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

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

Friday, June 28, 2013

Episode 135 It's Shawl Week

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes. Flash Player is not compatible with Internet Explorer.  Try a different browser like Safari.  Or jaunt on over to iTunes to find the show there.

This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business and Quince & Co.

Chickadee is a little darling—soft, plump, springy, and eager to loop into intricate color patterns or delicate textures. Its three plies, spun from softest American wool, are twisted together firmly enough
to be sturdy, yet gently enough to be soft and cushiony.  41 beautiful colors to choose from and at just a little over $7 per 181 yd/50g skeins…you will find Chickadee a great value for your sport weight knitting. 
 Find Chickadee and the other Quince fibers at www.quinceandco.com.


You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula.  Please send me a personal message or visit my web site to sign up for my customer email list. 

Pipeliner Notes

Wool Leaves by Jared Flood gift from Michelleg3737
I’m taking a summer break with Magnatune. Let me know how important the music is for you at the end of the show.
Last week I flew to Minneapolis for my sister’s birthday and for two days of baby gawking.  I have the cutest little great nephew ever.
He's pretty serious here.

He's a little butterball.  I miss him.

Congratulate Megan and Amy of The Stockinette Zombies on their wildly successful Retreat. Zombie Knitpocalypse.

Posting from KnittingRosarian: Thanks for the reminder about washing your woolies. I have historically washed all my woolies and and lingere in soap. It use to be Ivory or Kings. Alas both are now detergent and not soap. I now use Doctor Bronner’s Castlile Soap. I had water that is comfortable to touch in my sink, then add soap and some white vinegar if it is a newly knitted project. I then add the item to wash and just squish it about. I will then drain the water about 20 minutes later, rinse until the water is clear in water that is slightly warmer then I washed it in. I will knead the water out, lay in out a bath towel that is about to go into the wash. It will be rolled up and then I stomp on it toget out the excess water. I will then lay out on a fresh towel reshape on my drying rack in my sunroom away from the sun.
Woolite and other detergents leave their residue in your garments. When washing with real soap the garment rinses clean. If the garment is really dirty, shampoo around the collar and cuff works great and if the garment is a bit scratchy a bit of cream rinse in the final rinse should help. This method and never felted or shrunk anything I have knitted. I will ocassionally will use the spin cycle in the wash if there is alot if the garment is large.

Babyboxermom asked what is the difference between detergent and soap.

TwinsetJan wrote: Soaps are made from natural fats and detergents are made from synthetic (sometimes with additional natural) chemicals. Both are surfactants -- they lower surface tension to allow water to do its job of dissolving things better. Soaps are biodegradable and have less likelihood of irritating skin if made properly. (Anyone have a lye soap story to tell?) Detergents are often petrochemical based and can be harsh on skin and natural fibers, but they are acknowledged to rinse cleaner. Soap’s metallic fatty acid base wants to cling a bit so it needs a more thorough rinsing and is why it can make clothes look a bit gray if used for the laundry.

DoreenMacL: Great info on frogging/upcycling yarn. I recently ripped my grandson’s baby blanket ( in handspun wool silk indigo dyed!) because the dog chewed a corner of it. I did pretty much what Paula recommends and knitted a lace crescent shawl for my daughter, the boy’s mom. And there is likely enough yarn for a toque for him. Now if we can keep the dog away… A good way to make a taut skein is to use two chairs back to back, you can put tension on by just moving the chairs a bit apart so it works better than one chair. I have a swift but sometimes resort to the two dining room chairs because they are handy.

Events
I am planning on announcing registration information about the Maine Retreat in next week’s show.  You will not be able to mail in your registration until July 15 (postmark).
November 10-14 near Portland Maine.

Knit Along           
Lullaby Rain by Paula Emons-Fuessle

Wave 1 KAL already started when pattern was released on Monday June 24.
Wave 2 KAL July 12 with weekly installments.
Uses 3 skeins of Chickadee.   See notes on enlarging the shawl at the top of the KAL thread on our Ravelry board.
Fingering weight test knit by MimiD
Nature Notes

Storms!  We seldom have rain in the summer without some wind and lightening.  That’s what it is like here on the prairie.  There were terrible storms in Minnesota last weekend and we’ve had one every day since I’ve been home except for today.

I read comments by Susanna and Martha.  Thanks for your comments on the blog!
The best thing one can do when it is raining is to let it rain.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Needle Notes
WIPS
Finished!

