november post 3: TBT lamar chunky cabled scarf

Eight years ago, I made up a chunky scarf for my bro-in-law Lamar. He almost always gets a handknit gift from me, because he has the charming habit of a) appreciating handmade  b) wearing it and c) reciting back to me by memory, everything I've ever given him. That's more than a decade of knits. I know! Let's clone him!

I shared the pattern on my blog and put it on Ravelry, gratis*. It is still on point, though I'd knit it to a longer length now. It's had more than 45,000 page views. Far more than any other post! 

It's still a free download. But I'll add the following, because I feel more strongly than ever that all work has value: If you like this pattern, and download it, please consider a donation of any size to CRAN, an orphanage in Bogota Colombia that I am close to. Every nickel is well-used and appreciated.**

So!  for this post, I am throwing it back to Dec 2008 and sharing Lamar Chunky Cabled Scarf with you. I'll list some good alternatives to the recommended yarn, below, at the end of the original post. I can't wait to see your knits. Enjoy!


I'm ready to show & tell the finished gifts but Lamar gets its own post. I like it that much.

LAMAR a reversible cabled chunky scarf
Designer: me
Pattern: free download here
Yarn: Cascade 109 Tweed, a chunky yarn, 109 yards per skein, 3 skeins in walnut
Needles: size US 13
The backstory: when bro-in-law said he'd like a scarf I was ready to jump on one of those striped scarves. Except he added, "it has to be reeeaally soft so I can have it right on my neck."


Now, I can call the Noro Silk Garden soft enough when blocked for me, the knitter, but in the real non-knitting world? Not so much on the bare neck.

So, what to knit? I have Opinions on scarves. They should look great from both sides, and no ribbing allowed on the ends if they're cabled. And I wanted cables but not with squared off long sides. I felt like knitting chunky. So I winged it. (wang it?) . Manly enough for the guys, don't you think? Still a little artsy, looks good on women too. That's sister Lulu lending her neck for the cause.

I usually get bored on the last quarter scarf, but not this time. It was that quick a knit.


 added 2016:
YARN SUBSTITUTES
 I'd recommend more yardage than in the pattern, the original scarf was traditional/short  I'd suggest 400-450 yards of super bulky yarn, and keep knitting till it is gone, for a longer scarf.
Some good options are
Misti Alpaca Chunky- 4-5 skeins
Malabrigo Yarn Chunky - 4-5 skeins 
Tahki Yarns Montana- 4 skeins
Rowan Big Wool - 4 skeins--and go up a needle size, try US 15 or 17- this is even chunkier! You can super size it.
 Also you can check out the 524 projects posted for yarn ideas.

*Let's discuss this gratis/free thing. You get what you pay for--I made up this pattern, wrote it up in my own style, described it as I wished and posted it. No conforming to any style sheet or notes to help a new cable knitter. No charts or diagrams. Test knitting, tech editing? Nah.  You get nice professional photos  because I am a [nice] professional photographer :-).
In 2008, it was a little more of the Wild West in the internet knitting community, and posting an off-the-cuff pattern for free wasn't unusual.  I wouldn't do so now.  I work with too many super talented and dedicated designers whose patterns you should buy to support our  corner of the crafting world. By giving away my design work, I would disrespect  and undermine theirs. Not to mention the work of all creatives, including myself.

**It is National Adoption Month, and so CRAN is on my mind, just as they are always close to my heart. They do good work, caring for children in residential foster care, caring for and placing abandoned babies and children in adoption, and running an early childhood education day program and school for an impoverished neighborhood near the orphanage.The link is to a non-profit that fundraises for them internationally.

gravity of color: lulu cowl

Happy 2014! Instead of  waiting for the  "start as you mean to go on" thing , I got a jump on my resolutions- if you insist on calling them that- in December.  Like, finishing projects.  It has been a march down FO Boulevard, a road that keeps on going.  My other intentions are to put things away as I use them, and keep the kitchen table clear. * Oh yeah , and keep moving** . And do more yoga.  .

One of the finished:  my sister Lulu's cowl, gifted to her last month.A a field trip to the New Britain Museum of American Art, to see the Maruice Sendak exhibit  gave us a chance to shoot it.

