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

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

Friday, March 15, 2013

Episode 125 Picker or Thrower?

Listen here or use the Flash Player in the side bar.  (Unfortunately not very compatible with Internet Explorer browser). Subscribe on iTunes!

This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business, Quince & Co, and Klose Knit.
The folks at Quince & Co produce a line of thoughtfully conceived yarns in their historic spinnery in New England.  Their wool comes from domestic sheep and other fibers come from earth friendly suppliers.  You will find that Quince & Co 100% wool is a living fiber, beautiful, practical, sustainable, and affordable. Find them at www.quinceandco.com
 

Fine Fibers and Friendly Service is the motto of Klose Knit and that is exactly what you’ll find in our store in Urbana IL. We have a great selection of yarns including Rowan yarns and patterns, Blue Sky Alpacas, Art Yarns, Tahki, Dream in Color, and not to forget the complete Malabrigo line which is our best selling yarn. Several smaller yarn producing companies like Zealana, Jojo Land, Jade Sapphire and numerous sock yarns you will find on our ever growing shelves. Sock yarns include Opal, Austermann Step, Trekking, Paca Peds; the list is forever growing and changing.
Klose Knit is a quick hop off the I-74 in the heart of Urbana IL.  311 W. Springfield Ave.
Urbana, Illinois 61801 (across from Strawberry Fields).
Brigitte, owner of Klose Knit, in one of her rooms full of delightful yarn selections.

One of many shop samples at Klose Knit.
You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula.  Please contact me if you would like to be on my preferred customer email list.

Pipeliner Notes
Helen Keller Video on You Tube share by Babyboxermom/Carey

From MarynVoigt:
It made me so happy to hear you talk about Helen Keller. I will never forget reading a biography of her as a young girl and then watching The Miracle Worker. I had heard about Helen Keller my entire life because my mother grew up near Tuscumbia, AL. In fact my mother and I just drove past the Keller home a few weeks ago when we were visiting a relative there. My great grandmother, Minnie Burns Lindsay Nathan, and her sisters were friends with Helen Keller.

One of my mother’s most vivid childhood memories was when her beloved grandmother Minnie Burns took her at age 5 or 6 to meet Helen. My mother says that, even then, she knew that this was a special person and that she was in the presence of greatness. She remembers being a little scared, that Helen was dressed all in black, and that she spoke in a very low, monotone, voice with no inflection. She particularly remembers Helen reaching out and placing her hands all over my mother’s face and head, and saying to Minnie Burns, “This is a beautiful child.”

Another thing I find interesting is that our daughter said that all of her students in rural China had learned about Helen Keller in school - that she is considered by the Chinese to be a hero.

Well, this message is way too long but I just wanted to pass on our story. I will try to attach a picture of my mother as a little girl. I think Helen was right!
 
Missy's mother as a child, with her mother.  Beautiful!
 
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Events:

Discount code for Paula J Ward’s e book Easy Knitting Design: the Basic Sweater. (regular $49.95)

Piperliners will get a discounted price of $19 for the next month!  (March 15 to April 15)
Here's how to get it:
  • Go to knitsweaterpattern.com.
  • Scroll down the page. Towards the bottom you will see the (smallish) Buy Now button, with a box ABOVE it for a discount code.
  • The discount code is pipeline
  • After entering the code and clicking on the Buy Now symbol, you will be taken to PayPal, where they will see the discounted price.
  • If you have any problems, they can e-mail me via the Contact page on my blog, easyknittingdesign.com.

Knitting Pipeline Retreat  April 26-27, 2013 with Yarn Crawl Fun Day on April 25th.  Join in the yarn crawl at any time or go at your own pace and schedule!
Aizome and Susanna are going to collect Mother Bears to take back to Minnesota.  $3 per bear.

Current Retreat Sponsors:
Ewe-nique Yarns Morton IL
The Fiber Universe in Peoria IL
Klose Knit in Urbana IL
Peddler’s Way Quilt Co in Washington IL
Knit4Together in Dunlap IL
The Blend in Washington IL
Knit Along

Gill’s Rock by Paula Emons-Fuessle
Gill’s Rock KAL  March 8 through April 9.
Gills’ Rock Project Worksheet by Joyce Garris of After This Row.  Free for a limited time!
Wave 1 March 8 through April 8.
Wave 2 April 8 through April 30th.
Prizes!  Quince & Co yarn.

Nature Notes
Waves of Blackbirds, hawks, and swans.  March came in like a pride of lions.
Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.


