Taking The Long Way Home

Not long ago I shared my pattern for the Wavelength Scarf . I love this cozy accessory so much, I think I might need to have one on the sticks at all times. It's such a pretty and functional piece. And making it is easy and meditative, which also translates to mindless and easy to do while watching a movie. This one is in the beautiful, and super soft Willow and Lark "Nest" yarn , made of merino, cashmere, and tencel. This color is Owl Grey. I was going to sell this one, but do you see the tiny mistake I made? I do. And it's enough to make me decide I can just keep it if I want to. I kind of want to. Here's a little video, showing you how I wear this pretty thing. It makes me feel like a pretty thing too.

I used to make lampwork beads. You might already know that. I played with fire and molten glass for 16 years, until the economy and my super powers both seemed to fail me at the same time. Whatever the reasons, I lost that loving feeling, sold my torch, and moved on. I do still have a bit of a bead stash though, and the other day I looked at my box of tiny spacers, and thought, Hey, you guys wanna be stitch markers? You should have heard them hollering yes . I went digging for wire, pliers, cutters, a hammer, and my tiny torch that's better suited for making a creme brulee than jewelry. I made some headpins, added beads, shaped and hammered the loops, and before long, those long-ignored beads transformed into beautiful, functional knitting accessories. I love the segue, though long awaited, from beadmaking to knitting. Now there's a connection I hadn't seen before. I sold all of these very quickly. Not surprisingly, they all went to people who used to buy my beads...

I've been knitting fingerless gloves for years. Completely fingerless - as in no little thumb-sleeve either, although I would have liked having the thumbs. Truth is, I was afraid of thumbs, or the making of them in gloves. For some silly reason, I didn't think I could do it. Sheesh. Maybe I should have tried... Well, a new year is a good time to banish old fears. I finally decided it was time to tackle my thumbophobia, and went in search of an easy pattern, which I quickly found at Hand Made Rukodelky . (Thank you!!!) I printed the pattern, gathered my yarn and needles, and had these beauties finished in just a few hours. The pattern was so easy to follow, I actually worked on them mostly in public, and at one point, with beer in the mix too. No problem. The yarn is Noro Kureyon, and all these colors came from just one skein. So much fun. I used a little (9 inch) size 7 circular needle instead of DPNs for the body of the gloves, which for me is a while lot easier th...

You meant to make thoughtful gifts for everyone on your list, but somehow the time just flew by, and now it's officially the Last Minute as far as hand-making goes. Oops! Speaking for myself, I'll start earlier next year, like maybe January.  To the rescue, these cute little pouches make a nicer-than-store-bought presentation for a gift card, and later magically transform into biz card holders or handy pocket wallets. Depending on your knitting speed, these take roughly an hour to make (for slow-knitting me), so you should have time to whip out a bunch before gifting day arrives. This is not so much a pattern as a basic guideline to making a little buttoned pouch. Improvise where you need to! Now enough chit chat. Ladies and gentlemen, start your needles! Knitted Gift Card Pouch small amount worsted weight yarn (these bags each weight about 1/3 of an ounce, or 8 grams) size 7 circular needle (8 or 9 inch, or longer for magic loop, or DPNs) button yarn needle an...

Triangular scarves are often called shawls these days. Some can be worn as either one. The Wavelength Scarf, however, is best worn around the neck, because the center pointy part is kind of shallow. This sweeping, asymmetrical triangle is knitted from one side to the other, with increases at one edge, and decreases at the other. This gives it a gentle curve that wraps nicely and drapes in graceful spirals. (Buy this very scarf right off my neck! Link at the bottom of this post!) The yarn I used here is a soft cotton/polyamide "ribbon" type yarn, with a fine metallic thread running through it (details below). It has a subtle gleam with no itchiness at all. I really love it. This scarf is done in garter stitch (you know I like simple knits), in a really easy to remember two-row repeat. Try it! And send me pictures! Wavelength Scarf dimensions: wingspan, about 75" x 16" at the off-center point You'll Need - yarn: 3 balls Louisa Hardin...

As an imperfect vegan, I do my best to knit with non-animal fiber yarns. I'll talk more about that in a future post. For now, I'll just say that sometimes I find myself in a similar situation to my darling husband, Rick, when he becomes "vegan between parties" and plunges face first into the baked brie. My personal downfall is not cheese. It's yarn. If someone gifts me with a ball of handspun wool, or shares some beautiful cashmere or merino they (unfathomably to me) can't use, I happily adopt it and immediately start thinking about what to make with it. It's "rescue yarn," so it's all OK. I will also admit to sometimes being "vegan between yarn stores." When I wander into a soft and fluffy fiber shop, my hands wander the shelves, fondling skeins as if they were puppies. I make little cooing sounds. I rub yarn on my neck to see if it's scarf-worthy. And then... I usually buy something. I can't help it. On a recent trip...

I'm back. After almost a year filled with painting, construction, decorating, starting our Airbnb business, guests and beach walks, and getting to know our new home town, winter is sneaking in the back door, making me wonder how in the world I'm going to survive our second soggy winter without the distraction of a house to remodel. I love it here, but winter anywhere always scares me a little bit. I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to pressure myself into teaching some cooking classes. I think I should , but I don't really want to. I think people would like it, but I don't think I would. I have all this training , all this experience , all this love for my plant-based life, but for some reason, I just don't want to put it out there. What I want to do is knit (or crochet or just generally play with sticks and string). It's time I started listening to those Wants, those desires , that come from deep inside, rather than the Shoulds that come from some d...