Simple Summer Tweed Top Down V-Neck by Heidi Kirrmaier.  Free Pattern.

LOVE this pattern!  Project pages might scare you off.  Make your own spread sheet.


Gauge is different on Magic Loop.  Tighter and smoother.


 The Blethering Room

At last minute threw in Point of View Vest by Hannah Fettig.  No chance I was really going to work on this. The Knit Girllls nailed it in a recent episode…Stash Separation Anxiety.  SSA

Shawl Week at Quince & Co

Leaves Shawl by Kristen TenDyke

Everly Shawl by Mindy Wilkes (designer of Holden Shawlette)

Fulmar by Veera Valimaki

Qinnatin by Melanie Berg

Product Note

Nikon Coolpix P510 Used smaller pocket camera and my iPhone.  Recovery TIME!

Browning Worm Binder Bag pages make great pattern keepers or notions pouch.

Stanwood Needlecraft Ball Winder the balls have a tendency to ooze out of the center.  Still recommended.

Try-it-on Tubing.  I’m a converted fan.

High Note

1.       MyRadar Weather Radar App

2.       Chocolate Cake from Kowalski’s Market


Have a great week, haste ye back, and hold your knitting close.

More Baby photos in case you didn't get enough earlier:

With his papa. Look at those cute hands!

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Episode 134 Deep in the Frog Pond

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes. Flash Player is not compatible with Internet Explorer.  Try a different browser like Safari.  Or jaunt on over to iTunes to find the show there.

This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business and Quince & Co.

Chickadee is a little darling—soft, plump, springy, and eager to loop into intricate color patterns or delicate textures. Its three plies, spun from softest American wool, are twisted together firmly enough
to be sturdy, yet gently enough to be soft and cushiony.  41 beautiful colors to choose from and at just a little over $7 per 181 yd/50g skeins…you will find Chickadee a great value for your sport weight knitting. 
 Find Chickadee and the other Quince fibers at www.quinceandco.com.

You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula.  Please send me a personal message or visit my web site to sign up for my customer email list.

Events

I am still working on two fall retreats.  Sometimes the people I need to talk to are not around for a week or so and that makes it tricky.

Nature Notes

Today, June 19, the birds are busy at all of the feeders.  Goldfinches are eating at the platform feeder this year and we don’t know why. Normally they prefer the niger thistle seed over black sunflower seed.  They are still eating thistle seed but have broadened their food choice.  I just saw 6 goldfinches (5 males one female) on the platform feeder at the same time. Normally we don’t see 6 birds on that feeder at the same time and definitely not Goldfinches.  Other birds at the feeders as I’ve been sitting here are tufted titmouse, nuthatch, downy woodpeckers, the show and territorial male Rose-breasted Grosbeak, house finches and a cowbirds.  Our Eastern Phoebe has landed nearby but you won’t see this bird at the feeders as it is primarily an insect eater. I’ve seen the white cabbage butterflies a lot lately but not much else in the butterfly world yet. The cowbird I mentioned is not my favorite bird.  I doubt it is anyone’s favorite bird but after reading an article in a bird magazine which I cannot quote at the momen, I try to understand them.  The cowbird is generally despised because they are parasites in that they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds.  The female bird will lay only lay one egg at a time in the nest of another species.  They don’t even build nests of their own. Usually the cowbird egg will hatch first and the baby bird will be bigger than the other birds so it gets more foods.  As humans we think this is deplorable behavior but actually the bird can’t help it.  For some reason it has evolved this way and through no fault of its own the cowbird has a very hard life of trying to maintain its species in this way.  All of their eggs do not survive as sometimes the host bird will realize it is different and destroy the egg or the baby.  The cowbird has to lay more eggs than the average bird just to maintain the species.  They are not pretty birds either so generally speaking the cowbird is at the bottom of the heap on any birder’s lists of favorites. 

Hummingbirds are frequently darting to the nectar feeder.  The Ruby Throated Hummingbird is the only hummingbird that is normally seen in our area.  Last week I was at a friends house and she had her hummingbird feeders under her eaves up within a foot or two of the big windows.  The birds were so close with that arrangement but we can’t figure out a similar placement.  The areas with eaves are not accessible for Bob to refill the feeders with ease.  So for now our feeder will probably stay on the wrought iron arm that suspends it from the deck railing.

Barred Owls are calling back and forth in the woods as I write today. It is 11:30 am.  They seem to become active midday and again in the evening and early morning.  It seems we have more Barred Owls this year than ever before and that makes me happy.  I am never tired of hearing them.  Sometimes one will call out and another starts in before the first one has finished.

