Episode 177 Sister Bay Shawl and Knit-Along

Listen here or use the Flash Player on this site for current and past episodes. Flash Player is not compatible with Internet Explorer.  Try a different browser like Safari. Or jaunt on over to iTunes to find the show there.

Sister Bay

This episode is sponsored by my Longaberger Home Business and Quince & Co. I am also a Craftsy Affiliate. This means that if you click from the Craftsy ad on this site and purchase a class, I get a little credit for it. It is an easy way to support the show. Thank you!

Quince & Co Piper is our pretty little southern bird. We sourced the softest super fine kid mohair we could find from a Texas herd of angora goats and blended it with super fine Texas merino to make a lighter-than-air, almost lace weight single-ply yarn. Piper has a pretty halo and a subtle sheen, thanks to the long, silky fibers of the mohair. Find Piper and the other Quince fibers at www.quinceandco.com.

You can find my Longaberger Home Business at www.longaberger.com/paula

You can also find me here:

Ravelry: PrairiePiper Feel free to include me in your friends.

Instagram: knittingpipeline

Twitter: knittingline

Pinterest: Paula Emons-Fuessle

Ravelry Group

Knitting Pipeline Retreats Group.

Pipeliner Notes

From Queen Busick:

Hello Paula, I wanted to share my raptor experience with you in regards to the Barred Owl who keeps coming close to your house. You may have experience in this area, so disregard if so!

In Missouri, we are blessed to have a Raptor Society at MU. I will put a link to their page at the end. They will come out and rescue raptors who are needing help.

Our raptor (Barred Owl as well) appeared several times close to the house as well. At night, it would sit on our mailbox and hunt. It was really awesome to drive home at night and see him sitting there. It was very Harry Potter. As time went on, the poor bird landed in the yard and would not take off. We observed him for several hours. After 3 hours, the raptor society came out and picked him up.

It turned out our owl had been going blind and was down to its last eye. The first eye had become separated due to injury from hitting a car/house. The second eye became torn as well and that was the reason it was hunting close to the ground and the house for months. It was easy to see prey against a house, esp our white house. The animal’s vision was not able to be restored and as a result, they put the owl down.

All that to say, keep an eye on your owl. It doesn’t hurt to put a call into a local society if you have one. Our society is very active in helping animals for health and study of the populations in our area.

Best to you and your owl! 

http://raptorrehab.cvm.missouri.edu/

Tina B

 Events

Sister Bay (Shawl)

THANK Susan B Anderson!  For posting about the release of Sister Bay on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter!

Susan B Anderson blog

Susan B Anderson Videocast and she is also on You Tube!

Sister Bay Knit Along Thread

Tag your projects sisterbaykal.

Sister Bay Progress Tracker (PDF) When in doubt follow pattern not tracker! Tracker is not tech edited!

• Start date is July 20 
• Ending date September 1, 2014 at midnight.  I will draw for prizes from the finished objects thread.

Follow the Sister Bay Progress Tracker for an assignment for each week of the KAL. Each assignment is about 25% of the total knitting. The chart shows % accomplished for the body of the shawl so can keep track of yardage. There are tips on the Sister Bay Progress Tracker for estimating your yardage. No playing yarn chicken here!

• Week 1 starts July 20
• Week 2 starts July 27
• Week 3 starts August 3
• Week 4 starts August 10
• Bonus Week starts August 17

Post your photos in the Sister Bay KAL Prize Thread by Sept 1.

2 Knit Lit Chicks Mother Bear KAL/CAL is in July and August lots of prizes!

Craftsy Kal—Prairiegl moderator started a new thread. Thank you!

SSK July 16-20

Stitches Midwest 2014 August 7-10

Stash Dash 2014 TheKnitGirllls

Nature Notes

I read an article by Jan Riggenbach who is a syndicated columnist who writes about gardening.

Common milkweed can spread rapidly through underground rhizomes. Common milkweed may not be suitable for all gardens. Monarchs will use other milkweeds as host plants.

