Tag: sport

Knitting

My Duet is a Trio

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pale pink and light brown handknit scarf with stripes and lace

When I began my version of the Duet Triangular Scarf, I fully intended to color inside the lines and follow the pattern instructions. However, while my swatch met stitch gauge, I neglected to check row gauge.  As a result, the first segment revealed a delicate lace design with the correct width, but it did not match the intended length.  Guessing the same would be true for the opposite triangle and wanting a slightly longer scarf, I modified Marie Greene’s recently released pattern by adding a rectangular middle section.  This change eliminated the distinct seam between the two colors and created a gentle transition of skinny stripes alternating between pale pink and the natural, undyed light brown of this Peruvian highland wool.

Happy knitting!

Knitting

Knit Camp celebrating 5!

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two straw baskets holding balls of aqua and cream yarn

Not only is five Marie Greene’s favorite number (Who knew people had favorite numbers? Do you?) but this year marks the fifth anniversary of Knit Camp and I have been a member for nearly every month. 

There is both joy and practicality in this small online knitting community.  There is a custom app without all the noise and political rhetoric of the big social media platforms.  I receive 12-15 free patterns each year, as well as easy-to-follow stitchery tutorials.  There are knit-alongs (KAL) that include both a Winter Sweater Workshop and the 4-day sweater marathon in July; an exclusive Fall Mystery Shawl event in October; and, not to be forgotten, the annual Knit Camp at the Coast 3-day virtual retreat. 

This winter’s “sweater” is the newly designed Taos Valley Poncho which I am not knitting but I am thoroughly enjoying the weekly online courses that range from an intro to New Mexico textiles, to how to steep white pine coffee, to learning the tuck-stitch.  While a multi-toned poncho may not grace my wardrobe, I ordered yarn for the Knit Camp Anniversary Afghan.  This is dubbed a 12-month celebration in stitches and will consist of a series of blocks – one design per month; each knit twice (for double the fun) in alternating colors.  However, the yarn is simply taking too long to arrive, so my patience is thin as I check the front porch every day.

So much fun and friendship too.  Happy knitting!

Graphic credit:  © Marie Greene

Knitting · Travel

The Best Souvenirs

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four skeins of multi-colored varigated yarn
The four seasons of the Smoky Mountain Collection: spring, summer, autumn, winter

I received the first skeins of travel yarn in 2016 from a friend who attended a destination wedding in Iceland.  She gifted three skeins of Léttlopi in a deep dark blue that, in turn, became a travel gift for a Swiss cousin.  But, even though I had been knitting for years, I did not purchase any yarn on our 2017 retirement road trip – Minnesota to Spokane to Seattle to Vancouver and home again via the trans-Canadian highway.  I am sure there must have been yarn stores along the way but none made our travel itinerary.

I corrected this omission during our 2018 European adventure – Amsterdam to Spa-Francorpschamps in Stavelot, Belgium to Ingolstadt, Germany to Switzerland and Italy – with purchases our first day in Amsterdam and on our last day in Zurich.  Now I make a stop at a local yarn store as a planned part of our travels, whether I am in Arizona for Cubs spring training (2019) or just two weeks ago while in Tennessee for a mountain top wedding. 

These most recent acquisitions to my stash were handdyed exclusively for Smoky Mountain Spinnery in Gatlinburg and represent the four seasons in their Smoky Mountain Collection.  Each colorway is based on a photograph that captures the location’s natural beauty:  delicate spring flora, the vibrant colors of summer twilight, cascading water amidst fall’s changing leaves, or the bright blue winter canopy over frosty hillsides.  With two skeins of each, the possibilities for future knitting projects are endless.

Knitting

Before the next sweater…

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hand knit cable beanie in magenta tweed yarn
hand knit cable scarf in magenta tweed yarn with close up of twisted cables
hand knit cable scarf and beanie in magenta tweed yarn

Since my knitted contributions to this year’s church auction (the Mallory Shawl and the French Oak Scarf) were successful in raising funds and as Brezel, Marie Greene’s new design for her 2023 January Sweater Workshop, is waiting in the wings, I just completed several smaller projects.  Using worsted weight tweed yarn in vibrant magenta, the matching beanie and scarf combo with reversible cables was a quick project.  Plus, this set gives me a head start on next year’s auction donations.

And for a sneak peak at Brezel details — With a release date of December 30 for Knit Campers like me, Bretzel incorporates Bavarian twisted stitches and German short rows to create an overall design resembling a platter of carefully crafted pretzels.  And, yes, the name of the sweater is the German translation of this symmetrically twisted, salty snack.  In the weeks ahead, in addition to the knitting lessons shared during this sweater workshop, there is a promise of pretzel baking lessons.  Yumm!

Knitting

Amsterdam

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Vintage travel posters inspire a new exclusive fiber series from frabjous fibers & Wonderland Yarns. Amsterdam was the June limited edition colorway and, while this vibrant multi-colored skein was definitely outside my normal color spectrum, Richard and I so loved our time in Amsterdam and the colors are so reminiscent of the city-scape that it became a must have. The Windmill Shawl features a simple lace design reminiscent of the country’s many windmills to which I added a picot edging.

My Egypt travel kit is already on order from Northfield Yarn. I have wonderful memories from my trip to exotic Cairo with time in Giza and a picnic along the Suez Canal. Although the lush green tones of that skein are not the colors of my memories, then again, I did visit in June.

PS – And just because I’ve always wondered (and you might too), here is the etymology of frabjous: An adjective coined by Lewis Carroll in Through the Looking-Glass meaning splendid or magnificent.