Knitting Pipeline is sponsored by my Longaberger home businessn and Quince & Co.

Knitting Pipeline is sponsored by Quince & Co. and Knitcircus Yarns

Monday, July 25, 2011

Episode 52 Kilkenny Cowl and Stripe Study Shawl

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site.
Thank you to Quince& Co for sponsoring this episode.  Do you love beautiful colors and soft wool with a nice spring to it?  Sign up for the weekly e-newsletter at www.quinceandco.com.
KnittyBarb was the first one to respond that my nephew's fiancee resembles Susan B. Anderson!
A special welcome to new pipeliners who sent me emails or private messages last week: Mimi, Lisa, Hannah, and Peggy. 

We also had some lovely 5 star reviews on iTunes.  Thank you so much: Luciaknits, Luvmylabs, Hoversew, Joan/FugueStateKnits,  LeaAline, and Prairie Poet.   

Pipeliner Tip 

Last week mentioned that it is sometimes difficult to photocopy and enlarge charts and instructions from books when the text and charts are too close to the binding.  Julia who is Choosejoy on Ravelry gave a great tip for this on our knitting Pipeline board.  Julia wrote that she takes some of her books to a copy place and has them spiral bound.  This costs about $5.  Thank you, Julia, for a fantastic idea.
Nature Notes

Bob joins me to answer an email from a Pipeliner about keeping Redwing Blackbirds off her feeders.  Bob and I share information about American Goldfinches and their nesting habits with thistle.  I mention www.enature.com 

There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.
~Robert Lynd, The Blue Lion and Other Essays

  

Needle Notes 

I finished the Chambered Nautilus Tam by Elizabeth Zimmermann from Knit One Knit All.  It turned out a bit small but it is sassy. 

It will take guts to wear this cap, don't you agree?

 The Kilkenny Cowl by Pam Allen.  This is a purchase pattern that calls for 4 skeins of Quince & Co Chickadee.  I used the clay colorway.  It is an unusual color and the name describes it perfectly.l  I made this for Emily, my future daughter-in-law.  Emily designed the new logo for the podcast so Kilkenny is a little token of appreciation.  Better photos coming soon when temperatures are reasonable!


Things I learned from this project:
A cowl isn't necessarily a weekend project.   This cowl is a beautiful contrast of cables and lace.  Well worth the time spent on it.  A fun and challenging knit, but not too difficult. 

Stripe Study Shawl by Veera Valimaki 


This pattern is really making the rounds on Ravelry.  It is an asymmetrical triangle.  There is a spine in it that runs from top to the bottom of the point but it is not in the middle of the triangle.  It’s all garter stitch.  Calls for 880 yd/440 of each color.

I chose Quince & Co Tern in Stonington and Oyster.  2 skeins of each.  Size 5 needle 

Better not knit this shawl if you have any tendency toward vertigo.

Modifications:

  • Did a simple backward loop instead of M1 L and M1 R.
  • Tapered the bottom point by eliminating the central increases on the last inch or so.
  • Bound off in iCord.  I have nicknamed this BO  The Two State Bind off because I started binding off in  Indiana and finished in the middle of Ohio.

The I cord Bind off looks different on each side.  Decide which side you like best.  I cast off on the right side but a lot of people like to cast off on the wrong side.  

At the beginning/end of the row cast on two or 3 stitches by knitted cast on (I did 2).  Knit two stitches.  Slip the next stitch on the left needle knit wise.  Knit the next stitch. PSSO.  Slip these 3 needles back to left needle.  Continue with knit 2, slip one, PSSO, slip 3 back to left needle. 


The Blethering Room

 Yesterday we had a visitor.  Franklin, our resident wild turkey, and one of the ladies.  To those who are new to the podcast, Franklin is a wild turkey who lived in our woods last summer and competed with his own reflection in our windows for several months.  His lady friends were named Knit and Purl by one of our Pipeliners.  I have to admit that it was a bit of a relief when they moved on for a while but I had to smile when he suddenly appeared in his usual place, all puffed up and proud, while Knit or Purl stood coyly off in the woods preening herself.  Maybe this was just a cameo appearance.  We shall see.

