Episode 47 The Day a Knight Came to Dinner

Listen here or use the Flash player on the show blog.

Sign up for the free e-newsletter from Quince & Co.  Your name will be entered into a drawing for a Quince tote with 10 skeins of yarn of your choice!  Drawing will be held on Sunday June 19th.  Those who are already signed up for the newsletter are already in the drawing!
The Quince Sale for Pipeliners has been extended to July 1, 2011!  Enjoy 10% off your order of $20 or more!  Use the promo code KP62011 at checkout.

This week's giveaway sponsor is Green Mountain Spinnery.  Leave a comment (with your contact information or link to your blog) below and your name will go into a drawing for a skein of Simply Fine in your choice of color!  (The color I reviewed is the gray on the far right in photo.  yum)  The drawing will be held at noon on Thursday June 23 CDT.

Simply Fine Yarn by Green Mountain Spinnery

Pipeliner Notes 

Welcome to New Pipeliners: Sarahapple, Jo, Tink, zknits, Jennie, duBedaare, Lizzy B, Erica, Lisa, Terri, Kimberly, and Scarhandpiper!
Thanks for the iTunes reviews: mtk3, angelluna20, DCknitter, silverpennies, PostLeslie, and twinsetjan!

Thanks for your feedback on the Kate's Shawl episode.  I think I see I lot of ruffles in the future of Pipeliners.
I read a funny note from Kathleen Kibblehouse.  She cracks me up.

Giveaway Notes

There are four winners this week! When you contact me let me know which pattern you prefer or whether it makes no difference.  We have 3 copies of Esther Budd's HRH Kate's Shawl and one copy of another pattern from me.  I thought another designer had agreed to donate a pattern but I was mistaken.  I have taken care of this by purchasing the pattern for the winner.  Thank you, Esther!

Congratulations to our winnners!

• sabafartash (Sabine)
• Kei
• Carla (1to1)
• Caitlin

 If I don't hear from you within a week I will contact you with the good news!

Nature Notes

I bought the iBird app for the Midwest U.S.A.  I found it useful in the field in trying to identify a bird.
I tell a story about my husband defending himself with a tennis racket in the face of a wild blue jay.

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God:

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

--Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Needle Notes

LaLa's Simple Shawl:  I added a ruffle in garter stitch, a suggestion from my husband.  He's quite pleased with himself and I think it's cute.  I used all but about 8 yds of the 2 skeins of Plymouth Happy Feet.

I finished my first And So Are You by Rose Beck from the Be Mine Collection.

Again, foiled by a pleated border!  I told you these ruffles and pleats are yarn hogs and I wasn't kidding!  I thought I had about 200-250 yds for the border and yet I had to leave out the last increase and a few rows.  The pattern did not specify what kind of bind off to use but it did say to "bind off in pattern".  You can bind off in pattern using the Russian Bind Off, my current favorite.  See video tutorial.  I love the color of this shawl and the pleated border.

I started on Triangular Summer Shawl from Estonian Lace by Nancy Bush.  Laceweight yarn by Knit Picks.  This bit represents an estimated 15 hours of knitting.

The Blethering Room

Romi aka Rosemary Hill is starting a new series of shawls.  Seven Small Shawls Year Two: The Muses.  $20.  If you purchased the first book you should have received a coupon code so you can purchase the new collection for $16.  Use it by June 30th.  The patterns will be released as Romi completes them.

When packing my knitting for vacation I went into Squirrel Mode, stashing balls of yarn in nooks and crannies of my bags.  What was I thinking?  I didn't even have time to start on the Kilkenny Cowl by Pam Allen.  I have Chickadee in the Clay colorway set aside for this project. 

 Book and Yarn Notes

Thank you to Green Mountain Spinnery for sending these products for review.

Simply Fine is as close to handspun as you can find in a machine spun wool.  60% merino and 40% kid mohair.  It has a clean sheep smell and feels delicious.  I LOVE IT!  Highly recommended.  450 yds per 100 gr skein. One skein will be enough for a small shawl or a pair of socks.

The book contains a history of the working coop, a day in the life of Green Mountain Spinnery, 36 original patterns by various designers, some techniques, and a nifty thumbnail photo index of the patterns.  Charts are large and easy to read.  Nice large font.  Good layout and photos. About half the patterns are sweaters/vests and the rest include socks, shawls/scarves, baby and children items, hats, mittens, and even an entrelac afghan.  The working coop is environmentally conscious and an all-round good business to support.  They use local sheep and other fiber sources when available.  Recommended.

In The Piping Circle

The band competed in the Milwaukee Highland Games.  I'm the shortest piper in the band, behind the tenor drummer twirling the sticks when we are standing in the circle.  On June 18th we compete in the Chicago Highland Games in Itasca IL.

