Knitting

Mystery Knit-a-Long: Bubble Wand Shawl

December 3, 2024March 22, 2025 annbh3563 Comments

Only the barest details were revealed before the start of the fall Knit Camp mystery knit-a-long (MKAL).

The title: Bubble Wand Shawl – inspired by the whimsy of bubbles flowing gently through a wand.
The yarn: Fingering weight in five contrasting colors. Ahead of time, designer Marie Greene, shared recommendations for fiber content, including the brand and colors she chose for her initial sample. Sleuthing knitters were welcome to make their own choices. I opted to match the Knit Camp sample rather than resorting to the color wheel to find complimentary and contrasting colors that, when put together, played well.
The schedule: Five clues released, one per week in October. MKAL participants graciously kept undercover the developing design by posting progress pictures only after a new clue was revealed. As my early October schedule included hosting visiting Swiss cousins this led to my late start so I benefited from seeing my fellow Knit Campers’ progress reports.

The Bubble Wand Shawl began with a five-stitch cast-on. A four-stitch increase on every right-side row – one stitch added at the beginning of the row, two along a central axis, one at the end of the row – provided the shape and size. From that simple cast-on, the stitch count grew through the final lacy edge and a bind-off of 389 stitches. The Stroll Fingering blend of 75% merino wool and 25% nylon, knit using a larger than recommended needle size resulted in an airy fabric with a lovely drape that wraps nicely around the neck and shoulders. Now, I just need a lucky recipient.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Traveler’s Club: A Knitter’s Journey

December 2, 2024January 16, 2026 annbh3563 Comments

four picture postcards with postmarks and the words traveler's club 2025

After hosting a Kuster cousin in July and Müller cousins in October, my knitting will vicariously take me to the land of my Swiss grandparents. In 2025, knitting maven Marie Greene will guide knitters on virtual travel tours to Switzerland, Germany, France, and British Columbia. Each quarter, she will share culturally specific patterns, history lessons, and recipes. As with her other workshops, there will be instructional videos to help participants learn new techniques, suggested books to read, and a music list, as well as random prizes, possible even in situ knitting notions. In January, along with my fellow travelers, I will begin this knitting journey at Kleine Scheidegg in the Canton of Bern. It is a magical place which I visited in 1982 and 1991 as the Jungfrau was my grandmother’s favorite mountain. While the sweater that will be the focus of the coming year’s annual Knit Camp sweater knit-a-long (KAL) is still being designed, a sneak peek at the top-down cardigan reveals slipped stitches in red and white, just like the Swiss flag.

Happy Knitting! Or, more appropriately, Viel Spaß beim Stricken!

Knitting

Autumnal Knitting

October 14, 2024October 13, 2024 annbh3562 Comments

a selection of six hand knit beanies in various colors on a wood floor

Unlike Shel Silverstein’s Mr. Smeds who had twenty-one hats, and none of them were the same, I knit only eight beanies for this year’s Halloween hat drive sponsored by Hawthorne Helps. Momma joined the giving with a donation of two knit scarves. At nearly 101, she may be their oldest donor and HH will feature her picture on their October 29^th distribution poster.

Hawthorne Helps is a community partnership between Rochester Public Schools Hawthorne Education Center and the First Unitarian Universalist Church. The program also receives support from local faith, service, and business groups. Twice a month, HH volunteers distribute essential items that are not eligible purchases using Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, such as deodorant, dish soap, or toothpaste. Each fall, the selection of items available to the adult learners includes wintery weather gear – hats, mittens, and scarves – which are especially useful for new immigrants arriving from warmer climates.

Knitting

Knit Camp at the Coast

September 13, 2024 annbh3563 Comments

My head is swimming with the possibilities of newly learned techniques, and I am only at the mid-point of the 2024 Knit Camp at the Coast Retreat. This annual online event, hosted by Marie Greene, features 11 guest instructors this year, as well as a marketplace (with discounted products) and time for socializing.

As shawls are my jam – that is, my favorite item to knit, the first class highlighting different shaped shawls – bias rectangles, chevrons, and asymmetrical triangles – was the best kick off for these three days. The instructor shared intricate color designs within repeated 45° angles and created by the artful pairing of increases and decreases to achieve the desired shape.

