Episode 39 Spring Peepers

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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.