Episode 39 Spring Peepers

Listen here or use the Flash Player at right.  All episodes can be accessed from the Flash Player.  Find the show on iTunes.  Thank you for your positive 5 star reviews and wonderful comments!

Thank you to Quince & Co for their continued sponsorship of Knitting Pipeline!  Sign up for their free e-newletter to stay current on Quince & Co news.  Our Estelle KAL starts on May 1, 2011.

Estelle by Melissa LaBarre.  Yarn: Lark in Peacock

Open up your peepers to this beautiful bag set from Three Bags Full!  Leave a comment below by noon on April 14th to enter the drawing for the bag set!  Enjoy FREE SHIPPING through April 2011 from Three Bags Full by using the promo code "piper".  Since this episode was prerecorded the winners from Week #1 and Week #2 will be announced on the April 15 episode.

Spring Peepers

Peepers (Pseudacris cruciferi) are as sure a sign of spring as bird song in the morning and the first crocus.  In the spring I like to "go to bed with the frogs and wake up with the birds."

Download Spring Peeper wallpaper and ringtones at National Geographic site.

Hyla Brook

By June our brook's run out of song and speed.

Sought for much after that, it will be found

Either to have gone groping underground

(And taken with it all the Hyla breed

That shouted in the mist a month ago,

Like ghost of sleigh bells in a ghost of snow)—

Or flourished and come up in jewelweed,

Weak foliage that is blown upon and bent,

Even against the way its waters went.

Its bed is left a faded paper sheet

Of dead leaves stuck together by the heat—

A brook to none but who remember long.

This as it will be seen is other far

Than with brooks taken otherwhere in song.

We love the things we love for what they are.

--Robert Frost

Needle Notes

Pieces laid out on the floor to mark the sides for steeking.

Red wool marks the side stitch.  I was preparing to use my sewing machine to stitch on both sides of the line.  Two times for good measure.

I am coming down the home stretch on the Norwegian Sweater.  On Saturday I steeked for the sleeves.  I recorded this technique for you on video.

The next step was joining the shoulders at the top.  I used Meg Swansen's technique, an i-cord Bind Off that is similar to the Three Needle Bind Off except you incorporate i-cord.  It makes a sturdy seam for the drop shoulder and looks nice too.  I left the 3 icord stitches live on each shoulder and will incorporate them into the neck ribbing.  I also sewed the sleeves in the sweater.

The Blethering Room

Thank you for your information and tips about sock heel reinforcement.  Woolly Serger Thread can be found in some fabric stores.  Schoolhouse Press has a heftier version.  It is not wool.  It is actually stretchy nylon with a brushed coating.  Use it to reinforce socks. 

My favorite tip is from Anna Lena.  She uses the slip stitch heel technique on the bottoms of her children's socks for reinforcement.  I am going to try this on my next pair of socks.

I darned one more sock using the Swiss Darning Method with my mods.

In the Piping Circle

Thanks to my band mates Karen (Band Manager), Heather, Rob, and Deb who listen to the podcast and encourage me.  Also thanks to Kevin, a great friend and the voice you hear at the beginning of each episode.  The music is Amazing Grace, played at a regular rehearsal in March 2011.  Soloist is Pipe Major Ted Kerrn.

Episode 36 Fix It Challenge

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site.

 

Quince & Co is a sponsor of Knitting Pipeline.  Leave a comment here to enter the drawing for your choice of three patterns and 2 skeins of Tern yarn. 

Japan Earthquake Relief

Our are for those who are affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  There are many ways to help. 

• One of our Pipeliners, Brenda Castiel, is giving $5 from the sale of each of her patterns.  Find her designs on Ravelry here.  She is Goodstuff on Ravelry.
• Mary Jo, HedgehogMJ on Ravelry, has designed the Rose of Sharing to benefit Heifer International and UMCOR Pacific Emergency #3021217.  All proceeds from the pattern sales will go to Heifer International and UMCOR.

Nature Notes

I might have seen a mountain lion/cougar/panther in our woods.  It was the size of a dog (medium), entirely black, but did not move like a dog.  Actually it didn't move much like a cat either.  I had forgotten about it until neighbors on the other side of our woods reported seeing a black panther.

The woods are still barren of green but I walk there daily to see what changes Spring will bring.  I played my pipes in the woods while watching minnows in the creek.  There is life.

Before repeating anything a little bird told you, be sure it wasn't a cuckoo. --Source Unknown


Patterns referred to in this episode

Duffers by Mindie Tallack
Striped Study Shawl by Veera Valimaki (need umlaut on both a's in last name)

Quince Patterns

• Sabrina Mitts by Cecily MacDonald
• Abbey Road Socks by Ann Budd
• Barcelona Scarflet by Pam Allen
• Masse Mitts (for men) by Ann Budd

on Carrie Hoge's Blog ( a boatload of cuteness here)

• Anabelle Babe Cardi by Carrie Hoge
• Leila Babe Cap by Carrie Hoge

Needle Notes

I forgot the wool for my Wool Peddlers Shawl aka Comfort Knitting when I visited my parents.  I re-knitted the toes of a pair of Scottish Kilt Hose that I knitted in 1996.  The pattern is from Folk Socks by Nancy Bush.