I’m still on my James Whitcomb Riley binge. 

A Fruit-Piece

The afternoon of summer folds
Its warm arms round the marigolds,
And with its gleaming fingers, pets
The watered pinks and violets
That from the casement vases spill,
Over the cottage window-sill,
Their fragrance down the garden walks
Where droop the dry-mouthed holly-hocks….

--James Whitcomb Riley

Needle Notes
WIPS

Finished
At First Sight by Laura Linneman/LaLa Knits  $2.00 download.

My project page is here.
 
Frogged
The Perfect Fit Crazy Lace Seamles Cardigan Craftsy Class by Myra Wood.
Malabrigo Worsted Polar Morn.  I did not alternate skeins.  Bad idea.

The body of the sweater didn't look too bad...

...but oh dear!  The sleeves were terrible!

I use my ball winder to unravel the garment.  Gravity works well or use your swift to hold the garment and wind from there.

These are the yarn cakes after unraveling the sweater. 

I use a quilters ruler for winding the kinky yarn into a skein.  I tie it off with baker's twine and its own ends.  Usually 4 ties per skein.
Look how kinky these skeins are!  That has to be fixed.


See what I mean?  Not so good to knit with this.

Wash the wool as you would the garment. I use a wool wash such as Kookaburra, Soak, or Euclan. Fill the basin with tepid water and let the wool sink in.  It takes a while.  Usually I lose patience and give it a poke to help it along.

I use my spin dryer to get the yarn fairly dry.  A highly absorbent towel such as Sham-Wow works well too.

I hang the hanks out to dry.  You can weight them down with clothespins to get any remaining kinks out.



The Blethering Room

Shawl Week at Quince & Co starts Monday June 24

Lullaby Rain by Paula Emons-Fuessle

Thank you to test knitters Lu, Charr, Kathy, Mimi, Louise, Jane, and Bronwyn!

3 skeins of Chickadee. Easily enlarged.

Product Note
A point and shoot camera that really delivers!

42x optical zoom
 

Friday, June 14, 2013

Episode 133 Travel Knitting

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes. Flash Player is not compatible with Internet Explorer.  Try a different browser like Safari.  Or jaunt on over to iTunes to find the show there. 

This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business and Quince & Co.

At the Knitting Pipeline Retreat the knitters were excited to see all the colors of Quince & Co sparrow.  Sparrow is a plain little yarn, beautiful in its simplicity. Its clean, smooth hand is crisp as you knit it. But after washing and wearing it becomes handkerchief soft. It is spun from organic linen grown in Belgium. With names like sans, juniper, birch, nannyberry, blue spruce, little fern, butternut, port, viburnum, pigeon, paprika, truffle, and fen, who can resist?  I can’t! This is my newly acquired stash of Sparrow.
 

You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula.  Please send me a personal message or visit my web site to sign up for my customer email list.

Pipeliner Notes

We had a wonderful vacation in Oregon visiting our son, Pete.  More photos on my personal blog.

Dinner with Pete in Hood River
Events

I am working on details for the Knitting Pipeline Retreat in Portland ME November 10-14 and will be announcing that soon.  There is also another retreat in the works that will also be in the fall.  Details and registration will open us in the next few weeks.

Nature Notes

When we were in Oregon we were out in nature quite a bit.  My favorite wilderness moment was when Bob and I hiked the Eagle Creek Trail which is located between Portland and Hood River accessible from 84. 
It was our wedding anniversary and we really didn’t intend to hike as much as we did but we missed the turn off for what we intended to do and ended up here.  It was what one might call a happy accident.  It was raining that day but we barely felt the rain as we walked this trail.  I am not exaggerating when I say that it feels like another world to someone from the Midwest. Moss covered rocks and trees are everywhere. Some trees are almost entirely covered with moss.  Waterfalls and the sound of rushing water from below. Steep drop offs along the side of the rock path.  There was a cable to hold on to for some.  We felt as if we were in a movie set like Avatar or Jurassic Park.  We hiked all the way to the High Bridge which was 3.3 miles and then back of course.  By the time we got back we were both pretty tired but oh so glad we had done it.  We went back on Sunday with our two sons and dil and did a mile or so out and back so they could get a feel for it.  Pete has since gone way in and camped overnight there with his dog. 
Back here in Illinois the weather has been glorious with cool temperatures and sunny days since we returned until yesterday when it got up in the 90’s. Last night we were supposed to get a gigantic storm, quite possibly a derecho, or straight line winds; however it totally missed us.  During the night the temperature dropped about 30 degrees.  That’s what it is like here.
A few days ago I was sitting here on the porch drinking my morning mug of tea and I saw some movement in the woods.  Actually I heard movement first and then saw a doe at the edge of the woods. She had her two young fawns with her.  She stopped and the two little ones started nursing just on the other side of our woodpile.  I grabbed my camera and got a few photos.  As the doe ambled away the little ones tried for more milk and she would occasionally let them have some.