Also, gave us this perfect backdrop, an installation entitled The Gravity of Color made entirely of paper and plastic cups , by Lisa Hoke. It's breathtaking in person, so unexpected. I wouldn't normally choose an intensely colored and textured background but we both felt it the minute we saw it.

This cowl is my own design--to the extent that I can say that --I mean,  it's basically granny square stripes in the round, with big picot edges. Lulu dropped by the day I was blocking the last Big Ass Granny blanket and  wanted something granny too, but to wear around her neck at work. Further, she wanted it to be very colorful, in her colors,  to make a conservative blue jacket she'd just bought more handcrafty and artsy/funky looking.

Specific enough?  Anyhoo, she loves it.   And I love when someone loves what I make for them, don't you?  It came out about 6 1/2 " wide (including the edging) and about 72" in circumference. Lulu is even shorter than I am--she's a bit over 5 feet-- if that gives you  some perspective for the photo on top.

I used mostly worsted weight yarns, partial skeins: Cascade 220, Cascade Eco wool,  Brown Sheep Lambs Pride,  Berroco Ultra Alpaca , Berroco Peruvia and  some Aruacania that I seem to never ever ever ever run out of. And finally some handspun that Rebecca Hatcher gave me in a yarn swap.  All told it weighs about 600 grams, which is (I think , I'm a little sketchy at this) is about 1000-1100 yards.

It totally does the job of de-preppifying the blue jacket. Goal met.

Next I hope I'll be show you my finished Shellseeker. I have been wearing it so much that it already looks like a legacy sweater,. You would think a  professional photographer would have someone to help her get a decent sweater shot, wouldn't you? 

Meanwhile will I see you at Vogue Knititng live in NYC on the 17th or 18th? My Friday morning class is getting pretty full (if not full up) but the noon lecture, which is a fun one hour romp through  tips & tricks to your photos, is still open ( unlimited in size).
...and now the footnotes>>>>>>>>>
*keeping my kitchen table clear sounds like a metaphor but I mean it literally. It is in the dead center of the first floor of our house, in an open space, and everyone including me drops stuff on it as they pass by. Drives me nuts.
** Fitbit. My little friend/tyrant.  Recommended.

I am going to start replying to comments in the comments--after all these years, a little change for the new year!

when handknit gifts go right

....it is a very. good. feeling.  But before we get into it:  it is only 1 week till Fiber College of Maine. Details at the bottom of this post. Whether you can  be there for 3 days, or just an afternoon, do it!
Back in May I mentioned having my mom request a handknit shawl from me.  My mom is an ace knitter, and knits for everyone else, so this? A very special thing. Done in June,  delivered last weekend. Caliz, designed by Romi Hill
A fun knit, but even better? She loves it, proclaiming it exactly what she'd had in mind. Phew! I was guessing what to make, based on her wish for something crescent-y, not too old lady-ish (fussy) and a pink "that would go with everything". She mostly wants it to cover her shoulders with dresses in the warmer weather, but said it'll go well worn frontwards, like this, in the winter.Also, we tested it:  a perfect shawl to go with snuggling a 19 month old Great Grand Daughter Zoe.
details: Caliz is a sweet knit, done in purl garter stitch. So, if you are someone who hates to purl my questions would be a) why? and b) can you transpose the whole pattern to knit garter? I have to admit I found the purl make 1's and yo's a little odd, but only for a few minutes and then it was totally enjoyable knitting.
Knit in Anzula Oasis. Really, really love this yarn-it is somehow both rustic and elegant at the same time. But that's Silk/camel for ya. This shade is named, not too aptly, Paprika. One skein, and I had enough to do an optional few rows extra on the border (included in the well written instructions). 

 Did you make it to the end? OK! Then read on and consider joining us at Fiber College! Mary Lou Egan and Kirsten Kapur/Through the Loops , my partners in crime and lobster, will be there, too, not to mention Ellen Mason and her mentored dye tent. Yeee-ha!

Fiber College of Maine deets:  I blabbed & raved about it here, here and here....and this year, I am looking forward to teaching Savvy Storytelling, an all day class on Friday with co-teacher, writer (and professor) (and knitter) Beverly Army Williams--and I am so offering One-on-One Photo Clinic sessions, on the weekend mornings. See you?

ways to use up yarn

This is one pretty charming way. Especially if you are on the receiving end.  I like how she braided strands together instead of just wrapping it round and round.