1996 Project.  This was before fixing them.

This is how much I took off he end of the toe...all that is hanging beyond the green sock.

My challenge to you is to go through your knitted items to see what needs repair, mending or reknitting.  Feel free to share!  This usually does not take as long as we imagine it will.

The Norwegian Setesdal Sweater is coming along.  I am almost done with the body of the sweater.  What topics do you want to hear about that relate to Norwegian or color pattern knitting?

Blethering Room

I tried to organize the types of comfort knitting from Pipeliners.  It's too complicated to write about.  Just listen to the episode. ;)  Can you tell I'm tired of show notes right now?

Pipeliner JanMarie referred to The Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee.

The music was supposed to be a live recording of Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums from St. Patrick's Day 2011.  Since I cannot seem to upload the file this will have to wait until next week.  Meanwhile, enjoy

Irish Ground (Tollett) performed by DaCamera available on http://www.magnatune.com/.

  

In the Piping Circle

Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums led the parade in Peoria on St. Patrick's Day.  In this video from the Peoria Journal Star site I am in the beginning of the video, front and center, for about one second.  You can see my feet marching along for another second.

Celtic Cross at one of the Peoria Pubs wearing our Pub Crawl T-Shirts.

Episode 33 Of Lice and Men

Listen here or find all episodes on the Flash Player in the sidebar.

Quince & Co is a sponsor of Knitting Pipeline.  Visit them to find beautiful, natural fiber yarns from American sheep and responsible non-domestic sources.
Thank you for your prayers and greetings for my mom and her recovery.  Her arm is healing and it looks as if she will not need surgery. 

Imagine!  An entire podcast episode revolving around the lowly and despised louse.  Crazy as it sounds  I will link Traditional Norwegian Knitting, a Scottish Poet, and an American Poet.

I give a short background on the Norwegian Setesdal Sweater, also known as Luskofte, literally "Lice Jacket".  The sweater tradition started about 1860 in Setesdal, a region in southern Norway.  The Luskofte is somewhat of a Norwegian national costume and the hallmark of Norwegian knitting.

To a Louse by Robert Burns is read by Alan Wood, friend of Louise Hunt of the Caithness Craft Collective Podcast.  You can find Louise's delightful podcast on iTunes or Podbean.  Thank you, Louise and Alan.

If you want to read more about the poem, check it out here.
To a Louse Interpretation

Robert Frost (1874-1963) was an American Poet with Scottish and English ancestry.  This is one of his lesser known poems.

A Considerable Speck by Robert Frost

My Book Recommendations for Norwegian Knitting

If you want to knit a Norwegian Drop Shoulder Sweater you can get the design information and charts from Elizabeth's Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears, Knitting Workshop, or Knitting Around.  All are available from Schoolhouse Press and other booksellers.  Any one of these books will give you all the information you need.

For more background in Scandinavian Knitting I recommend Sheila McGregor's The Complete Book of Scandinavian Knitting.  The reprint by Dover is called Traditional Scandinavian Knitting.

Norwegian Knitting Designs by Annichen Sibbern Bohn is no longer in print.  If you can get your hands  on a copy, it is a little gem of a book.

The newest addition to my Scandinavian knitting book library is, Setesdal Sweaters: The History of the Norwegian Lice Pattern by Annemor Sundbo.  Torridal Tweed.  2001.  Available from Schoolhouse Press.

I found some photos of my first Norwegian Drop Shoulder Sweaters and other Elizabeth Zimmermann designs.

Our Family at home in 1984 with everyone wearing my handknits.  Bob is wearing EZ's Hand to Hand.  I am wearing a Norwegian Luskofte.  Torben is wearing an Aran Vest.  Nils and Peter are wearing raglan sweaters with a texture pattern in the yoke, made using the EPS. (Elizabeth Zimmermann Percentage System.)

In front of our old house where we lived for 25 years.  (Sniff.)

Torben age 9 in his Norwegian Lus Vest. 1987



Torben age 10 in another Norwegian Style Drop Shoulder Sweater. 1988



Stranded Knitting Tutorial

Needle Notes

My finished project turned out lousy (groan).  These are the felted Baby Slippers from Knitting at Home by Leanne Prouse, a book that was reviewed in Episode 29.  Bronwyn helped me with the Bickford method of sewing the pieces together.  They should probably go through the washing machine again but nothing is really going to help that colorwork. Felting is really not my thing but I'm going to attempt the French Press Slippers before throwing in the towel.

After Mom fell my Norwegian Sweater went into hibernation for a week.  I started on a new project (shawl) which I will share next week.  I also picked up a pair of socks that had been in hibernation since June.

In the Piping Circle

Bruce Gandy, World Champion Piper, plays a set from his album My Father's Son.  Order the CD from Bruce's website.  Thank you, Bruce Gandy!

Thank you for listening to the podcast and for visiting the blog!