Asclepias tuberosa, knows as butterfly weed is a native plant that is more garden friendly and non aggressive. Also consider Pink-Flowered Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnate)

Letter from Turbogal:

Paula, I love to hear you talking about butterflies! Last summer, I became very motivated to help butterflies, after seeing a BBC documentary where I learned about the need for both host and nectar plants in pairings. So, I as I planned my garden this year, I planned to make sure I had pairings for some specific butterflies that live in this area. I have left a Milkweed patch in my garden, and have lots of nectar flowers for Monarchs. I planted thee Spice Bush plants (two survived our winter) and Joe-Pye Weed for the Spicebush Swallowtail. And, I planted a Dutchman’s Pipe vine and a honeysuckle for Pipevine Swallowtail. Many of the plants are still small, so perhaps next year, they may start to attract and support these beautiful butterflies! I have found “The Family Butterfly Book” by Rick Mikula to be a nice, simple resource in order to start identifying and learning about these creatures. Thank you for the information you share on this topic!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my own backyard I can feel that we have passed the summer solstice.  I awoke this morning about 5 AM and listened to the birds for a while.  Although they are still singing it is not as strong nor as varied as it was in April, May, and June.  Among the songs I heard the faint melodious song of the shy wood thrush and the vibrant song of the house wren.

It seems to be a good year for moths, not clothes moths I hope!  On Instagram I’ve seen a lot of photos of beautiful moths such as Luna and Cecropia.  When I was walking in the morning last week I saw a large moth on the sidewalk, lying very still.  The wings were folded and I touched it very gently.  It fluttered a little but was not able to move much.  It seemed to be in that moment between life and death. I watched it for a while and considered putting in on the grass but I thought that might do more damage. I took a photo of it and was able to identify it as a Polyphemus Moth.  If you have read A Girl of The Limberlost by Gene Stratton-Porter then you might remember that this was the moth that the young girl searched for in the swamp. The Polyphemus has large purple spots on the wing that resemble eyes.  Its name comes from the Greek myth of the Cyclops.

Another sighting this past week was again on one of my walks.  I spotted a Cedar Waxwing in a tree quite close to me.  The bird was eating berries on the tree.  You will not often hear the song of the Cedar Waxwing as it is a series of high pitched squeaks.  Usually I’ve seen Cedar Waxwings in flocks and I can’t remember seeing a single one.

The summer night is like a perfection of thought. ~Wallace Stevens

Needle Notes

Sister Bay on Ravelry
Sister Bay on Quince & Co

Piper’s Journey was a hit and I wanted to change it up at bit. Mel aka Mskiknits is the queen of the Piper’s Journey 2 color version and a lot of knitters took that and ran with it which was great fun. I love combining colors and at first thought it might be striped but then went with two colors and in one case 3 colors.

Sister Bay is a top-down crescent shawl in two colors with an applied border. The body of the shawl is simple garter stitch and the border is a combination of texture and lace. The easy geometric border with a clean edge adds a contemporary twist to this classic style. Choose from two sizes: Medium and Large.

Sister Bay is one of our favorite vacation spots in Door County WI. My grandparents traveled there in the 1930’s when it took several days to drive up from Southern Illinois. Two generations later we took our own children camping there. Overcast days with gray skies, white caps on the water, little boys in sweatshirts skipping stones…these are among my cherished memories that are wrapped up in this cozy and elegant shawl.

Some other color choices...

Camel/Sedum/Wasabi.  Knit last ridge (2 rows) of the body of the shawl in Sedum

Iceland/Egret

More pretty colors in Quince Chickadee

Egret and Chanterelle

Egret, Clay, Chanterelle

yarn

chickadee

2 (3) skeins camel 144

2 (2) skeins bird’s egg 106

needles

32” circular needle in size US 7 / 4.5 mm

double-pointed needles in size US 7 / 4.5 mm

Sister Bay Progress Tracker (PDF)

The Blethering Room

July 4th with family

Our boys!

Mom is in on Corn Hole.

At the brew pub in Grafton

Project Passenger Pigeon: Lessons for a Sustainable Future

A Feathered River Across the Sky: the Passenger Pigeons Flight to Extinction by Joel Greenberg

Fold the Flock: The Passenger Pigeon Origami Project @ foldtheflock.org

Great activity for classrooms, scout troops, families.

Bronwyn immediately folded a Passenger pigeon! If you fold a pigeon please log it on the site of www.foldtheflock.org and include Knitting Pipeline as your organization. Thank you!

Bronwyn's Fold the Flock Pigeon

In The Pipeline

Update on Reading/listening

All the Light we Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.  I liked it better as it went on and I’m sure I would have enjoyed the book more if I had read it instead of listened to it. Recommended.

Knitting

Planning knitting for SSK

1.      Tubularity by Martina Behm

2.      Tripartite by Stephen West (do not recommend)

3.      Soon to be named. 

Thank you for spending time with me today. Thank you to Quince & Co for sponsoring the show and to my Longaberger Home Business.

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

July 4th table decorated by Mom

Watching World Cup!