Andrea Mowry and Color Confidence

 Blog

Last October I took a class from Andrea Mowry, of the popular “Fade” patterns on Ravelry, called “Color Confidence”. The class was paid for by a scholarship from my Guild, one of the great benefits of being a member. Her color change patterns are similar to an ombre, but instead of going from light to dark, they go from one color to another. My hope was to learn through her color combination techniques, ways to use various 4oz braids that we all seem to purchase without necessarily having any plan for. Her patterns primarily use the speckled, hand-painted yarns that are so popular right now, but there is a lot of handspun that also ends up being colorfully variegated, so my thought was that handspun would be a reasonable substitution.

Speckled commercial yarns; hand-dyed handspun yanrs

The first part of the class was learning how to do two-color brioche knitting, which is one of her favorite techniques. Although it involves brioche-specific stitch names, once you get the hang of it it’s fairly easy to see how it works, especially if you are using dissimilar colors. It also helped that Andrea was a good, patient teacher! If you think you might be interested in learning the brioche stitch, I would recommend actually taking a class. You will end up with a lightweight, two-sided fabric, with the background color having the effect of “muting” the foreground color.

Brioche stitch side A

Brioche stitch side B

The rest of the class focused on Andrea’s techniques for combining color, or in her words, “painting with yarn”. The first technique she discussed was the marled effect you can get by simply holding two strands of different yarn together and knitting. This look seems to go in and out of fashion, but it’s been very popular in Vogue Knitting for the past several years, and it is an interesting way to do optical blending. This is also easy to replicate with a two-ply barber pole handspun.

Vogue Knitting Late Winter 2017

She then discussed color pooling, and how she breaks up the occasional patches of color that can show up in odd places in your knitting. She is a big fan of using textured stitches, like garter stitch and lace patterns, to visually visually break up the pooling. We knit some samples of two yarns held together in garter stitch, and I chose a solid red and a red-with-lots-of-other-bits-of-color handspun, and I was surprised how much the garter stitch toned down all the other colors. Visually the swatch looked mostly red. After thinking about it, I shouldn’t have been so surprised: a yarn that’s 100% red combined with a yarn that’s 50% red will end up looking 75% red. Combining that with garter stitch, where you are basically seeing only every other row, and of course it will tone down the variegation dramatically.

We then talked about color value, or where a particular color falls on a greyscale. For colorwork such as Fair Isle or mosaic knitting, Andrea recommended having high contrast in value, otherwise the finished motif will look “muddy”. For her Fade technique she recommends using a low contrast in value. When considering whether the colors you like actually work together as far as value, she showed us that by taking a black-and-white picture of your fiber on your cell phone, you can easily see if you’ve got a high or low contrast, because the photo will take away the hue and leave only the value. When Andrea picks yarns for her Fade patterns, she is looking for a greyscale gradient.

Natural-dyed and ice-dyed yarns

The same yarns in greyscale

Finally, she discussed how she transitions from one color to the next. She recommends using yarn from the same dyer when you first start trying her patterns, because you will be able to find families of color combinations to help your Fade blend smoothly. If you are the dyer, so much the better! One of her techniques is to use the Fibonacci sequence to gradually decrease one color and increase the next color, rather than just dropping one color and starting the next.

An example of the Fibonacci sequence, Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2017

Reverse stockinette stitch will hide lines between color changes more easily than regular stockinette. Adding mohair or another fiber with halo will help blur or “fuzz out” color changes. And finally, you can always Fade into a neutral!

For me, the biggest tip was her advice, when choosing colors, to pick something that will look good with your skin tone at the part that’s going to be up by your face. That way your finished project will look good on you, and you will still have the freedom to experiment with colors that you wouldn’t normally think you can wear.

Taking this class really made me consider the role that stitch texture and the physical structure of the yarn being used plays in the perception of color, which I will definitely keep in mind for future projects. Added to that, Andrea was charming and generous with her knowledge: if you are a class-taking sort of person, I would certainly recommend her.