 

It seems we have a nesting pair of Rose-breasted Grosbeaks in the woods as we have been seeing a pair at the platform feeder.  This is the first year we’ve seen Grosbeaks after the middle of May although we know they do nest in our area.  This pair has apparently decided to stay.  Since it has been so cool here we’ve had our windows open so we can hear the barred owls calling back and forth during the night and the frog chorus in the creek.

I’ve been reading James Whitcomb Riley a bit lately.  Way back when I went on a James Whitcomb Riley binge and my grandparents gave me a volume of the complete poetical works of this American (Hoosier) poet who led a most interesting life.  I wonder how my grandparents bought this book for me as we didn’t live near a book store and there was, of course, no internet.  But they did give it to me and I’ve kept it all these years occasionally opening it to read one of the over 1,000 poems he wrote.  James Whitcomb Riley wrote many poems in the vernacular which was quite innovative and a bit shocking.  These are the first few lines from a long poem that you are probably familiar with


Tell you what I like the best --
'Long about knee-deep in June,
'Bout the time strawberries melts
On the vine, -- some afternoon
Like to jes' git out and rest,
And not work at nothin' else!...

Needle Notes

Preparing Travel Knitting.  Of course I went way overboard this time since I under-packed knitting for my last trip.

The Basics
  1. Get started on project at home if possible.
  2. Get all materials together.  Needles, tools, print pattern if necessary.

Estuary by TincanKnits from Handmade in the U.K. by Tincanknits. It was not a good travel project and in fact maybe not a project for me at all. Sorry to say that it went to the frog pond.

Estuary was frogged.
YarnPony Mustang hand-dyed fingering weight was a gift from Allison.
Travel Projects
1.      Crossroads at the Coffee Shop by Karrie Steinmetz

A Verb for Keeping Warm Annapurna.  Sport wt.  Size 4-3.5 mm 

Maybe not the best choice for travel but ok.  I thought I would memorized charts but I didn’t really.  Modifications other than yarn weight. 

I-cord BO across top.  Added Garter borders on sides, about 1.5” on each end because it looked short.

2.      Socks in Opal Vincent Van Gogh colorway from Klose Knit
3.      Small Shawl of my own devising in Quince & Co Sparrow in Paprika.  I love knitting with this linen!
4.      Socks for eldest son.
5.      Skein of Another Crafty Girl just in case.

Aranami Shawl by Olga Buraya-Kefelian.  Birthday present for my mom.

 


 

I used Quince & Co Finch in colors (light to dark): Iceland, Kumlien’s Gull, Kittywake, Sabine, Crow. 
Modular knitting can be fun but it is a slow way to create a shawl or garment.

The Blethering Room
Yasui Building at 16 Oak Street in beautiful downtown Hood River, Oregon.

Friendly, lots of beautiful samples, great selection of yarn and needles.  Sofas and chairs for sitting and knitting.
Madeleine Tosh

That is Sarah, the owner, who is KnotAnotherHat on Ravelry.
 
Local Yarn.  Imperial Columbia
 


KDLB posted on Instagram that they had a Piper’s Journey sample there.



 
If you buy yarn when you are on a trip then it is souvenir yarn, right?
 Hazel Knits Artisan Sock, Hazel Knits Piquant Lite, Imperial Yarn Columbia, The Plucky Knitter Plucky Feet, and Addi Sock Rockets.
 
High Note
Farkle
My favorite Farkle photo.

Hybridgirl recommends Bananagrams.
Instagram  You will find me there as knittingpipeline.
Snapseed free photo editing app

It ain't no use to grumble and complain; It's jest as cheap and easy to rejoice; When God sorts out the weather and sends rain, Why, rain's my choice.  --James Whitcomb Riley (1849 - 1916)
 

O Mother what shall I do (Sonata in D Major from Trio Sonatas on Scots Tunes - J Oswald) (2:22)
Musica Pacifica Dancing in the Isles

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.