Needle Notes
I sewed the buttons on my Acer Cardigan so it is officially finished. I will try to get a photo of me wearing it this weekend.
 
Brenda Castiel who is Goodstuff on our board wrote:
Just was listening to the podcast, and had a thought. You said it’s hard to estimate the size of a buttonhole in advance, which makes it hard to select buttons.
That’s true -- even if it’s say, 4 stitches wide, it does seem to stretch a bit. So the solution is: (wait for it) Swatch!
Just work a buttonhole in your gauge swatch and you’ll know where you stand.
In the patterns I write, I give the size of the buttons required and I write the buttonhole instructions so that they will match. Of course you might want to adjust that if you already have buttons you want to use.
Thank you, Brenda! 

Actually I did swatch for the buttonholes but I had forgotten about that.  In Paula Ward’s e-book she had a tip about testing for your button band pick up rate on the side of your gauge swatch.  This is one of many tips in Paula’s book (in which I have no vested interest I might add).  So I did that on both sides of my swatch and I worked a few buttonholes in that too.  Good point, Brenda.

Myth or Truth
Is grograin ribbing backing a necessity on button bands? I do use backing buttons. I am going against the current here but I don’t use the grosgrain ribbon. I am from the Elizabeth Zimmermann School of Thought on that one.
Don’t forget to look through your old counted cross stitch thread from the 80’s for thread for sewing on buttons.  I found a perfect match for these green buttons.

Project Round up!

He’s 4 and a half months old. So what’s an auntie to do when the poor child has outgrown his handknits? 

 

Ribbed Jacket by Debbie Bliss was one I knitted for the baby shower last July. 
On cover of Special Knits: 22 Gorgeous Handknits for Babies and Toddlers.  $25 © 2005 Trafalgear Square Books.
Shown in pink on cover and in book but really is gender friendly.  Lots of boy sweaters on Ravelry.
This was my first time using Knit Picks Brava and I was impressed. It is the best acrylic I’ve found. (Please forgive me EZ) Everything for this baby needs to be washer and dryer safe.  This is a worsted instead of Aran so that might account for the small size.
 
Some of my changes are in my project notes.
Might try to pull this one off again in larger size, then again, maybe not.

I sent in suggestion for name “Old World Charm Baby Blanket” Not the best name but better than b18-30.  Agree?

 

This is a beautiful pattern. Although not difficult the directions assume you are experienced so I am rating it as medium difficulty. Once you get the pattern established it is tv or social knitting.
Knitted in worsted weight rather than DK this would probably be a better size.

Traveling Woman by Liz Abinante
 
Pattern was a gift from Jan Smiley. Thank you Jan!

Quick, easy, fun pattern. The paid version has lots of variations which I plan to do someday. For this one I went with the basic/original version.
I've added a dozen or so squares from Pipeliners: Auntea, NanaElliott, PinkShawlGirl, dpeach, and Qwiltnknitnut.




The Blethering Room

Thank you to Jane Miller for article in Peoria Journal Star.
 I did say that continental knitting is faster for me.  I know that English or Right handed knitters can be very fast but for me, continental knitting is faster. 

This relates to a question this week from Bird Nerd Knitter who asked what we mean by “throwing” vs “picking”.
I think of it this way. When you pick the yarn you essentially use the needle to grasp the yarn and pull it through the stitch. When you throw the yarn you use the finger to move the yarn. I do have a You Tube video that shows how I knit continental. It was done before I figured out how to focus for video but you will get the idea. The main difference is that in picking the needle is doing the work. In throwing a finger does the work.  There will generally be less movement with picking rather than throwing.

In the Piping Circle

I played a funeral with other pipes and drummers for a firefighter in Bloomington IL who was killed while on a call. Today I played a funeral in Cuba IL.


Preludium in C Major (Variation) by J.S. Bach.  You might not recognize this as Bach.  If you like this you might want to check out the whole album.  Enjoy.  www.magnatune.com

Friday, March 8, 2013

Episode 124 Short Row Shenanigans

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes.

This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business, Quince & Co, and The Fiber Universe.