Knit your own adventure: swatching, gauge and EPS

 Rachel Wolcott

 Blog

When Tricia Holman visited my Guild to give a talk and workshop I didn’t think much of it. I knew Tricia carries on a knitting tradition begun by her aunt Elizabeth Zimmermann (EZ). What I couldn’t have known is how much my knitting would change as a result.

Tricia visited the Guild in February with piles of beautiful and creatively constructed garments and hats to discuss how her aunt’s approach to knitting influenced her own designs.

EZ, known as the grandmother of American knitting, is famous for her newsletters, a mathematical approach to knitting called Elizabeth’s Percentage System (EPS) and the “Surprise Jacket” patterns.

Tricia noted that EZ’s knitting was deeply influenced by European traditions and that she was an advocate of Continental-style knitting (picking instead of throwing the yarn). EZ did not like purling and opted for knitting in the round or garter stitch patterns like the surprise jackets that have become a favourite with knitters around the world. That’s something else niece and aunt share.

“I don’t like purling or sewing up. There are some who like it. What is so special about the surprise jacket is it’s really knitted origami,” said Tricia as she demonstrated how a single piece of knitted fabric could be folded into the surprise jacket. The guild members tittered in delight.

Swatching is not for dummies

If EZ wasn’t a fan of purling or sewing up she certainly was a fan of swatching and test knits. If you’ve seen her Knitting Workshop DVD there are some Sasha dolls on the set sporting little sweaters and hats. EZ herself is surrounded by balls of yarn and swatches.

That’s because for EZ gauge is everything. That and figuring out how to knit smarter—bending the knit to her vision instead of the other way around. Again her niece Tricia has taken her aunt’s what-if attitude. Through swatching and testing she has her own EZ-inspired designs.

Tricia had many sizes and variations of the surprise jacket on show—from “very large nephew” size to tiny ones modelled by teddy bears. They showed the jacket’s flexibility. Just change the number of stitches or the gauge to change the size.

little bear jacket

At the workshop Tricia had us do a teddy bear-sized surprise jacket. I’ve knit a surprise jacket before and I still screwed it up. But if you’re only working on a mini version, then it doesn’t matter so much when you need to start over. Also, you can learn the technique before you jump in to start the real thing.

Tricia’s other top tip was to make a swatch hat. Want to try out a new idea? Why not make a hat to see if it works. It’s a technique Tricia used for her own patterns including her Spiral Sweater.

Knitting for spinners

Tricia is a spinner and says, “I get lots of wool as a spinner and then you’re on your own with patterns. That’s where the Elizabeth Percentage System is great. I can’t answer how much wool you will need but if you’re a spinner you can always spin some more.”

The Percentage System is a calculation for sizing garments based on gauge and desired body circumference. “EPS” consists of a simple mathematical formula to determine how many stitches to cast on for a sweater, based on chest circumference and the assumption that sleeves and body are usually proportionate no matter what yarn or gauge is used.

Tricia’s message to spinners who knit was, you don’t need to follow patterns slavishly or be put off by sewing up (or even purling!). With a little imagination and some simple math you can easily make yourself a sweater that fits.

Choose your own knitting adventure

Cuff with peerie flowers

Many of EZ’s patterns are based on EPS and are sort of a choose your adventure approach to knitting. She gives you a map. You do the rest. It will all work out fine–if you swatch.

Knitting without a pattern had been out of the question for me, mainly because of lack of confidence, due to a longstanding laziness about swatching. I rarely swatched. I now realise that was dumb–especially for a spinner who knits.

After a couple of hours with Tricia I was raring to go. I busted out my EZ’s Knitting Workshop DVD, my copy of the Opinionated Knitter and some yarn that had been lingering in my stash way too long.

casting on the body

I cast on the body, did a little leaf fair isle pattern (more stash yarn!). Now I’ve done the body and a sleeve. Once I get another sleeve knitted then it will be time to dive into the yoke knitting. I love yoke sweaters and am excited for this step. Still thinking about what kind of pattern to use.

