As some of you know, for years I have occasionally taught a class titled “Looking at Yarns in New Way”. Actually, that class has had various titles along the way (like “Yarn Shopping Trip”) or parts of the class taught thereof (like “Knitting with Singles”), but invariably it comes down to understanding “what the yarn wants to be” so that you have confidence in selecting a suitable project for the yarn, enjoy the process of knitting the yarn and are satisfied with the end result.
My days are invariably filled with interruptions. I am easily distracted, so it is no wonder I often stray from the schedule I had planned for the day. One such particularly notable day happened last week, but what a delight in many ways. I started off the morning as I usually do and checked the early emails that had come in since the previous evening. I had one from Jean Moss, one of Great Britain’s leading knitwear designers.
She was preparing an answer to the question of “her top five knitted Xmas gifts” to be included in the December issue of the UK magazine Knitting and was featuring my little “Bells On My Toes Mini Holiday Sock” … Continue reading A Delightful Request from Jean Moss→
Besides the hypnotically soothing relaxation I feel when spinning, I think that a great joy in handspinning your own yarn is practiced control over the creative results. There often is the serendipity, too, and this leads to even more adventures and exploration. Moody Blues, handspun dyed pima cotton roving plied with silk, has been one of those examples. Here is the completed yarn –
Do you sense the ‘slightly washed-out faded denim jeans’ look? I am so pleased with this yarn even though in buying the dyed roving, I thought it might have been a mistake!
I’ve FINALLY picked up the knitting needles again, and boy-oh-boy does it feel good. I had just a little bit more to complete on the Faceted Gems Lace Wrap for which I am using Lorna’s Laces laceweight yarn called Helen’s Lace in their new colorway Red Rover.
Here is a sneak peek at a sample swatch for this lace wrap. I’ll have pictures of the completed wrap when I get closer to release date of this new stole pattern (stand by — it won’t be too long!).
It feels good to be ‘back to work’. This reminded me of some sage advice given by Georgia to her friend Cat in the book The Friday Night Knitting Club (excerpt from page 306).
“…I’ll let you in on a little secret. We don’t all love our jobs every day. And doing something you have a passion for doesn’t make the work part of it any easier … it just makes you less likely to quit.”
Related Images:
Behind the scenes with Jackie E-S and life at the HeartStrings FiberArts studio.