The folks at Quince & Co produce a line of thoughtfully conceived yarns in their historic spinnery in New England.  Their wool comes from domestic sheep and other fibers come from earth friendly suppliers.  You will find that Quince & Co 100% wool is a living fiber, beautiful, practical, sustainable, and affordable. Find them at www.quinceandco.com

The Fiber Universe provides quality products, service and instruction for fiber enthusiasts. They stock yarn from Cascade, Plymouth, Skacel, Three Irish Girls, Kauni, Jojoland, Claudia Handpaints, and more.  Fibers for spinning and felting are available from local farms.  The Fiber Universe accepts orders over the phone and offers free shipping on orders over $50.  Check out their website, www.thefiberuniverse.com or give them a call today at 309.673.5659.

You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula.  Please contact me if you would like to be on my preferred customer email list.

Pipeliner Notes

Thank you for your kind messages and helpful notes.

Bird Channel by BellyGrace…

Hello everyone - I’ve listened to and enjoyed Nature Notes for so long, and when I moved into my new apartment which faces the woods I decided to join the fun. We’ve put out three feeders (thistle, suet, and regular seed) and have already had hours of entertainment standing at the kitchen window, binoculars in hand. We don’t have a TV so we refer to that window as the TV - it’s always on the bird channel!

Events:

Knitting Pipeline Retreat  April 26-27, 2013 with Yarn Crawl Fun Day on April 25th.

Aizome and Susanna are going to collect Mother Bears to take back to Minnesota.  $3 per bear.

Current Retreat Sponsors

Ewe-nique Yarns Morton IL
The Fiber Universe in Peoria IL
Klose Knit in Urbana IL
Knit4Together Dunlap IL (Peoria)

Quince & Co Scarves, Etc was released on March 5, 2013.

Gill’s Rock by Paula Emons-Fuessle
Knit Along (KAL)
Wave 1 March 8 through April 7
Wave 2 April 8 through April 30th
Prizes!  Quince & Co yarn
Dianne of Knitabulls
Susan B Anderson hosting a KAL for Ebb and also for any design in Scarves, Etc!

Nature Notes
As I sit here by the window in my sunroom it is still light although my watch says it is 5 PM.  There is a lone female cardinal on the ground below the feeder.  Her muted colors of light red and light brown with a hint of olive, seem brighter against the snow.  A Black capped chickadee flies to the feeder while a red bellied woodpecker investigates a knot hole on a nearby maple.  The head of this woodpecker seems especially bright in this evening light. There are many footprints below the feeder and some tracks leading into the woods.  Perhaps our possum or a few deer have been gleaning black sunflower seeds that have fallen from the feeder.

Below the steep hill and into the woods Hyla Brook winds through the snow.  I think of the peepers that will soon be singing by the banks of the creek and serenading us on the light spring nights.

Last night we heard Great Horned Owls calling back and forth for at least an hour, maybe two.  It was too dark to see anything outside although I tried.  After a while the Barred Owls joined the Owl Party.  This is the first time we’ve heard the Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls at the same time.  Mostly these species of owls do not cross territories.  Perhaps we live on the boundary.

When I was talking about Acers and Quercus last week, that would be maple and oak, I forgot to mention something that I find fascinating.  I was thinking of it with maple trees and maple syrup.  Helen Keller could stand next to a tree, put her hands and body on the trunk, and she could feel the sap flowing.  I cannot remember where I read this.  Perhaps it was in her autobiography which is a fascinating story.  The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.
Cultivating Delight by Diane Ackerman
I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines. ~Henry David Thoreau

Needle Notes
Last week I said that I should purchase or decide on the buttons before knitting the button band and I’m not so sure about that.

Converting sleeves to top down set in

1.      Knitting from the Top by Barbara G Walker  1972  republished by Schoolhouse Press 1996.  

2.       Knitter’s Handy Bookof Top-Down Sweaters: Basic Designs in multiple sizes and gauges by Ann Budd. 2012 Interweave Knits.  P 115 Set in sleeve.  Child to adult sizes  Gives you charts and the numbers to work from so there is less figuring to do. 

3.      Custom Knits: unleash your inner designer with Top-Down and Improvisational Techniques by Wendy Bernard 

4.      Free Craftsy Class by Carol Feller.  Short Rows  

5.      The Top Down Sleeve tutorial by Paula Ward
E book by Paula Ward Easy Knitting Design: The Basic Sweater  $49.95.  We may have a promo for you next week.
Great tip on how to neaten up the pick up row after the fact.

Before
After (obviously the other sleeve but you get the idea)

The Blethering Room
My daughter in law, Emily’s Blog Stinky Tofu, is about their adventures in Taipei. (I actually cut this out of the show but I do have her permission to share on the blog.)