In anticipation of my next EPS knit, I’m spinning up some yarn for a Gansey. Now that I know I can choose my own knitting adventure based on the gauge of the yarn I’ve made, well the possibilities are endless! Yay.

Handmade gift ideas for men

 Rachel Wolcott

 Blog

The leaves are just starting to change colour and fall, but the Christmas puddings are on the shelves at the shops and it’s just a matter of time before the first pre-Christmas sales begin.

Over the past few years my sister, mother and I have been giving each other handmade gifts at Christmas. Mom makes wonderful hooked rugs and cushions and my sister has made us beautiful felted stockings, knitted scarves and sweaters. I’ve woven wraps for my mom and made yarn and soap for my sister.

This year I want to make a gift for everyone in my family–luckily we are a small group! The problem has been coming up with something different and useful for my dad and husband.

I did a search for DIY/handmade gifts for men and the options some of the ideas were hilarious–a bouquet of bacon , flavoured toothpicks and “restore an heirloom axe“. Also apparently beard oil is The Thing, but we are a beardless bunch.

Not all the ideas I saw were totally crazy and here are some that aren’t beard oil, bacon, scarves or hats.

Utility tote by Don Morin

Man bag: I was telling Sal about this tote bag my dad uses as a sort of briefcase. It is a freebie from a pharmaceutical company he was given for judging a science fair. It is ripe for replacement.

I found this utility tote pattern by Don Morin. It’s perfect, and as Sal says all I have to do is stencil some drug logos on it.

There are loads of free patterns for messenger bags out there both knitted, felted and sewn. How about upcycling some jeans or natural dyeing or printing on some organic hemp fabric then sewing it up into a bag? There are so many ways to use your fiber arts and sewing skills for a messenger bag.

Finlayson “sweater” (Thread Theory)

Sweatshirt: I love this Finlayson Sweater from Thread Theory. I’m going to make this up for my husband. I’ve got some jersey fabric in my stash. There are some nice organic jerseys available now that could be naturally dyed. Or maybe you have some handwoven you could use. Here’s a link to our guide to using handwoven for sewing projects.

For further inspiration: Independent designers have some beautiful sewing patterns for men now. Check out Walden, Thread Theory, Hot Patterns and Merchant and Mills.

Man scrub: Men like a good scrub just as much as women. Last year I wove washclothes using Syne Mitchell’s Loop-pile washcloth pattern from her book Inventive Weaving on a Little Loom. I used cotton, but she has a hemp/aloo version which would be a great alternative to those plastic shower poufs. Once this one has outlived its usefulness you can throw it on the compost pile and make another one.

There are knit and crochet options. Here’s a shower mitt from yarnspirations which could be knitted in hemp or cotton. For crocheters, here’s a loofah.

Do you want to make homemade soap? You should. Look no further than Humblebee & Me. Loads of idea not just for soap, but things like DIY tiger balm, after shave and lip balm. This woman is a genius.

Slippers: Slippers are a classic dad gift. There are so many patterns to choose from including: Martha Stewart’s, Drops’ felted and these gorgeous ones from Arne & Carlos.

There are some upcycling possibilities here. Why not use old sweaters, felt them and sew them into slippers. You could sew a bit of old denim on the bottom to make them sturdier.

Dice bag: Do you have any gamers in your life? How about a dice bag? Here’s a knitted one–twelve – sided no less! You could run up one on the sewing machine maybe with Doctor Who fabric? Or Space Cats!!!

Mug cosy: Another classic. Again there are loads of patterns on Ravelry. But you could easily use woven fabric or even sew them with your favourite novelty fabric. Free patterns galore online.

Other ideas might be making a belt on an inkle loom or knitting a pair of socks.