My band mates, Rob and Deb, have friends from The Dutch Pipes and Drums visiting them this week.  I invited them all over for dinner.  Willie is the Pipe Major for The Dutch Pipes and Drums and Jose (pronounced Josay or Yosay) is a piper also.  Then Rob told me that Willie has been knighted, hence the title of the podcast.  I didn't know that when I invited them but it didn't make any difference.  I was going to use my crock pot anyway.  It was a perfect evening but I forgot to take photos!

You can read about Willie receiving his knighthood title here on the May 2, 2011 entry.  He was bestowed the decoration of "Knight of the Order of Oranje Nassau".  Am I impressed?  Yes!

There are photos of Willie and Jose at our band rehearsal on my personal blog A Piper Knits.  Here's one photo of the 3 of us before we started playing.

Willie, Paula, and Jose

In honor of Willie and Jose I have included a selection from The Dutch Pipes and Drums after the theme music.  This is Track 1 which is Meeting of The Waters and The Badge of Scotland.

Purchase the CD In Concert here.  Thank you to Willie and The Dutch Pipes and Drums for permission to share their music on the podcast!

Haste ye back!

Episode 46 Kate's Shawl and other Ruffles

Listen here or use the Flash Player here for all episodes.

Thank you to Quince &  Co for sponsoring this episode of Knitting Pipeline.

From June 1 through June 15 you may enjoy 10% off your orders of $20 or more from Quince & Co.  Use the promo code KP62011 at checkout!

Leave a comment below to enter a drawing for Kate Shawl patterns donated by Esther Budd.

Pipeliner Notes

Socksticks likes the iBirdPro app also.  She recommended Julie Zickefoose's Blog which I found exceptionally interesting.  Great for dog lovers as some of the posts are written in the voice of her Boston Terrier.  I was laughing out loud.  Her web site is here.  She is married to Bill Thompson III, editor of Bird Digest who also has a podcast on iTunes.
Dawna sent me an article from The Seattle Times.  Naturalists Fear Overuse of Birdcall Apps.  Basically, if you have a bird app do use responsibly.  Birds can get confused.

Nature Notes

The Blue Jay has a bad reputation, which is mostly undeserved. Blue Jays only occasionally eat the eggs of other birds but mostly they are seed and nut eaters.  Their favorite food is acorns, which they will hold between their feet to crack with their beaks.  They also dine on caterpillars, grubs, and other insects.  They are the Sentinels at the Feeder with their warning calls to other birds and wildlife of impending danger.

Kate's Shawl

Shortly after the wedding, Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, ran out to the market to stock the royal pantry.  She was seen wearing a green, triangular shawl, with a ruffle on all sides. 
People Mag article
In Style
Minnie Rose Ruffle Shawl on Amazon.  Currently sold out.  But no matter, you can knit your own!


 Kate's Shawl and All  Group on Ravelry.  Esther Budd's blog is here.  On the Ravelry Group there is a thread with patterns for Kate's Shawl and others that are similar.  There is a Crochet/Knit KAL with PRIZES!

Milk Run Shawl by Cat Wong,  Free pattern. Worsted weight.
HRH Kate's Shawl by Esther Budd.  Fingering weight.  Sm, Med, LG sizes
CopyKat Shawl by Rose Beck.   Sport weight.

Other patterns mentioned:
Mara by MadeleineTosh
Citron by Hilary Smith Callis
Tea Leaves Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre

Ruffles and Pleats are yarn hogs so make sure you have plenty of yardage to complete the project.  If you have a generous ruffle or pleat it can take up half of your yardage. 

Design your own version of Kate's Shawl by using a basic formular for a triangular shawl and adding a ruffle or pleat.  Check out your stitch dictionaries.  I found several ruffles and pleats in A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker. 

 More Needle Notes

I finished the Estelle Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre. My project notes are here.  It was so fun to be knitting this along with other Pipeliners in the KAL/Knit Along.  If you are just starting your Estelle, rest assured that I will be following the thread and knitting with you in spirit.  My next Quince project (I think) is the Kilkenny Cowl in Chickadee in the colorway Clay.  Yummy.

Estelle Happy Dance

I lowered the ribbing a little...I hope not too much!

My currents WIPS are LaLa's Simple Shawl, and two And So Are You by Rose Beck.  The shawl And So Are You has a lovely pleated border.  Why not try this for your Kate's Shawl?

In the Piping Circle

The Memorial Day Parade in our town was enhanced with over 500 flags.  Here are a few of them flying on the town square.

Main St U. S. A.

Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums Schedule

June 4 Milwaukee Highland Games, Wauwatosa WI
June 13 Tremont Turkey Festival Parade (possible Franklin sighting)
June 18 Chicago Highland Games

Music

Aff the Cuff  www. affthecuff.org.uk.  Subscri be to them on iTunes!