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

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

Friday, January 9, 2015

Episode 193 Georgia Retreat & Christmas Needle Notes

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.

Happy New Year!

This episode is sponsored by Quince & Co. I am also a Craftsy Affiliate. This means that if you click from the Craftsy ad on my website and purchase a class and/or materials, I receive credit for it. It is an easy way to support the show. Thank you!

You can also find me here:

Ravelry: PrairiePiper Feel free to include me in your friends.

Instagram: knittingpipeline

Twitter: knittingline




Pipeliner Notes

Thank you to everyone who sent me Christmas cards. That was so kind of you. I really enjoyed going over them and remembering good times online and in person with some of you.

Events and Announcements

Spring Retreat March 13-14. (with March 12 as optional Yarn Crawl Fun Day).


Announcing Knitting Pipeline Georgia Retreat!
Download Registration Information here.

April 12-15, 2015

(Sunday 2:00 PM through Wed 10:00 AM



563 Elliott Trail
Mansfield GA 30055
(east of Atlanta, about 1 hour from airport))

 All-inclusive

Your registration fee includes:

  • Single, Double, or Triple Room (own bed) and private bath with tub and shower
  • All meals from Sunday dinner through Wed breakfast
  • Knitting Pipeline Retreat Tote Bag
  • and all the knitting and fiber fun we can pack into 3 days! 

Double Occupancy $330.00

Single Occupancy $430.00

Triple    $300.00

 This is a smaller retreat, probably around 40 participants and it’s in a beautiful setting with lots of birds and wildlife. There are porches for sitting and knitting. There are trails for hiking and birding!

Nature Notes

We have a 6” blanket of snow and sub zero temperatures right now in Central Illinois. The wind is blowing the snow over the roads and fields, forming sculpted drifts. I am looking out of my window at sunset. The snow looks almost blue in this light. Winter sunsets are magnificent. Everything seems magnified in color and intensity. This morning the moon was visible in the western sky until well after sunrise, about 7:30 AM. I watched this moon as I stretched and did a bit of yoga. With the wind blowing and the extreme cold I opted to stretch instead of walk. I can handle the cold but the cold and the wind combined is tough. Plus there is packed down snow and ice which makes walking difficult.

We are seeing a lot of fox lately. One day before Christmas I pulled out of the driveway and saw a fox playing with a smaller animal, possibly a mouse or vole, in the vacant lot next to us. I grabbed my camera phone but I had the message that it was too full to take a photo. I’ve finally remedied that situation. I had at least 2 minutes or longer to get a photo and I couldn’t delete enough photos fast enough. Another day I saw a fox come right up to the herb garden next to the house. He or she sniffed around the plants and trotted off.

A snowfall dresses up the bare trees as if they are going to a ball. Suddenly everything looks more pure. The birds stand out against the white backdrop. Cardinals are starting to come in groups to the feeders though not yet in the large flocks of 30 or more that we see later in the winter months. I’m hoping our resident Cooper’s Hawk is not keeping birds away or finding too many tasty treats at the feeders.

Our quote this week is from Benjamin Franklin's 1755 Poor Richard's Almanac, December 

Be at War with your Vices,

at Peace with your Neighbours,

and let every New-Year find you a better Man.

~Quoted in Benjamin Franklin's 1755 Poor Richard's Almanac, December

Needle Notes

Worked great at package decorations/ornaments!





I like to finish up all my works in progress by Dec 31 so I start fresh but I was not able to do that this year. I had to put my Moses Hoodie by Amy Christoffers aside so I could finish Christmas knitting. You will hear about that next week I hope. It’s really hard for me to stop in the middle or near the end of a project but I could see I had to do that.

Easy Folded Poncho by Churchmouse Yarns and Teas



Knitter's Pride Nova Cubics Knitting Needles  I recommend trying these needles if you have hand fatigue.

Meanwhile in December I was knitting along with a group of friends on the Lila and Claudine’s Advent Scarf by Lila Agnew.





I would say that this year’s project would be for intermediate knitters. Written and charted but a little unconventional in the presentation which we all became accustomed to. It was an exercise in chart reading and interpretation and I think when you figure out a new pattern every day your pattern reading skills naturally improve.

I used Quince & Co Finch in the Egret colorway which is cream color. I used about 125 g.

Fish Hat (Dead or Alive?) by Thelma Egberts


PrairiePiper’s Live Fish Hat



Isn't this the best reaction ever? Dead Fish Hat scores!


Pattern calls for double points but it easily fits on a short circular, 16” until you get about ½ way through the decreases. It’s a lot easier to knit than I thought it would be. Only a little bit of short row shaping at the beginning and pretty much smooth sailing after that.




Dead Fish Hat on way to airport

After I finished Peter’s hat I went back to the smaller hat and made a Live Fish Hat for my great nephew. It's too big for him but his daddy likes it.






In The Pipeline


Little Skein in the Big Wool Anne-along on Instagram and on Anne’s blog

Did Santa bring you a Little Skein Anne of Green Gables kit? Aren’t you lucky?


A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I've played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.
~Edgar Guest

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

No comments:

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.