Episode 163 Two Different Paths to a Sweater

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This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business, Quince & Co and Klose Knit.

Quince & Co wool yarns are sourced and spun in the US. All our wool and wool-blend yarns are spun in New England mills with venerable histories. By sourcing our wool in the US and manufacturing our yarn locally, we minimize our carbon footprint. Find Quince wool and the other Quince fibers at www.quinceandco.com.

Fine Fibers and Friendly Service is the motto of Klose Knit and that is exactly what you’ll find in our store in Urbana IL. We have a great selection of yarns including Rowan yarns and patterns, Blue Sky Alpacas, Art Yarns, Tahki, Dream in Color, Malabrigo, and Spud and Cloe.  Sock yarns include Opal, Austermann Step, Trekking; the list is forever growing and changing.

Klose Knit is a quick hop off the I-74 in the heart of Urbana IL.  311 W. Springfield Ave.
Urbana, Illinois 61801 (across from Strawberry Fields).

Please join us at the store and share your knitting passion and projects with us. Connect with us on Facebook or check our blog for the latest knitting adventures!

See a news clip about Klose Knit here.

Retreat Sponsors

Quince & Co

My Longaberger Home Business

Ewe-nique Yarns

The Fiber Universe

Peddler’s Way Quilt Co

Klose Knit

Knit4Together

The Blend

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Pipeliner Notes

Adrienne has left a new comment on your post "Episode 161 Domino Knitting":
I keep meaning to ask...how do you know the sex of the baldies when they aren't next to each other? If I remember correctly, the only dimorphic trait in bald eagles is that the females are about 25% larger than the males...they both have the white heads & bums when mature. :)

Of course you are correct, Adrienne.  I should have said that it could have been male or female.  I am not savvy enough to tell the difference.  All mature Bald Eagles look like males to me (just as all poodles look female until you peer underneath) but of course they are not.  Immature Bald Eagles don’t have the distinctive white head and John James Audubon thought they were a different species.  That is always comforting.  We aren’t alone in our erring ways.

Dear Paula,

I am a long time listener, as is my husband who loves Nature Notes! Currently, we are both thoroughly enjoy listening to the podcast in the evenings by the fire… believe it or not, me knitting and him plucking the guard hairs from 2oz of Quivit we got in Alaska this past summer. He is a keeper!

I am writing as this past episode you talked about the reality TV show and Namaste Farms. I wanted to invite you to participate in a conversation I am starting about a TV show for fiber and travel, Fiber Trek. It is a project a videopgrapher friend and I have been working on for syndication.

It focuses on the stories of fiber, landscape and community and the hope is to promote powerful connections with textiles and people. I have been involved with the food movement for a while and have felt the textiles world lacking in education and interpretation for the mainstream population. All the same I would love to add your voice and thoughts to what we are doing. Eventually we plan to launch a kickstarter to generate the funds to cut our pilot for syndication.

I hope you can find a little time to explore the concept. Would you be amenable to lending a little PR to the project? I want to build an audience of interest and awareness as we move forward. I am happy to talk to you in person if that would be helpful…or even do an interview on the show!

I have included a link to our blog which as clips and also ourFacebook Page

My husband and I keep tuning in by the woodstove!

Sarah

Events:

Knitting Pipeline Spring Retreat March 14-15, 2014.

Ravellenics were so much fun!  Thanks again to our Team Captain Prairiegl, co-captain Windybrookspins, and Ravatar maker CPerrine.  We could not have done it without you!

Nature Notes

We are back into very cold weather after a few days of thawing last week.  It was 9 F this morning and the bad news is that 9 is the high for today.  At 10 AM it was 1 deg despite the sun.  The colder it is the more birds are at the feeder.  I saw some courtship behavior last week with a pair of cardinals.  The male and female were both at the feeder and the male fed the female a seed.  That is definitely courtship/mating behavior.  Bird behavior is almost always related to food/survival or breeding.  The Fee-bee call of the Black Capped Chickadee or Parus atricapillus is a call given by the male Chickadees to establish territory and warn off other birds. The familiar Chickadee-dee-dee call from which the Chickadee has its name is used by both male and female birds.  This call is used by both male and female to keep flock together as they feed and search for food. 

We are continuing in our quest to attract Baltimore Orioles to the feeder.  I read in Birds and Blooms that the earlier you put out the oranges and grape jelly, the better your chances of attracting these orange and black beauties.  Bob bought an inexpensive ($10) suet feeder and adapted it for orange halves.  He added a perch to it and hung it on the hook we have for the hummingbird feeder which won’t be out for a month or so.  Today the orange is frozen solid but we keep hoping…and hoping.

The caged bird sings with a fearful trill
of things unknown but longed for still
and his tune is heard on the distant hill
for the caged bird sings of freedom.”
― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Eyelet Yoke Baby Cardigan by Carol Barenys and Beret by Hannah Fettig

Beret Button on top!

Needle Notes

Eyelet Yoke Baby Cardigan Carol Barenys

PrairiePiper’s Eyelet Yoke Cardigan

Berocco Comfort DK

Babies who Lunch by Sublime

PrairiePiper’s Sublime Baby Sweater

Elizabeth Zimmermann Baby Sweater on Two Needles (February) in Knitter’s Almanac

Beret from Mabel’s Closet by Hannah Fettig

Prairie Piper’s Beret

Babies Who Lunch Sweater by Sublime

Detail of tricky trim

The Blethering Room

Thank you so much for a wonderful and restful podcast. I thoroughly enjoy it!

I’m posing a question some of my most favorite podcasts, and I’d like your opinion on the subject.

About 10 years ago, I knit a scarf--a friend of my parents taught me how to knit back and forth, Continental style. That knit stitch is the only thing I know how to do, as well as one form of cast-on and a cast-off I invented because I didn’t have any assistance, and didn’t think to look online. Since then, I’ve not knitted, but I have learned to crochet some basic shapes and toys. I’m also learning the basics of spinning, which I LOVE.

Listening to fiber arts podcast has convinced me that knitted socks and sweaters must be about the most wonderful thing on the planet, and I’d like to learn. If you were going to start a young adult with extremely minimal experience on the wonderful path of lifelong knitting, where would you start--specifically, what sock pattern/yarn/needle combo would be simple, rewarding, and do-able without becoming a massive frustration (understanding that patience is necessary)? I’m sure that sweaters are more complicated and varied, but do you have a similar preference for a first sweater? Finally, are there some things I should try before I tackle socks?

Thank you so much!

SunDanceFunPants

·      

•    Not a scarf!
• ·        Mildred Mitts.  Instant gratification
• ·        Hat with color pattern
• ·        Triangular or crescent shawl (not rectangular as that is like a huge scarf).
• ·        Find yarn and color you love
• ·        No artsy yarns.  Something smooth and not slippery. Wool is my preference.
• ·        Find a project you LOVE and want to wear. Make it for yourself because no one will appreciate it as much as you will.  Lots of people fall in love with knitting socks and you can too.  You might try starting out with sport weight or even worsted weight socks.
• ·        Pipeliners what do you suggest?

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