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Pipeliner Notes
From Suemwitkin
HI Paula. I’ve gradually become aware of a “yarn” situation which is a problem for me. I’m wondering if you’ve had this happen, and if so, how you handle it.
Sometimes (often!) I buy yarn at a festival, shop, or retreat because I have fallen in love with it. When I get home, I have trouble pairing the yarn with a pattern. Often the yarn-weight does not correlate with the pattern I want to use. (Even when the yarn says fingering, and that is what the pattern calls for.) Sometimes I try to use the yarn anyway, and when it says “use needles to get correct gauge,” my knitting seems too tight or too loose at the gauge measeurement. I get stuck here. I can’t figure out if I should knit at the gauge that seems right for the yarn, and make my garment either too small or too big, (or try to adjust the size,) or forego that yarn, and try for a better yarn/pattern match.
I dont’ want to be locked into only using the yarns that are specified for patterns, but I seem to be accumulating yarns I have problems using. Do I just love these yarns as they sit in my stash until I find appropriate patterns? Or are there other options? What do you think, Paula? Have you come across this in your knitting? All the best. Sue
·
I’m getting
better. I try to have a list before I go to a fair, retreat, or festival but I
also allow myself at least one Wild Card.
·
Often the
yarn doesn’t work out for the project. Use Ravelry advanced search to see if
something else fits your yarn or what others have done with it.
·
Even when
you have the yarn called for in the pattern it is not a guarantee that you will
get gauge.
·
Rule for dk
worsted and up: Buy 2-3 skeins.
From Branwynnmay
Hi Paula~
I’ve read a couple dozen books on knitting techniques now and have noticed that they seem to be divided on the topic of how to do a W&T- particularly, if the yarn is brought to the front before or after slipping that next stitch. Is this a small, unimportant detail? It seems like not much really is in making a perfectly-finished project, so I thought I’d ask you. There are so many short row methods- what’s your favorite? Thanks for the consistently wonderful podcast! :)
Carol Feller Craftsy Classes
Short Rows by Carol Feller free (Use link in sidebar, please)
Short Row Techniques by Carol Feller (Use link in sidebar, please)
Knit Scene Handmade (Article by Bristol Ivy)
·
German Short
Rows
·
Wrap and
Turn
·
Japanese
Short Rows (Bristol’s favorite)
·
Shadow
Wraps—least visible from the front
Events
Stitches Midwest! Join us!
Actually Knitting PALKAL
CuriousHandmade The Shawl Society
Knitting
Pipeline Eagle Crest Fall Retreat 2016
With
Workshop by Amy Detjen, Knitting Author, Designer, Teacher, and of KnitCircus
Yarns and Podcast
October
19-22, 2016
Eagle Crest Camp and Retreat Center (A Ministry of the Salvation Army) is located in rural Washburn IL, along the hilly bluffs of the Illinois River. This beautiful natural setting will be especially gorgeous in mid-October, our prime color season in Central Illinois. It is easily accessible by car, about a 30 min drive from Washington IL or Peoria. The address is 823 Columbia Rd, Washburn IL 61570.
·
Arrive
Wednesday October 19 (check in time 3-5 PM)
·
Check out by
10 am Saturday, October 22, 2016
Nature Notes
Today I’m writing about trees. Jenni from The Lone Larch Podcast had a giveaway on her podcast and as the prompt she asked, “What is your favorite tree?” What a great question. I started thinking a lot about trees and not only species of trees but specific trees that have played a role in my life. I guess you could say I’ve had intimate relationships with trees. If I had to name a favorite species it probably would be the Burr Oak or Quercus macrocarpa. My grandparents had a large Burr Oak on the side of the driveway of their house. My grandfather was not fond of the giant acorns that fell on the driveway and in the grass where he was to mow. I remember being very frightened during a terrible wind storm, thinking that huge tree was going to fall on the house. When we awoke the next morning there were many trees that had been broken and even uprooted during the night, but not the mighty burr oak. The last time I walked past that house the tree was still there. At our old house in town we had two large burr oaks between our house and our neighbors. When the acorns fell on the roof, right above our bedroom, it could be disruptive to sleep but we because accustomed to it. We took a family Christmas photo by those trees in 1984 and again with our family in the same spot 15 years later. My husband wore the same sweater in both photos. It was amazing how much those trees had grown in girth in 15 years. I am guessing these two trees were offspring of a burr oak in the parkway around the corner from that house. This tree was so large that two people with outstretched arms could not span it’s girth. Local lore said that tree was planted on the day Abraham Lincoln died; however, a friend of ours who is a retired biology teacher said it has to be much older than that, probably 350 years. It’s span is enormous.