One last idea which is not sewing/fiber arts related, but I think is a great idea for a Fathers Day present–homemade barbecue rub. My dad would definitely use this! Thanks Martha.

Last year Sal wrote a post on gifts for the fiberista. Lots of good ideas here.

Please let us know your ideas for making for men.

How simple dye techniques can help bust your stash

 Rachel Wolcott

 Blog

This is the story of how a ball of pink mohair yarn, a bit of acid dye and a microwave helped me transform some long-forgotten yarn into exactly what I needed to knit the sweater I want.

Like many knitters, I have a lot of yarn bought in a fit of love at first sight, only to linger in a box for a few years. I keep telling myself it will all get used. Eventually.

When I was given a ball of hot pink mohair yarn last weekend, I thought: yes, I can use that and I think I have some yarn to go with it.

Turns out I had quite a few odd balls of mohair in my stash–green, grey, blue and light pink. I found this pattern on Ravelry and thought, that’s the one.

Belarus, by Kaffe Fassett

This pattern calls for nine colours. I had five–hot pink, light pink, green, grey and blue. My options were change the colour scheme set out in the pattern or dye the grey yarn I had to create four more colours.

Here I made some assumptions. The first was that the fiber content of the grey mohair would take the acid dye. It’s mohair, silk, nylon, polyester and metallic. I also assumed I could get good colours over-dyeing the pale grey yarn.

Selection of mohair yarn from my stash

Luckily those assumptions turned out to be correct . However if you want to dye commercial yarn in a colour that might not look nice over-dyed… I would definitely test first. Also make sure to check the fiber content of the yarn. Protein fibers–silk, wool–dye the best with acid dyes. Some synthetics take acid dyes too. Cottons and other plantern-based fibers (bamboo, hemp, linen etc) require different dyes completely.

Once I planned out which colours I was going to dye my grey yarn, I got out my microwave (one I use for dyeing), a scale, a ball winder, some glass jars, the dyes and some vinegar.

1. Thinking I wasn’t going to need a full 25g of yarn for every colour, I divided two balls into four using my ball winder and scale. I ended up with four balls roughly 12-13g each. It’s critical not to wind the yarn too tight or the dye won’t penetrate into the yarn closer to the centre of the ball.

2. Soak the yarn in warm water and a bit of white vinegar. Easy does it. You don’t want the yarn to felt or get into a knotted mess.

3. Get your dyes out and prepare them. For small quantities of yarn you will need very little dye powder. I probably used about 1g of dye per 12g ball I dyed. Put the dye in some warm water, stir and add a little vinegar.

I used Ashford’s purple and black dyes to get the purple and dark grey colours. For the wine colour I used Jacquard dyes’ russet and a very little Ashford navy blue. For the red I used Jacquard’s fire red.

Put the yarn in the dye. Make sure it’s not too crammed in there otherwise the yarn will dye unevenly.

Put the jar in the microwave for 2-3 minutes on high. Let it sit for 5 minutes or so, then give it another 2-3 minute blast. Let it sit and cool. If you haven’t overdone it on the dye, the water should be clear and the dye bath exhausted.

4. Carefully rinse the cooled yarn and squeeze out the excess liquid. Now let it dry.

I’m pleased with my results. The grey yarn took the dye nicely and the colours are close to the ones used in the sample. Sure they are not identical, but that isn’t an issue for me.

Nine colours ready to knit

Next yarn to be over dyed: the balls and balls of yellow wool my mother gave me a few years ago. Yellow really isn’t my colour, but I’m pretty sure I can make them into something I will like.

Gift Ideas for the Fiberista

 Sally Williams

 Blog

Rachel suggested we put together a list of fun or useful gifts for the fiber fanatics in your life. Which is funny, because every year before Rachel’s birthday or Christmas I get an email from her husband asking for gift suggestions. In Rachel’s case I’m at an advantage, because we talk about our fiber plans daily, but putting this list together I’m at a disadvantage because nothing on this list is on the list I made for Rachel’s husband! My spinning Guild also has it’s year-end gift exchange in a couple of weeks, so it seems like there’s always an opportunity to buy (or make!) a well-received gift.