The retreat topics range from the practical such as sewing perfect seams which provide structure to knitted items to acts of kindness as we learned how Loose Ends “aims to ease grief, create community, and inspire generosity by matching volunteer handwork finishers with projects people have left undone due to death or disability.”

The quality of the content has always been of high caliber, but things have changed since 2020 and the Covid days when the technology befuddled everyone. This year’s prerecorded classes ensure the systematic presentation of information in an environment with controlled lighting, refined camera angles, and good sound. Gone are the days of dropped microphones, disruptive background noises, and stitch demonstrations that were sometimes out of focus or out of frame. During years 1-4, the retreat was a two-day event plus an opening evening reception. For this fifth anniversary year, the content fills three days. And I can review the sessions anytime during the next 45 days. So don’t call or text until Sunday as I am busy with Knit Camp at the Coast!

Happy Knitting!

Knitting

Ready for autumn days

August 29, 2024 annbh3564 Comments

handknit reddish brown shawl with lacy eyelets and bobbles

The Skipping Stones Wrap is just off my needles and, without an intended recipient, becomes another on-hand donation for the next silent auction fundraiser. Bobbles grace each end and construction offered double the fun as this piece was worked as two mirrored halves and then grafted seamlessly in the middle. While I like the whimsey of bobbles, a quick inventory of over 250 projects reveals this design element in only seven items (one hat, one cowl, two sweaters, and now, three shawls.)

Rows of differing sized lacy eyelets flow through the body. And, just as the name suggests, the wearer can almost hear the gentle plop, plop, plop as a stone leaves the hand and skims across the smooth lake surface. The fingering weight blend of merino wool and silk, knit in a reddish foxy brown, will be perfect for cool autumn days.

Knitting

For a new great-great

August 9, 2024 annbh3562 Comments

handknit green sweater on white background with a central cable design on the body and the sleeve hanging on a wooden hanger suspended by an orange ribbon — Babbling Brook in Forestry

details of a handknit green sweater on white background with a central cable design on the body and the sleeve — Babbling Brook in Forestry

Amidst those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, Knit Campers add yarn[y] to the list of rhyming words as 100s plunge into a four-day sweater knitting adventure. While I did not follow the crowd’s choice of patterns, I did create a sweater for an expected great-great niece or nephew. (We must wait until October to know which.)

Green is the new momma’s favorite color, thus the choice of this gender-neutral forestry colorway. The blend of cotton, bamboo, and silk always knits up nicely with the advantage of being machine washable. Marie Greene’s Babbling Brook pattern offers assorted sizes from newborn (0-6 months) to seven years; and includes my favorite design element – cables. Knowing little ones grow quickly, I hope this size 2-4 might keep our new great-great warm through one or two Oregon rainy seasons.

Congratulations Katie and Cam!

Knitting

Midsomer Mystery

July 20, 2024August 29, 2024 annbh3561 Comment

The May mystery knit-along (MKAL) with Solène Le Roux evolved from an acknowledgment of Beltane, the Gaelic May Day, into my very own midsummer celebration sans the numerous murders of the British TV drama. I cast-on with the other knitters as the MKAL began May 1 but changed plans not once but twice. I switched from a tweedy, deep forest yarn which proved too dark to reveal the delicate cables and then changed needles for a different gauge. (Note to self – The time “ saved” by not swatching is definitely not saved!)

blue handknit shawl draped on a wooden hanger — Kala Mae MKAL Shawl

close up of knit stitches on a handknit blue shawl showing lace and cables — Kala Mae MKAL Shawl

The crescent shawl showcases a soft single ply Merino in Stockholm blue, hand-dyed in Hastings at Muse2320. The cables along the top edge mimic two embedded I-cords and the central design reveals left and right leaning 2-over-2 twists that frame the braided central cable. I discovered too late that 40 grams of yarn remaining from the starting weight of 200g (approximately 874 yards) was insufficient for bottom border as designed, so I modified the pattern (something I rarely do) and exchanged the ribbed border for a lacy edge.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Celebrating May

May 13, 2024July 15, 2024 annbh3561 Comment

I discovered French knitting designer, Solène Le Roux, in 2018. Her designs offered me a glimpse into the Parisian world of haute couture through a blend of simple elegance paired with stitches that are technically challenging enough to keep me alert and learning. In the early days of Covid, I joined her for a bilingual virtual retreat and then followed her move from Paris to the Château de Parançay in southwest France where she hosts knitting classes and fiber adventures.

