Episode 58 Toasty Toes

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Thank you to Quince & Co for their continued support of this podcast.

Thank you to everyone who has friended me a second time.  There is a bug on Ravelry where people are randomly dropped off my friends list.  If you see that I have dropped off your list, please friend me again.

New Pipeliners!

Katie (rnmama), Jaja in Sweden, Tamara, Laura, Sharon, Katie (gumbygoogoo), Kate (sheepsymphony, Shannon, Camille, Rachel, Carol, and Karen from Denmark.  Karen lives in the town outside of Copenhagen where I learned to knit so I was thrilled to meet her on Ravelry. 

Thank you for the iTunes Reviews! Knitloon, storybookstory, PamelaJeanToo, and Mckkvi2476. 

The Winners of Shaelyn!

Congratulations!

Nancy=Aizome

Wendy7828

Louise 

Please contact me so Laila Raabe  (pronounced "Layla Rob", my apologies!) can send the pattern to you!
Letters from Kim and Scrappydoo shared the reason that Signature and other needles offer 4" tips!  Thank you!

Have a broken needle?  Check out the Jimmy Bean's Wool Broken Needle Exchange.
Jimmy Bean's Needle Exchange. Thank you, Joyceetta!

Nature Notes

Birds are migrating through.  We put up our tube feeder with safflower seeds, which the squirrels (and hopefully chipmunks) do not like. 

I share a favorite poem from my childhood.

Autumn Fires

Robert Louis Stevenson (from A Child’s Garden of Verses, 1885)

In the other gardens And all up the vale, From the autumn bonfires See the smoke trail! Pleasant summer over And all the summer flowers, The red fire blazes, The gray smoke towers. Sing a song of seasons! Something bright in all! Flowers in the summer, Fires in the fall!

Needle Notes

AfterThought Heel Socks by Laura Linneman

I used Knit Picks Felici Sportweight and incorporated Kid Seta (mohair/silk blend) in the toes for extra warmth.

Sock Surgery 101



Sock at left has toe reinforcement.  Sock on right does not.

Surgery begins on Not-as-warm Sock.

Toe is removed.

Both socks now have mohair/silk reinforcement for extra toasty toes.

The Truly Afterthought Heel Socks were made by snipping one stitch where the heel would be added.  I did not use waste yarn.  I knit the sock as a tube and finished the toe, then tried it on and marked where my ankle meets the top of my foot.  This is were I placed the heel.

It always feels good to use up left over yarn and come out with something useful.

I should have smoothed out the heel a bit before taking the photos.  See the slip stitch pattern?

I finally took photos of Textural Healing Shawl "in action". Model is Kelli Jo.

The Blethering Room

Our Fall Shawl KAL/Knit Along will start on October 1, 2011.  Feel free to join us whether you are an experienced knitter or a relative newbie!   If you have done some knitting but have not knitted a shawl or lace, this might be a good "first" for you. The pattern is Shaelyn by Leila Raabe. 

You will need:

• 330 or more yd Sportweight yarn and needles for a slightly loose gauge.  She recommends size 9 but I will probably use a 6.

A lighter yarn such as Fingering or a heavier yarn such as worsted will also work

If this is your first lace project then I highly recommend sport weight, dk or worsted WOOL.  Superwash is ok. 

There is a wide range of suitable yarns so feel free to go stash diving for this project!

I've decided to go ahead and use my Quince & Co Chickadee in Carrie's Yello, which is on the right side of the pile.  It is darker and richer than the photo shows.  

A few suggestions for sport weight:

Quince & Co Chickadee

Cascade 220 Sport

Madeline Tosh Pashmina

Knit Picks Stroll Sport or Telemark Sport

If you decide to go with a heavier wool you would theoretically need less yardage but not that much less so I would just go for the same amount.  In fingering/sock you will need more.

In the  Piping Circle

Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums competed at the Highland Games in Waukesha WI on Sept 3.  We improved!  We also played in Henry IL at a service to mark the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  Can you believe my own town had a 9/11 service and no one thought to call me?  They played recorded pipe music!  That is a shame when they could have had a REAL piper!  (I didn't put this in the podcast)

Music

 

When you left it was so quiet here.  We feel as we do when the swallows leave for the winter; that something beautiful and happy is now away from us.

 

---from a letter in 2002

 

Swallow's Return by Lydia McCauley from ForeignLander. www.magnatune.com

Haste ye back!