I remember a maple tree on the edge of the woods behind the house where I grew up. It was a friendly tree with low branches that were great for climbing. My grandparents also had a lovely maple tree that shaded their porch and was also a good climber. My grandfather did not want us to climb that tree. It was so tempting because there was a perfect branch for getting started on the climb. I don’t know what he thought we were going to do to the tree. It was more likely we would come to harm instead of the tree. Maples are lovely too although there can be too many of them and they tend to take over in the woods around us. What child or adult isn’t charmed by the whirligig seed pods.
When I was a student in Denmark I loved the beech woods. I didn’t know any beech trees until that time. They provide very heavy shade so the small woods with these trees have little undergrowth except in the spring when I found the woods floors carpeted with white anemone. It was like something out of a fairy tale and I’ll never forget it. I loved the beech trees so much that I was given a present of 3 beech trees to take home to Illinois. They were small trees, and carefully packaged by Tante and Onkel and presented to me with a fair amount of pomp. I knew I was not supposed to bring living trees into the US but since these were a gift from people I loved, I could not refuse. So I took them on the plane and when the customs forms came around I declared that I did have 3 trees with me. I fully expected them to be confiscated but they were not. I planted them on my parent’s property and my dad put little fences around them. They lasted for a while but the cold winters here eventually killed them.
My dad really loved trees and my mom does too. Their property looks like a park with a wide variety of trees, some that were there naturally and many others that they planted. My dad kept a tree journal of the planting, fertilizing, and pruning of the trees. As a wood turner he was able to use wood from some of the trees that had to be removed. We have bowls and lamps made from some of these trees. My father taught my husband to turn wood so the legacy goes on. We have quite a collection of logs in our garage and basement, much of it from our own woods or the woods of neighbors. My husband marks the end of the log with the name of the property and date of collection.
Probably my favorite tree on the family homestead is a holly tree. This holly tree is a grandchild of a tree from my great grandparent’s home in southern Illinois. My grandmother took a cutting from that tree and grew an offspring in her yard. My parents got one started on their property so that is the grandchild. Holly doesn’t grow very large in Illinois, probably because of our harsh winters, so it is unusual to see one this large.
My parents belonged to an organization The International Wood Collectors Society. They went to wood conventions. Some of the people just collect samples of wood and study different types of wood. They don’t necessarily do anything with the wood other than preserve, study and collect it.
From their website: “Founded in 1947, the International Wood Collectors Society is a non-profit Society devoted to distributing information on collecting wood, correctly identifying and naming wood specimens, and using wood in creative crafts.
People from all countries around the world are invited to join IWCS, enjoy the benefits of membership and discover more about nature's wonder material -- wood! Collecting wood and/or using wood creatively has to be one of the most unique hobby interests that you could ever pick. IWCS members around the world have formed a network for information exchange and mutual assistance.”
Isn’t that amazing! I society dedicated to wood.
My favorite tree right now is the Red oak that stands at the edge of our porch. Despite it being somewhat of a nuisance when acorns fall in abundance, ricocheting off the porch roof and deck, it is like a friend with its shade over the porch and as a haven for birds and squirrels. Every few years we have a certified arborist come to prune and sometimes remove our trees. Anyone can hack down a tree but if you value trees you need someone who really knows their stuff.
I could go on about trees for a while as more and more come into my head but let’s close with a favorite quote by John Muir.
Any fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away; and if they could, they would still be destroyed -- chased and hunted down as long as fun or a dollar could be got out of their bark hides, branching horns, or magnificent bole backbones. Few that fell trees plant them; nor would planting avail much towards getting back anything like the noble primeval forests. ... It took more than three thousand years to make some of the trees in these Western woods -- trees that are still standing in perfect strength and beauty, waving and singing in the mighty forests of the Sierra. Through all the wonderful, eventful centuries ... God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand straining, leveling tempests and floods; but he cannot save them from fools -- only Uncle Sam can do that. --John Muir- Our National Parks (1901) chapter 10.
Needle Notes
US 0 (2.0 mm) Knitter’s Pride Cubics (wood)
Calligraphy
Cardigan by Hannah Fettig
Home
and Away: Knits for Everyday Adventures by Hannah Fettig
Quince & Co
Chickadee Leek Colorway
Keep close to Nature's heart... and break clear away, once
in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit
clean.
- Muir quoted by Samuel Hall Young in Alaska Days with John Muir (1915) chapter 7
- Muir quoted by Samuel Hall Young in Alaska Days with John Muir (1915) chapter 7
Have a great week, haste ye back and hold your knitting
close.
1 comment:
I really enjoyed your discussion of trees. They were very important to my parents too and I grew up learning to notice and identify trees. I find myself pointing out leaf shapes and bark textures to young people even now. Have you ever seen the short film "The Man Who
Planted Trees?" I use to watch it with my children once a year when they were growing up.
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