Here are some useful tools:

a ball winder

a ball winder with yardage counter

a yardage counter

a swift

Ball winders and swift

a niddy noddy. Make a custom-sized one on the cheap out of PVC.

small scissors

measuring tape

a wraps-per-inch gauge

blocking pins

a diz:

a hackle

a blending board

a dog comb or flick carder for preparing fleece

a few extra bobbins for their spinning wheel. These are always welcome, but be sure you know what kind of wheel your friend has—different manufacturers make different sizes and they’re not always interchangeable.

soap nuts

spinning wheel oil! I’m always having to depend on my fellow Guild members when my wheel starts whining during meetings, because I don’t have a small travel tube of it.

Does your friend weave? How about a travel loom, a pin loom or an inkle loom? There are plenty of instructions online on how to make a PVC inkle loom.

Inkle loom

Does your friend only spin wool or alpaca roving? Maybe a gift of cotton, flax, an interesting synthetic fiber, or silk hankies. Rachel and I have found that spinning different types of fibers really helps with our overall technique. A tip: if you give silk hankies, include a bottle of talcum powder. It smooths over the rough places in your hands and makes mawata spinning a breeze.

Does your friend have a drop spindle? A Turkish drop spindle? There are lots of beautiful hand-made spindles out there. Look on Etsy or search online for hand-crafted spindles.

Turkish spindle

Notions. I love giving and receiving buttons. I find they inspire new projects, and you can usually find designs for anyone’s favorite interests. Etsy is also a great place to find handmade notions and shawl pins, by artists local to your area or from around the world.

Locally crafted ceramic buttons made by beadfreaky that I found on Etsy

A salad spinner. These work great for getting the wet out of small batches of fiber. If you think your recipient will be confused, include a little unwashed fiber in the basket. Another tip: if your friend is in need of a salad spinner for, well, salad, definitely get her two! Thrift stores are a great place to find perfectly good second hand salad spinners for fiber processing.

Knitter’s graph paper. Great for charting things or keeping track of where you are in a pattern (ahem, Rachel). We happen to have a handy-sized Sheep Cabana version available in our brand new Etsy shop:

Sheep Cabana Knitter’s Graph Paper

Books. We are a bit on the fence about books. I like ones that are reference books, stitch dictionaries, and other how-to types.

If your friend really likes making socks, the latest sock-pattern book might be up his alley. I would check out his library first. Your friend’s Ravelry queue or Pinterest boards are also good places to check for favorite designers and designs. Some designers on Ravelry also give the option to gift patterns electronically, which is great. Support your indie designers!

There are some novelty books out there which non-knitters tend to give knitters. Coffee table books, if you will. If you’re tempted by something like that, ask yourself how many faux-taxidermy meerkats or rustic-modern crochet ponchos your friend is going to make. If it’s a resounding “That many!” then go for it. But still: if your friend has an e-reader, consider the e-version of the book.

One last idea is project bags and small notions cases. Lots of people make these, probably people you already know in your Instagram feed.

If I’ve left anything off this list, it’s because it’s on Rachel’s surprise list. However, as far as gift giving goes, if in the long run your recipient would rather have something useful than be surprised, just ask them what they might want! I find that that’s often the most appreciated gift of all.

Summer of craft: portable projects, children’s activities

 Rachel Wolcott

 Blog

Only a few more days of school to go and the UK branch of Sheep Cabana is getting ready for the summer holidays.

I tend to travel with fiber, handcards, a drop spindle, knitting and a crochet hook… you can see where this is going. No wonder my bags are always inspected by the TSA! When we go camping later this summer, my Ashford Joy will come with us.

