fat chickadee

waveband

First thing when I got The Shape of Knitting by Lynne Barr I got out some leftover yarn and knit this amazing little headband:

Of course, it wasn't quite as simple as that, because of the three-dimensional twisted cable wave thing going on. I had to start it maybe three times, but then I got it, and it was a very quick knit after I understood what was going on.

I think maybe the pattern could have benefited from a diagram, or another marker on the right side of the headband to keep things straight in the instructions. But it's ultimately such a cool little project that I'm glad I stuck with it.

new books/helix scarf

My very thoughtful kids gave me knitting books for Mother's Day (and yarn, see below), and then I bought myself another one because you can never have too many knitting books.

Swedish Handknits, by Sue Flanders and Janine Kosel and Icelandic Handknits by Helene Magnusson and Elin S. Sigurdardottir are part of a series, (along with Norwegian Handknits by Janine Kosel, Sue Flanders and Laurann Gilbertson, which I already own) of knitting books that focus on traditional crafting techniques and styles, inspired by museum pieces and folk costumes. The gloves featured on the cover of Swedish Handknits incorporate the motto: "One lifetime isn't long enough for all the things I'd like to do", which I may have to get tattooed on my forehead.

The Shape of Knitting by Lynne Barr is yet another fantastic book by a knitting genius. I loved her Reversible Knitting, and I can't wait to get into this one (spoiler alert: I've actually already made one of her headbands with some leftover yarn, because I was that excited).

The kids also gave me some yarn, because we we in JP Knit & Stitch on Mother's Day and I specifically couldn't resist a pink yarn called 'Molly Ringwald'.

I considered making an awkward-looking dress with it, but instead started on a Helix Scarf:

The scarf pattern is inspired by seaweed, and it does look a bit kelpy normally, but in this photo I think it looks more like a trilobite or maybe a nudibranch. 

mother's day bouquet

I met a lot of really creative and talented people while working on the marriage equality banner project, and some of them asked me to help out with a Mother's Day installation at the Arnold Arboretum. Of course I said yes:

Diane Ivey of Lady Dye Fiber Arts put together this great flower-covered bench for Lilac Sunday, a Mother's Day tradition at the Arboretum, with a little help from JP's Yahn Bomb Squad (more photos on their tumblr). All of my flowers are made with Diane's hand-dyed and handspun yarn, which is awesome.

I thought it came out great, and when I visited it on Lilac Sunday with the family we heard so many positive comments, and saw lots of people taking pictures.

spring spinning

I'm working on a couple spinning projects right now, which pretty much guarantees that I won't get any of them done any time soon, but it gives me some day-to-day variety, anyway. The first is this cloud of angora rabbit fiber that I took home from our visit to Northern Heights Farm this winter.

If you are ever in the area I highly recommend going on one of their sleigh rides -- they are super nice people and it's totally fun. In addition to gorgeous draft horses they have an array of animals from chickens to donkeys to fluffy bunnies. This fiber is from a fuzzball named Digger, and I'm trying a little on my smallest spindle before probably doing the rest on the wheel.

Except that right now I don't have any bobbins free. One is being taken up with some yak down that I bought as part of an impulse 'buy an ounce each of several luxury fibers and try them all out' thing. It seemed like a good idea at the time, and it was, because it's always a good idea to try out new fibers, but I think it's going to take me a while to work through them.

Finally, I bought two braids of hand-dyed fiber from The Spun Monkey, (alternate post title 'Monkey and Rabbit') a dyeworks in Brattleboro, VT. They were having a sale, and so I picked up a Polwarth/Silk blend and a Wensleydale, dyed in the same colorway.

Aren't they gorgeous? That's the Polwarth/Silk that I've started working on -- it drafts like a dream. I think I'm going to spin each separately and then ply them together into a two-ply yarn for lace. That's my current plan, anyway.

marriage equality banner - done!

Saturday was the Wake Up The Earth festival (a springtime festival and parade in JP celebrating the success of JP activists in blocking a proposed route 95 expansion through the neighborhood in 1979), and the culmination of the marriage equality banner project. In the end I lost count of how many squares/rectangles I knit, and I also forgot to bring my camera, which was okay because I spent the entire afternoon knitting and sewing together squares anyway. So here is a picture of the finished banner courtesy of the Yahn Bomb Squad:

And there are plenty more of the work in progress at the JP Knit & Stitch site. As you can see, we finished, and it looks pretty great. There was so much awesome organization and work and support from JP Knit & Stitch, the JP Stitch & Bitch group, and the whole local crafting community, it was really inspiring.

ombre tank

Sometimes things just work out -- I saw the pattern for this tank, and I knew I wanted to make it, so I did. Okay, it's not a great story, but it is a great project, you have to give me that.

This one is going to be a store sample at JP Knit & Stitch, but eventually it's for my mom. Even though it's mostly boring stockinette stitch, the finished tank is just so simple and elegant that I'm considering making another one for me, like, next week.

Pattern: Ombre Tank by Mona Schmidt for Espace Tricot
Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Silky Alpaca Lace from JP Knit & Stitch

beginner knitting

In preparation for my beginner knitting class at JP Knit & Stitch (coming up this Sunday -- tell your friends!) I've been working on finding a few projects that are easy and fun for novice knitters. Since the class in in May, and nobody really wants to wear wool in June, I had to find something other than everyone's favorite garter-stitch scarf. Here's what I came up with:

It's a Cinch Head Wrap by Elisa McLaughlin

Carry Bag from Berroco Yarns

Leafy Washcloth by Megan Goodacre, and Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth

and my owl baby.

I think they are all appealing and satisfying and appropriate for anyone just learning to knit.

knitting classes and yarn bombing for marriage equality

I am super-psyched to share two new projects with you. First: this May I will be teaching beginning knitting classes at fabulous local yarn store JP Knit & Stitch. I'm really excited to share my love of knitting with new knitters.

Second: Get out your red and pink yarn! JP Knit & Stitch is working on a yarnbombing project for the Wake Up The Earth festival (a JP tradition). This year they plan to celebrate marriage equality with a giant red and pink equality sign (a la HRC) banner made from knitted and crochet-ed squares and rectangles. They are looking for help, both with crafting and with organizing. If you're local, you could come to one of their meetings, or volunteer to help stitch sections together, or come by the festival and show your support. And both locals and crafters from afar can help by knitting or crocheting swatches for the banner. There are details here, or email or message me for more info.

massachusetts mud

I finished a spinning project -- a three-ply fingering weight yarn from some Pagewood Farms Bluefaced Leicester roving that I picked up at the Iron Horse farm store in Natick last year. The colorway is named Mississipi Mud, but it's really too pretty to remind me of mud, and too light and orangey to associate with the chocolate/coffee confection.

The roving was a little compacted and had its share of nepps (those are chunks of balled-up short fibers), but the final yarn is soft, and fairly bouncy. I'm planning on using it to make another slouchy hat.

owl baby

You never know when inspiration is going to strike. I was looking for a good pattern for beginners, and while I was browing bag patterns on Ravelry I came across a pattern with owls on it -- much too complicated for newbie knitters, but it gave me an idea. I ran to my box of craft supplies and banged out this owl baby in less than an hour. The pattern is super easy, and the result is, I think, quite fetching.

He does look a little grumpy. I think it's because everybody tells him how cute he is, and he yells at them "I'm not cute, I'm a dangerous nocternal predator. Whoooo!" But then his voice kind of squeaks at the end of hooting, and everybody goes "Aww" and that's the story of why he's always a little grumpy.

Anyway, I put the pattern up on my Ravelry store: Owl Baby and it's free, so you should make one, because everybody needs an owl baby, right?