Episode 124 Short Row Shenanigans

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This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business, Quince & Co, and The Fiber Universe.

The folks at Quince & Co produce a line of thoughtfully conceived yarns in their historic spinnery in New England.  Their wool comes from domestic sheep and other fibers come from earth friendly suppliers.  You will find that Quince & Co 100% wool is a living fiber, beautiful, practical, sustainable, and affordable. Find them at www.quinceandco.com

The Fiber Universe provides quality products, service and instruction for fiber enthusiasts. They stock yarn from Cascade, Plymouth, Skacel, Three Irish Girls, Kauni, Jojoland, Claudia Handpaints, and more.  Fibers for spinning and felting are available from local farms.  The Fiber Universe accepts orders over the phone and offers free shipping on orders over $50.  Check out their website, www.thefiberuniverse.com or give them a call today at 309.673.5659.

You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula.  Please contact me if you would like to be on my preferred customer email list.

Pipeliner Notes

Thank you for your kind messages and helpful notes.

Bird Channel by BellyGrace…

Hello everyone - I’ve listened to and enjoyed Nature Notes for so long, and when I moved into my new apartment which faces the woods I decided to join the fun. We’ve put out three feeders (thistle, suet, and regular seed) and have already had hours of entertainment standing at the kitchen window, binoculars in hand. We don’t have a TV so we refer to that window as the TV - it’s always on the bird channel!

Events:

Knitting Pipeline Retreat  April 26-27, 2013 with Yarn Crawl Fun Day on April 25^th.

Aizome and Susanna are going to collect Mother Bears to take back to Minnesota.  $3 per bear.

Current Retreat Sponsors

Quince & Co

Ewe-nique Yarns Morton IL

The Fiber Universe in Peoria IL

Klose Knit in Urbana IL

Knit4Together Dunlap IL (Peoria)

Quince & Co Scarves, Etc was released on March 5, 2013.

Gill’s Rock by Paula Emons-Fuessle

Knit Along (KAL)

Wave 1 March 8 through April 7

Wave 2 April 8 through April 30^th

Prizes!  Quince & Co yarn

Dianne of Knitabulls

Susan B Anderson hosting a KAL for Ebb and also for any design in Scarves, Etc!

Nature Notes

As I sit here by the window in my sunroom it is still light although my watch says it is 5 PM.  There is a lone female cardinal on the ground below the feeder.  Her muted colors of light red and light brown with a hint of olive, seem brighter against the snow.  A Black capped chickadee flies to the feeder while a red bellied woodpecker investigates a knot hole on a nearby maple.  The head of this woodpecker seems especially bright in this evening light. There are many footprints below the feeder and some tracks leading into the woods.  Perhaps our possum or a few deer have been gleaning black sunflower seeds that have fallen from the feeder.

Below the steep hill and into the woods Hyla Brook winds through the snow.  I think of the peepers that will soon be singing by the banks of the creek and serenading us on the light spring nights.

Last night we heard Great Horned Owls calling back and forth for at least an hour, maybe two.  It was too dark to see anything outside although I tried.  After a while the Barred Owls joined the Owl Party.  This is the first time we’ve heard the Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls at the same time.  Mostly these species of owls do not cross territories.  Perhaps we live on the boundary.

When I was talking about Acers and Quercus last week, that would be maple and oak, I forgot to mention something that I find fascinating.  I was thinking of it with maple trees and maple syrup.  Helen Keller could stand next to a tree, put her hands and body on the trunk, and she could feel the sap flowing.  I cannot remember where I read this.  Perhaps it was in her autobiography which is a fascinating story.  The Story of My Life by Helen Keller.

A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman

Cultivating Delight by Diane Ackerman

Diane Ackerman website

I frequently tramped eight or ten miles through the deepest snow to keep an appointment with a beech-tree, or a yellow birch, or an old acquaintance among the pines. ~Henry David Thoreau

Needle Notes

Last week I said that I should purchase or decide on the buttons before knitting the button band and I’m not so sure about that.

Converting sleeves to top down set in

1.      Knitting from the Top by Barbara G Walker  1972  republished by Schoolhouse Press 1996.  

2.       Knitter’s Handy Bookof Top-Down Sweaters: Basic Designs in multiple sizes and gauges by Ann Budd. 2012 Interweave Knits.  P 115 Set in sleeve.  Child to adult sizes  Gives you charts and the numbers to work from so there is less figuring to do. 

3.      Custom Knits: unleash your inner designer with Top-Down and Improvisational Techniques by Wendy Bernard 

4.      Free Craftsy Class by Carol Feller.  Short Rows  

5.      The Top Down Sleeve tutorial by Paula Ward

E book by Paula Ward Easy Knitting Design: The Basic Sweater  $49.95.  We may have a promo for you next week.

Great tip on how to neaten up the pick up row after the fact.



Before

After (obviously the other sleeve but you get the idea)

The Blethering Room

My daughter in law, Emily’s Blog Stinky Tofu, is about their adventures in Taipei. (I actually cut this out of the show but I do have her permission to share on the blog.)

In the Piping Circle

Celtic Cross Pipes and Drums played with The Chieftains!

 

Backstage photos after the concert

Trio sonata D minor Telemann  Part 1 Allegro from Bach and Telemann Sonatas, Preludes, and Fantasias performed by Voices of Music www.magnatune.com

Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content. Helen Keller

Have a great week, haste ye back, and hold your knitting close.