At the moment, I have a larger than normal number of items on my needles (two scarfs, a pair of socks, a twelve-month afghan, and a summer shawl). It feels quite frivolous to start another project, especially a mystery knit-along (MKAL) but then Solène is offering an “online knitting + meditation experience to celebrate Beltane and the month of May.” Since Clue #1 promised a variety of cables (my favorite design element) I cast on my Kala Mae mystery shawl using a rich tonal blue yarn, hand-dyed just up the river in Hastings at Muse2320.

Happy knitting!

Knitting · Travel

Park Shawl

April 25, 2024 annbh3561 Comment

snow covered mountain in the distance against a blue sky with trees and craggy rock in the foreground — Glacier National Park – July 2006

two-toned taupe and speckled pink and green hand knit shawl on on wooden hanger — Glacier National Park – July 2006

Just off my needles is Christina Campbell’s International Peace Park Shawl. Her inspiration for this simple asymmetrical shawl knit in two colors, came from Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, the world’s first international park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The design begins and ends with solid segments representing the two bordering countries, color shifting stripes portray the mountain ridges, and the delicate lace segments depict the fragile nature of peace.

My knitting journal usually documents December projects designed by Christina when I have joined 100s of other knitters participating in her annual Project Peace knit-alongs (KAL). The delicate hand-dyed merino fingering skeins from last June’s Hand Dyed Happy Yarn Club are reminiscent of craggy peaks after snowmelt and spring flowers dotting high mountain meadows. The pattern sat in my queue while I waited for that just right combo of yarns since, after three visits, Glacier National Park remains among my favorite natural places with these fond memories…

A mid-summer visit with nieces and nephews when thirteen of us hiked a glacier trail. The sun sparkling so brightly off the snowpack there were sunburned calves, despite a slathering of sunscreen.
When, despite a sunny June day, we could only venture as far as Lake McDonald Lodge as heavy, late season snowfalls blocked Going-to-the Sun Road.
And the thwarted plans to visit Glacier’s Canadian counterpart, Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada, due to lack of proper documentation. We had incorrectly assumed drivers’ licenses were sufficient IDs and we learned (too late) that without our passports, US customs would not allow reentry. Instead, we simply enjoyed rustic Rocky Mountain scenery on our side of the border.

Happy knitting on happy trails!

Knitting

Double Diamond Cowl

April 8, 2024 annbh3563 Comments

an incomplete handknit cowl in rust colored tones with a lace pattern of repeated diamonds resting on a marble background and a green yarn bowl in the upper left corner — A Work-in-Progress

handknit cowl in rust colored tones with a lace pattern of repeated diamonds on a marble background — A Work-in-Progress

With seven cowls tucked away in tissue paper with protective lavender sachets, I recognize I should pause from knitting any more of these wardrobe accessories. This particular article of clothing is a favorite among pattern designers. As proof, I need only refer to the last three collections of new patterns that I’ve bought. Within the knitting universe, cowls provide a quick project that often enables the knitter to explore a new or challenging technique on a small scale with the added benefit of putting into service a beautiful, but solo skein of yarn. I am less certain of their popularity among those seeking soft, squishy neckwear.

My latest finished object features a two-tone, double-diamond lace pattern. Rather than relying on bold contrasts, the color shifts are subtle. The pattern specifically called for “analogous colors – or colors that fall next to each other on the color wheel.” The Double Diamond Cowl is part of Marie Greene’s recently released D is for Diamonds Stashbuster Series. Fully embracing the spirit of the project, this fingering weight yarn came from my stash of lovely hand-dyed fibers acquired while participating in Heather Best’s Hand Dyed Happy Yarn Club.

Happy knitting!