Last year I considered bringing my 15″ Cricket loom with me on holiday, but decided against it. There are more portable weaving projects like tablet weaving, small tapestry looms and pin looms that are better suited to travel. One of those (or two) will be in my suitcase in the coming weeks.

Pin looms are also a great way to get children interested in weaving. They’re small and easy to handle.

Kids love rigid heddle looms

That said, I recently set up the Cricket for my six-year old boy and he loved it. Imagine me glowing with pride as his project grew. Amazing!

First project

The May/June 2015 issue of Handwoven featured two fun-looking projects for children. One was a Hula Hoop rug. I found this tutorial on YouTube posted by a young woman who made something similar for a girl scout project. I love the idea of children sharing their craft knowledge online.

The other Handwoven children’s project is sort of a mini-tapestry necklace or decoration by Jennifer Lee. All you need is some cardboard, yarn, a tapestry needle and maybe some beads. There are plenty of similar projects demonstrated online. I’m going to try this out with my little one. Once he gets into something, he tends to go into manufacturing mode. We shall see how many of these we have at the end of the summer.

Mini tapestries

There is also a free e-book on the Interweave site with weaving projects for kids. If you are massively ambitious and have tons of Lego, check out this automated loom. Wow. For those of us who prefer something low-tech, don’t forget the ultimate portable and child-friendly fiber project: pompoms!

Pompoms!!!

Here’s another idea from Handwoven that caught my eye: grass cloth. For those of us wondering what it is, grass cloth simply is cloth woven with dried grass in the weft. Apparently grass cloth wallpaper is trendy these days. Who knew.

Weaving grass cloth is not really a portable project, but it does require grass that you might find when you’re strolling along the beach or through the countryside as part of your summertime ramblings. Handwoven’s grass cloth journal instructions for the rigid heddle loom can be found here.

What I love about this project is it can be made from materials gathered either in your neighbourhood or while on holiday. It’s sustainable, eco-friendly and a keepsake.

Sheep Chic

 Rachel Wolcott

 Blog, Uncategorized

One reason Sal and I started this website was to show how starting with a bag of fiber it’s possible to create luxurious handmade objects. This week I went into the Liberty of London on a mission to find wool being used in high-end fashion. I found some great pieces that I’m confident could be handmade and certainly show what’s possible with wool.

Rowan thick thin yarn–wannabee handspun

Liberty is known for its art nouveau and arts & crafts-inspired designs in the 1950s as well as its range of print fabrics. Back in the dark ages -the early 00s–when there were no real knit shops in London, Liberty carried Rowan yarns and stocked needles.

These days Liberty has some super-expensive pieces that feature wool. Check out this handbag made by Marni.

Marni bag

It’s made out of leather and a panel of soft felt. It retails for £765. It’s a beautiful piece that’s an alternative to the leather and gold-plated-hardware style bags that dominant the market. I wouldn’t say this would be an easy project, but if you know how to make felt, have access to a sewing machine and a bit of imagination–it’s doable.

Then there was this wrap going for £195. It’s basically a big piece of felt. Made in Italy, it’s silky soft–probably merino–and quite thin.

Felted wrap–probably about £5 worth of wool on sale for £195

I’d guess it was made using a felting machine, but this is precisely the kind of piece that can be easily made by hand. In fact, I’ve seen many more elaborate nuno and silk pieces for sale that show greater skill than this colorful rectangle. Still it was inspiring to see such a piece showcased at Liberty.

There was also this stole, which looked like a piece of shearling with a fabric backing. I didn’t see how much this piece was going for, but it’s part of the wider trend for all things shearling, soft and silky. Apparently the trend for these big fluffy wraps and collars comes from Game of Thrones’ popularity. I could see making something like this with tailspun yarn.

Shearling stole.