In the Piping Circle

Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums played with The Chieftains!
 
Backstage photos after the concert



Trio sonata D minor Telemann  Part 1 Allegro from Bach and Telemann Sonatas, Preludes, and Fantasias performed by Voices of Music www.magnatune.com

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content. Helen Keller

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

Friday, March 1, 2013

Episode 123 Acer and Quercus


Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes.

This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business, Quince & Co, and Ewe-nique Yarns.

The folks at Quince & Co produce a line of thoughtfully conceived yarns in their historic spinnery in New England.  Their wool comes from domestic sheep and other fibers come from earth friendly suppliers.  You will find that Quince & Co 100% wool is a living fiber, beautiful, practical, sustainable, and affordable. Find them at www.quinceandco.com

Gill's Rock by Paula Emons-Fuessle.  To be released March 5 as part of Scarves, Etc. by Quince & Co
Yarn is Finch in the color Pomegranate
 

Ewe-nique Yarns is a full-service yarn shop located at The Field Shopping Center in Morton IL.  Among the items they carry are a full line of Addi needles, Chiagoo, and Knit Picks as well as the new Karbonz.  They also stock Malabrigo, Madelinetosh, Frog Tree, Elsabeth Lavold, Debbie Bliss, Claudia Handpainted, Louisa Harding, Rowan, Sublime and dozens more.

Debbie and Jenny are happy to ship to Pipeliners.
You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula.  Please contact me if you would like to be on my preferred customer email list. 

Pipeliner Notes


This will warm the hearts of anyone who has every knitted a preemie hat.

Hi! My name’s Greg and I started knitting last June when my daughter was born. My daughter was 2.5 months premature and ended up staying in the hospital NICU for about five weeks before coming home. While in the hospital, one of the nurses came over with a handful of wonderful preemie hats that were knitted and donated by volunteers. I looked at the hats and decided that was something I could do for my daughter while she was in the hospital. I convinced my mother-in-law to teach me how to knit and knitted her a simple preemie hat. I’ve since knitted her several hats, booties, and a toy bear, as well as knitting other objects for my wife and friends. I’ve been bitten by the knitting bug, and absolutely love it.

A few months ago, I started looking for knitting-related podcasts to listen to during my 75-minute-each-way daily commute to work, and was thrilled to find Knitting Pipeline. My heritage is Scottish and I keep telling myself that some day I will learn to play the pipes. So I love that being incorporated in the podcast, along with the nature notes. It really makes the whole experience feel very comfortable and homey -- family-like. I’ve downloaded the entire archive of podcasts and am slowly working through the backstock from the beginning while keeping current as new episodes come out. Well, I did go ahead and find all the ones that seemed to be related to Elizabeth Zimmerman and listen to them first since I’m working on my first baby surprise jacket right now. The podcast really makes my drive to and from work so much more enjoyable. Thanks!

Events:

Knitting Pipeline Retreat  April 26-27, 2013 with Yarn Crawl Fun Day on April 25th.  We have over 80 registered now but there is room for more.

Current Retreat Sponsors


Ewe-nique Yarns Morton IL

The Fiber Universe in Peoria IL

Klose Knit in Urbana IL

Knit4Together in Dunlap (on the outskirts of north Peoria)
 
New Design! Gills Rock

Quince & Co Scarves, Etc to be released March 5, 2013.

Susan B Anderson Ebb Cowl.  She’s doing a KAL for Ebb starting March 15th.

Gill’s Rock KAL  March 8 through April 30. 

Dianne of Knitabulls is doing a Piper’s Journey/Gill’s Rock KAL!

Gill’s Rock by Paula Emons-Fuessle
Favorite shape:Shallow Triangle with long ends that can be wrapped or tied.
Yarn: 2 skeins of Finch Pomegranate.  $7.50/skein.  This is a fingering weight.
Join the Gill’s Rock KAL by going to the thread in the group and posting there.  I will add your name to list at the top of the thread
Tag:  gillsrockkpkal
Yes, there will be prizes!
Nature Notes
The Northern Cardinals stay together in flocks during the winter.  This is why we see so many at one time at our feeders.  These flocks will soon break up as individual birds establish breeding territories and mate.


 

For in the true nature of things, if we rightly consider, every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver.—Martin Luther

Needle Notes

Acer Cardigan by Amy Christoffers.  (Savory Knitting) $7.00

Acer Cardigan by Amy Christoffers.  In blocking mode.

