Episode 170 Elizabeth Zimmermann and I-Cord

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

Quince & Co Kestrel is a new take on a simple linen yarn. We took the same Belgium-grown organic linen that we use in our little Sparrow and spun it this time in a ribbon structure. Kestrel knits up quickly at 3 ½ to 4 stitches to the inch. Its flat surface adds a slight texture to simple knit and purl stitches. But we think the best thing about it is its incredible drape. Like all things linen, woven or knitted, Kestrel only gets better as you wash and wear it. Find Quince wool and the other Quince fibers such as Kestrel at www.quinceandco.com.

You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula.  Please send me a personal message or visit my web site to sign up for my customer email list.

You can also find me here:

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Pipeliner Notes

Last week I talked about my Kindness of Knitters Blanket.

From Knitting Daddy:

Beautiful blanket, and I love the red edging! I especially enjoyed the theme of this episode surrounding thinking long-term. So often, I just want to finish something quickly. There are lots of options for that, but if I stick to those kinds of projects, I’ll never have something BIG and satisfying come off my needles. I like instant gratification, but I also like the satisfaction of an “epic” project being completed. I think this is why it’s good to have several projects going at once -- one big long-term project, along with the quicker projects.

from I Know Jack:

I am a quilter, so I'm very particular about the points on my quilts. Yours look great.  It really looks like a patchwork quilt! I love it!

Nordic Knitting Conference Oct. 3-5, 2014

Knitche is the exclusive Illinois flagship store for Quince & Co. yarns and patterns.

Events

Craftsy Kal

Nature Notes

May 1 2014.  An Indigo Bunting appeared in the woods but was too shy to come to the feeder. I kept seeing it (or them) lurking nearby.  A few days later, on May 5^th, they became more comfortable and started coming to the platform feeder.

Indigo Bunting

May 2.  Rose-breasted Grosbeaks joined the usual visitors at the feeders.  I first saw a female Grosbeak which is a homely bird that looks like an overgrown sparrow.  If you look at the shape of the beak of the Grosbeak you can see that they are similar to Cardinals. The Rose breasted Grosbeak is actually Pheucticus ludovicianus.  Wow.  That will be a hard one to memorize.

From Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Bursting with black, white, and rose-red, male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are like an exclamation mark at your bird feeder or in your binoculars. Females and immatures are streaked brown and white with a bold face pattern and enormous bill. Look for these birds in forest edges and woodlands. Listen, too, for their distinctive voices. They sound like American Robins, but listen for an extra sweetness, as if the bird had operatic training; they also make a sharp chink like the squeak of a sneaker.

Rose Breasted Grosbeak

May 6 House wren was singing and staking out territory around the house but did not nest yet in one of the wren houses.  I was sitting on the porch in the evening listening to the first songs of the wood thrush, which is a magical and flutelike song. Suddenly the wood thrush’s song was punctuated by the calls of multiple Barred Owls. We often hear the Barred Owls but cannot see them.  Last year they came right up to the house so we are hoping that happens again this year.

Meanwhile new tree frogs have begun singing in the afternoon and evening along with the spring peepers.  Spring beauties carpet the floor of the woods.  Sweet William has begun to bloom along with May apples in the woods.

I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do.--John Muir

Needle Notes

The Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt

I cord is essentially the smallest of circular knitting.  It is a minimum of 2 stitches but usually 3 stitches knitted flat but in the round.  Ideally you will use two short dpn’s for icord but it is possible to knit with straight or circular needles.

From Knitting Workshop by Elizabeth Zimmermann:

I cord is not an unknown technique but its application has, so far, been little-developed.  It can form an effective and convenient edge for garter=stitch projects.--Elizabeth Zimmermann

You are knitting a very small tube of knitting with the yarn being carried across the back.  At first you may not think it is working but it will round out.

You can knit I cord with a greater number of stitches although there might be a gap.  This gap can be closed by using a crochet hook in the same way you would pick up a dropped stitch OR just let the cord relax and in stretching out it will close the gap itself.

Some Uses for I-cord.

In the most elemental way use it as a mitten string.

• I cord cast on and also one similar to Three Needle BO
• I cord bind off
• Applied I-cord
• Knitted in I-cord (Built in I-cord)
• I cord buttonholes (looped)
• I cord buttonholes (hidden)
• I cord Tab buttonholes

Some of Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swansen Designs using I-cord:

• Lloie’s Jerkin by Elizabeth Zimmermann
• Heart Hat by Elizabeth Zimmermann
• Prairie Piper’s Heart Hat
• Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
• Baby Surplice Jacket
• Adult Bavarian Jacket
• Border for Afterthought Pocket
• I-Cord Finger Gloves by Meg Swansen

Knitted backpack that I designed and knit while attending Elizabeth Zimmermann and Meg Swansen’s Knitting Camp 1980.

Our 2 1/2 year old modeling his rucksack. He's a grown man now!

Back of rucksack

The Blethering Room

I had a wonderful time with my two daughter-in-laws this past weekend.

I am so fortunate these ladies married our sons. (There's one more eligible son out there!)

In The Pipeline

Stashbot by Hannah Fettig

Woolco Shawlette by Nancy Totten  sent to me by designer 

Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.—Elizabeth Zimmermann

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