Intentional Color Pooling: faux Ikat

 Sally Williams

 Blog

When the Early Fall ’14 issue of Vogue Knitting made it to my mailbox, I found a pretty interesting hand painted yarn creation that I wanted to experiment with:

Ikat wrap, Vogue Knitting Early Fall 2014

It’s made using yarn from Prism, and the swatching process is pretty specific to get the colors to pool in the right places. Other than that it’s a pretty simple stockinette/reverse stockinette basket weave pattern.

Detail of Ikat wrap

I have quite a bit of white Shetland roving that I got back from one of the local mills here recently, and as soon as I have some free time I want to spin some of it up in order to experiment with hand painting yarn. I usually do single color kettle-dying fleece: I really love the depth of color I can get by blending on my drum carder, so single color batches just make sense. But this has never stopped me from buying hand-painted roving, or yarn for that matter, so I may as well make my own.

I’ve checked on Ravelry, and one Raveler has already hand painted some yarn in custom colorways to make this project, and not only did it turn out great, but there are great project notes. It got me thinking that I might be able to manipulate some commercial hand painted yarn that I’ve had forever, in a similar way.

indigonightowl’s Ikat wrap

Malabrigo color Sotobosque

I bought this a long time ago, and in my mind it was going to end up as some sort of poncho, like the one Clint Eastwood wore in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. And the color way reminds me of Molly Ringwald. This is probably a weird pop cultural mashup, but it makes perfect sense in my mind. Unfortunately, when this yarn is knit up in a regular pattern, the color pooling make the garment look camouflage, which is not what I’m after at all. (Again, thanks to Ravelry and finished garment pictures!)

Deciphering dye patterns

I think I can get a similar effect as the Ikat wrap if I keep the pink parts separated from the brown parts. And I will have my Molly Eastwood wrap. Stay tuned!

n.b. This a serape, not a poncho

Fleece to scarf challenge–with the Mid-Essex Guild

 Rachel Wolcott

 Blog

The first sheep to coat challenge, 1811

In 1811 John Coxeter a mill owner in Newbury, Berkshire (UK) boasted that so improved was his machinery he could certainly start with a fleece and make a coat in a day. On June 25, 1811 the first sheep to coat challenge was completed. It produced what is known today as the Newbury Coat. The garment (pictured below) still exists and is displayed at Coughton Court in Warwickshire– a testament wool’s sturdiness! Since the Newbury Coat, sheep to garment challenges have become annual events at at county shows, fiber festivals and guilds.

Mostly it’s all in good fun, but there are some who take it all a bit more seriously. The Guinness world record time for a sheep to sweater challenge–4 hours 51 minutes– was set back in 2004 by Australia’s Merriwa Jumbucks at Merriwa, New South Wales. Last year Norwegian spinners and knitters attempted to break the record on live television, but fell a few stitches short. Those Aussies are hard to beat.

The Newbury Coat

Last Saturday my guild–The Mid-Essex Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers ran a slimmed down version of the sheep to sweater challenge.One of the guild members supplied and dyed the fleece from her flock of Southdowns. We broke in to teams of five and started with uncarded, dyed fleece to create two scarves per team in about 3 1/2 hours. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Half-way through the challenge we could have used a visit from a massage therapist!

And we’re off!

There was a bit of inter-team trash talking…. well not really. Mainly we were sounding out strategy–such as how much yarn we needed to cast on 120 sts onto 8mm needles, should we be carding or spinning straight from the pile of fleece and should we ply from a center-pull ball or navajo ply? Luckily I was on a team with a bit of experience. One of my team mates had done a test run at home–something that never occurred to me!–and had a rough idea of how much yarn we needed to start knitting.

Once we had spun and plied enough yarn to cast on, the knitters dove in and did their thing. I mostly did spinning, but at the end knitted about five rows and cast off. Lo and behold we had finished two scarves. Talk about crafting on the fly. Phew!!

… three & 1/2 hours later Scarves!!