If you are going to Sock Summit there is a Podcaster Meet and Greet on Saturday July 30th from 12 noon to 1:30 PM at the Bar Maids Booth #400.  I will be there!  Feel free to check with me on Twitter @ knittingline to see what we are up to so you can join us.  Charr and I are arriving on Tuesday so we do have time for individual meet ups.


My business site is Longaberger.com/paula.  To be on my business newsletter list just send an email to me with information.  My email address is Paulaef@aol.com.  I'll keep you posted on the weekly sales and monthly features. 

Music

Dutch Pipes and Drums.  In Concert.  Track 3 Atholl Highlanders, Bonnie Dundee, Steam Boat.  available on www.dutchpipesanddrums.nl. Thank you, Dutch Pipes and Drums!

Haste ye back!

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Friday, July 15, 2011

Episode 51 Estonian Lace

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site.  Subscribe on iTunes! 

Quince & Co is a sponsor of this podcast.  I love their yarns!  Right now I am knitting Stripe Study Shawl in Tern in Stonington and Oyster.  It is almost finished!

 

Pipeliner Notes 

Happy Anniversary to all Pipeliners!  Knitting Pipeline was one year old on July 3!

Your notes, comments on the show blog, and participation on our Knitting Pipeline group on Ravelry keep the show going.   I appreciate each one of you!

A warm welcome to new Pipeliners! I heard from Lacey, Jenny, Penny, Wendy, and Lu.  We had two new 5 star reviews on iTunes thanks to Laurie Starr and Julie Bonello.  And if you are just out there clapping or cheering me on, that is great too. 

For those of you going to Sock Summit, keep your eyes on the board for meet ups.  There is a meet up scheduled for the lunch hour on Saturday at the Bar Maid's booth #400.  I will be there.  Also, I will try to meet up with you as best I can.  Please stop me to say hello if you see me at Sock Summit...or anywhere else.

Nature Notes

I wanted to carry Lily of the Valley in my wedding bouquet.  My Tante Grete in Denmark asked all her friends to gather their Lily of the Valley in their gardens.  They dropped off their flowers at her house on the morning of the wedding. 

Outside the church after the wedding

Bob wore his hiking boots...the only shoes he had with him for our trip to Norway and Sweden.

See that shawl?  I had totally forgotten that I wore a shawl.  My friend, Vibeke, loaned it to me that day as it was a little bit chilly in the morning.  In this photo we are standing in Onkel Orla's garden in Aarhus before going to the church.  We had ridden a city bus to the City Hall to get our marriage license.

I’ve always loved Lily of the Valley.  My grandmother had them in her garden.  When the first flowers bloomed in the spring she put a small bouquet in a little vase that had been her grandmothers.  This black vase, which I have now, has lily of the valley painted on it.  (Photo coming soon)

Kate Middleton carried Lily of the Valley in her wedding bouquet. Did she copy me?
Queen Victoria popularized The Language of Flowers where flowers each had their meaning. Lily of the Valley meant "return to happiness" or "trustworthy".
Other names are Our Lady's Tears, May Lily, May Bells, Lily constancy, Ladder-to-heaven, male lily, Muguet (French)
Became national flower of Finland in 1967
Lily of the Valley became the National Flower of Finland in 1967.
All parts including the berries and highly poisonous.  It has some of the same effects that foxglove might have, another one of my favorite flowers.


By all those token flowers, that tell
What words can never speak so well.    ~~Byron

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Needle Notes

Triangular Summer Shawl by Helve Poska from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush.


Probably the best seaming I've ever done!

Nupps!