Feb 2 start and finished Feb 25.

What I learned:

·        Fixing cables

·        I like this construction method.

·        I tried knots with the joins.

·        I learned how to do a top down set in sleeve which I will talk about later because with all the leaves and trees we have today there isn’t time.

·        New buttonhole.  I used a variation of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s one row buttonhole. One Row Buttonhole.  Main difference is that instead of a bw loop cast on and twisting stitches on the next row you turn the work and do a cable cast on which is a lot neater in appearance and firmer.

·        Should choose buttons before knitting buttonband.  (I’m having second thoughts about this because making a buttonhole to fit a specific size button can be tricky.)

Fits me perfectly!  I might actually wear this sweater.  I hope so.

The Blethering Room

Cindy puts dpn’s in bead tubes.

Acer is the genus of Maple—128 specias

Quercus is genus for Oak—over 600.

Acer comes from Latin word meaning “sharp” and refers to the points of the leave.  Think of the word acerbic.
The fruits are called samaras.  You might know them better as maple keys, whirlybirds, helicopters.  Samaras are not just maple seeds.  They are a seed with a flattened wing of fibrous papery tissue that is usually distributed by wind.  Elm seeds are another samara.

During WWII the US Army developed a special air drop supply carrier that was based on the maple seed, or samara.  This drop carrier could carry up to 65 lb of supplies.

Book Notes

Botanical Knits: Twelve Designs inspired by trees and foliage by Alana Dakos

You can buy it here: www.botanicalknits.com

Preorder the print book for $22 and you get the digital version immediately.  The book will ship in May 2013 with an exclusive free pattern.  How brilliant is that?  Thank you to Alana Dakos for the review copy!
This is where the Quercus part of the show comes in because Quercus is the genus for oak.  Many of the leaves in Botanical Knits look very oak-like.
·        Interactive with web.

·        Variety of construction styles, variety of yarns, wide range of sizes some up to size 60 or more.

·        Color palette:  Autumn Leaves.  All so harmonious.

Favorite sweaters (I actually love every single design in this collection!)

"A classic and simple cardigan shape with two leafy branches elegantly framing the neckline. Twigs and Willows is knit in pieces from the bottom up and seamed together at the end."
"A warm and cozy jacket complete with a rounded fold-over collar and 3/4-length sleeves. A budding vine stalk climbs up the back and adorns the circular pockets. The jacket is worked in pieces from the bottom up and seamed together at the end; the pockets are joined as you knit the jacket fronts."


Alana’s Ravelry Group for Botanical Knits  already over 1,000 members!
Five star rating for this beautiful collection.  Go buy it.  Botanical Knits available at www.botanicalknits.com  $22 print and e book or $18 digital only.
Susan Branch has a blog! www.susanbranch.com
Product Notes
Buttons from BohemianFindings on Etsy
Painted wood buttons mostly with floral designs. Old wallpaper, botanical prints, whimsical dots and butterflies.  Reasonably priced.  49 wooden buttons for $5.50





In the Piping Circle

Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums will be playing two tunes with The Chieftains on Sunday March 3 in Bloomington IL

Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago~~Warren Buffett

Killecrankie by Kev Thompson and Ross Hunter as Krosbreed.  Love and Liberty (Songs of Robert Burns). (iTunes)

Killiecrankie

Whaur hae ye been sae braw, lad?
Whaur hae ye been sae brankie-o?
Whaur hae ye been sae braw, lad?
Come 'ye by Killiecrankie-o?

An' ye had been whaur I hae been
Ye wadna been sae cantie-o
An' ye had seen what I hae seen
On the braes o' Killiecrankie-o

I fought at land, I fought at sea
At hame I fought my auntie-o
But I met the Devil and Dundee
On the braes o' Killiecrankie-o

The bauld pit cur fell in a furr
And Clavers gat a crankie-o
Or I had fed an Athol gled
On the braes o' Killiecrankie-o

Oh fie, MacKay, What gart ye lie
I' the brush ayont the brankie-o?
Ye'd better kiss'd King Willie's lofe
Than come tae Killiecrankie-o

It's nae shame, it's nae shame
It's nae shame to shank ye-o
There's sour slaes on Athol braes
And the de'ils at Killiecrankie-o

Meaning of unusual words:
braw=excellent, brave
cantie=cheerful
braes=hillsides
furr=furrow
gled=buzzardbrankie=violence
lofe=honour
shank=walk
slaes=blackthorns

 

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.