuss the fact that yesterday I saw a few snowflakes falling. Perhaps the flakes were to commemorate the April Fool's Day Blizzard. Sixteen years ago we were still digging out.
It's better to focus on the potential for spring-like weather. For a few weeks I've been brewing up a bit of spring in the dye pots.
These colors and more are now live on the website. Lillian, Lucia and Paula all feature new colorways. There will be a few more fresh colors trickling in over the coming weeks. Stay tuned. Spring is just getting started.
I came away from the weekend with several observations. A strip mall parking lot can be entertaining if you're people watching - loud teenage boys piling into a car, barking dogs left unattended in a car, excited children skipping into the pet store. It can also be a good spot for production knitting while waiting for kids. There's nothing like a few hours in a confined space to add several inches to the latest knitting project.
My Picabeau is off the needles and next in line for a good blocking. I'll share pictures in a later post.
Since one project was off the needles, I had license to start a new one. In case you're wondering, that's our communal Easter / Spring basket in the background. That was one of my better ideas over the weekend - throw a bunch of candy in one basket for all to share. I don't know why I didn't think of it years ago. My not-so-good idea was leaving two teenage boys with potatoes, peelers and a pot and expecting that it would all land on the stove ready for cooking. You win some, you lose some.
Next up on the needles is Draupner. I would put this in the win column.
This shawl has a short row, scalloped bottom edge. Draupner is worked from the bottom up, so right now it's all about the scallops. I came up with a production system on the first scallop. One down, ten to go.