My first foray into nupps was the Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark.  I found nupps to be tricky and sometimes I didn’t secure all the loops properly.
Here are some tips.
  • When they say to knit loosely into the loop, they mean very loose.  Pull the stitches out as you make them and hold them with another finger to keep them nice and big.
  • After you have the required number of loops in your nupp put your free needle tip (the one that would be in your left hand) inside them and pull towards you to neaten them up.
  • On the WS when you come to a nupp and all those loops have to be purled into one:  This is a trick that I do that I didn’t see anywhere else.  I hold the loops at the base of the nupp and pull straight down before putting the right needle tip in.  Then I slide the right needle tip alongside the bottom of the left needle tip as it goes in.  Once I started doing all three of these precautions, the nupps improved and got easier.
The first clip are my tips for the right side and the second clip shows tips for the wrong side of the work.


I knitted this shawl for my nephew's fiancee, Susan. Isn't she lovely? Does she look a bit like a knitwear designer we know and love?
    The Blethering Room
    Stephen West (Westknits) has a Mystery Shawl KAL that starts on August 1, 2011.  The pattern is $4 now and $6 when released after the KAL.  I jumped right in and bought the pattern.  I can't resist Stephen West.
    I need 3 colors for the shawl.  I'm thinking some of this Quince & Co Tern would work nicely.  What about Barnacle, Driftwood, and Boothbay Blue...or Sea Grass?
    The wonderful music is from Lydia McCauley, Beauty of the Earth, on the album Beauty of the Earth.  www.magnatune.com
    Haste ye back!

    Friday, July 8, 2011

    Episode 50 The Chambered Nautilus

    Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes.
    Visit Quince & Co for nature inspired yarns made from American wool!  Sign up for their free e-newsletter!  Thank you, Quince & Co!

    Interested in the Knitting Pipeline Retreat March 2-3 2012 in Washington IL (near Peoria)?  Send an email to knittingpipeline@aol.com  to be on my distribution list.

    Welcome New Pipeliners: Tonia, Wiley Kay, and Elaine in MI!

    Thank you to all who have given the podcast a 5 star review on iTunes.  Thank you to Char P, Cecile (French iTunes) and KristiMT for your wonderful reviews.


    Nature Notes

    Tree Frog that found it's way into our house.  We safely escorted him out.
    I read the poem The Chambered Nautilus by Oliver Wendell Holmes.  The linked site has information about the poem, the poet, and the shell.

    The Blethering Room

    My husband studied mathematics and physics and now teaches engineering.  I figure he is more qualified to talk about the Fibonacci Sequence and The Golden Mean than I am.



    Chambered Nautilus Fact Sheet
    At one time people thought that shells sailed.  Oliver Wendell Homes was a doctor and knew better.
    The Golden Mean.  Nature's Golden Ratio
    The Greeks knew it as The Golden Mean.
    or maybe the nautilus is a little bit off?  Read here.
    Fibonacci Numbers and Nature



    Book Notes

    Knit One Knit All
    Elizabeth Zimmermann's Garter Stitch Designs
    Schoolhouse Press  2011

    Amazing, charming, wonderful designs, and a gift to all knitters.  Highly recommended!  (Are you surprised?) 

    Needle Notes

    The Chambered Nautilus is a tam that incorporates i-cord.  It is great fun to knit.  Stay tuned!  Wool is Quince & Co Lark in the Glacier colorway.  (left over from Estelle Cardigan)




    I also mention the Snail Hat in Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann and read some of her thoughts on hats.

    I am having a Longaberger Horizon of Hope Online Open House!  Enter each day for the Prize Patrol.  No purchase required.  contact me at PaulasBasketNews@aol.com




    Music is The Minstrelsey of Chirk Castle from The Airs of Wales by Cheryl Ann Fulton.  www.magnatune.com

    Thanks for listening!
    Haste ye back!

    About Me

    My photo
    I play the Great Highland Pipes, knit, observe nature, and read. My name on Ravelry is PrairiePiper. Find me on Instagram as KnittingPipeline.