A Field Guide to Ponchos

 Sally Williams

 Blog, Uncategorized

Ponchos are everywhere right now. Here in Oregon it’s still warm enough to be poncho weather. I’m sure we will move on to bitterly damp soon enough, but in the meantime I’ve been daydreaming about knitting up a good poncho. Rachel has even said to me, “Sal, there is no good reason for you not to have a poncho.”

So I’ve been looking in my back issues of Vogue Knitting, and on Ravelry, and it’s true, there are a million poncho patterns out there. OR ARE THERE?

When I was a very small child in the 70’s, my mom and I had matching ponchos, that were handwoven! for us by a family friend of my grandmother’s. They were bluish, with mauve-y pink plaid, and I believe mohair because of the general hairy-ness of them. Then my cat got sick on my poncho, and that was the end of that. Cats are the worst.

So your basic vintage poncho is a bias-draped afghan with a hole cut in the center:

Afghan ponchos

Now let’s look at the modern take on this.

VK Winter 2011/12

VK Holiday 2010

VK Holiday 2011

VK Winter 2011/12

Hey modern poncho, I get you. You’re a blanket that’s been folded in half with a neck hole added in. BIAS DRAPING IS SO LAST CENTURY !

But there are also some articles of clothing that are masquerading as ponchos:

VK Spring/Summer 2011

Nope. This is a caftan. Note the deep v-neck: this is not a repurposed blanket.

VK Winter2011/12

Tres chic! But not a poncho. The button-up front indicates that this is a cape.

Pickles pattern

Rachel sent me this pattern. I love the geometric detail, but this is the worst offender as far as non-ponchos go: those sleeves someone added in mean this is clearly, NOT A PONCHO. This is unfortunately a very weird dolman sleeved…sweater. I have issues with sleeve fit in knitted garments. Ponchos bypass this by having no sleeves.

I hope this helps.

Welcome to Sheep Cabana

 Rachel Wolcott

 Blog

Ever wonder how to use all that gorgeous handspun yarn you have created? Looking for inspiration for your next project? The Sheep Cabana team can help.

Sally and Rachel may live on opposite sides of the planet, but that hasn’t stopped us from puzzling through fiber projects together. Now we are sharing the lessons learned over years of fiber obsession.

Sally and Rachel first met back in 1989 at college, living in adjacent dorms. Rachel went out of her way to heckle the resident troublemakers, and Sally went out of her way to cause trouble. But by their senior year, they conceived and co-edited a controversial feminist newspaper. After graduation *sniff* they lost contact. Sally went off to work on cars and after farting around Rachel eventually became a journalist.

Eighteen years later, they reconnected and realised they were both bonkers about knitting. Sally had just bought her first few sheep, a goat and a spinning wheel. When Rachel saw the wheel and met the sheep… let’s just say if she had enough room for sheep, she would have them too. She has settled for a spinning wheel. For now.

Sourcing high-welfare fiber is just one reason Sally started her own fiber flock. The other is, well, sheep are pretty adorable and are good lawnmowers. The goat has a lot of attitude and is best friends with the llama. Rachel has a special fondness for rare and heritage breed fiber animals of the British Isles. Living out in the sticks means she knows where to go (apart from calling Sal) when she needs something special and high welfare to spin.

Sally and Rachel believe in making beautiful projects starting with a bag of fleece. Just because the fiber might be a bit smelly and have a few burrs in it when it comes off the animal, doesn’t mean you can’t create luxurious hand-made objects. It just takes a little work and imagination. Let us show you how. Follow our adventures of trial and error as we try new techniques and seek inspiration for projects. We love confabbing about fiber almost as much as we love fiber!

con·fab

informal

noun

ˈkänˌfab,kənˈfab/

1.

an informal private conversation or discussion.

“they wandered off to the woods for a private confab”

verb

kənˈfab,ˈkänˌfab/

1.

engage in informal private conversation.

“Peter was confabbing with a curly-haired guy”