From my friend Julie. She said she thought of consulting  Shear Spirit and making a Navajo Braid with the yarn. Her saying that, and actually referencing the book? A gift, too.

Navajo braid from churro sheep roving  on Jay Begay's ranch, on the rez in Arizona 

Here's a link from our photo shoot there.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

ps inside was the novel Swamplandia by Karen Russell. 

that reindeer hat

Is it still wip it Wednesday somewhere? Mid Pacific?  I'm posting this one  anyway.  Last month I was flapping my mouth offering to make handknits for family members .  Poking around on Ravely, as one does, I came across a hat , and was sitting there chortling when I saw that it had over 1000 versions. That drew my son's attention. He looked. He said he needed one.

 

Not want. Need. In orange and white.  

And so, I am knitting the Fornicating Reindeer Hat. (That a Ravelry link. Here's a particularly nice one on a blog. )It is mind boggling that there are 1028 different versions of this hat prancing around the world. Go look.  I know, it's a little tacky but it's also funny.  He may have been 5 years old and waiting for a sweater with penguins (who were not fornicating) the last time he was this excited about something I was knitting. Plus, I am enjoying the colorwork.

 

The yarn? it's from  Plymouth , superwash merino. Because I know my customers. . •••••••••••••• 

Need a new wip yourself?  I just saw this hat pattern, Empire. Cute. Fast. Not boring.

More WIP Wednesday posts listed here.

bangled

 

You probably know someone like my sister Lulu. She loves fashion and design and trends. If it's cool and hip and cute and handcrafted, she has either seen it, owns it,  or bought it professionally to sell in the  gift shop she runs. What to do for her birthday ?

Despite an iffy felting track  record, I decided  Bevy of Bangles was worthy.

If you know how to knit backwards,  the whole knitting part is effortless as well as mindless. Which is to say knitting strips  goes very well with The Wire.  The slate blue are Brown Sheep Lambs Pride worsted, the brown is Valley Yarns Berkshire worsted, and the white is Cascade Magnum, super bulky. The pattern calls for bulky but you know, whatevs. It's felted. Relax.

Before I started, I had my favorite kind of conversation with Archinknist , in which we deconstruct a pattern.  Why knit strips of stockinette, and 3 needle bind them off to form a circle pre-felting, rather than knitting iCord? We also considered knitting short tubes in the round, but realized that'd deprive the piece of its bangleness -  strips curl in upon themselves when felted.  So,  the white is a 3 stitch icord on size 15 needles, the others are strips 7 stitches wide on size us 10 needles. I knit loosely though, if you're keeping score.

Unfelted, I was laying bets on the icord to come out best , with the brown Berskshire least likely to bangle nicely. So wrong. The Valley Yarns Berkshire came out smoothest. This is why felting and I will never be BFFs. So unpredictable.

The wraps are crewel thread. I wanted to try some thin leather strips, or thick waxed linen but I was out of both. I may still yet with 2 leftover felted rounds. Epilogue: sister Lulu happy, felting faith rehabilitated, bangle gifting successful.

P.S. added 2/24 Since I posted this I discovered these  versions of the bangles. Love. (its a Ravelry link, I'm guessing you can access it, right?) Knit from Noro Kureyon, a yarn I have some scrappage of.  Also , MaryLou's comment that white yarn doesn't felt as well was news to me, and the icord approach is worth revisiting in a color. Looks like I may be back in the basement hovering over the washer again sometime soon.

the how'd I miss this? giveaway

Knitcircus magazine.

Today, my little spy  Google Alerts emailed  to say Shear Spirit was mentioned on Knitcircus blog. Our book came out in 2008 but is still on my "I-Love-this-Project" list. I mean, not to sound all jaded and uppity,  but I  have hundreds of published projects. I was passionate about most of them while working on them, but a couple years later? Not quite as fired up. Not Shear Spirit though, I am still so proud of that book, and can blab endlessly about the fiber farms, the incredible subjects we visited and included and the knitting.

Which led me to the Knitcircus online magazine itself. Wonderful! At first I thought I'd never seen it before but in looking at back issues, I realized I'd seen a very early issue . Uppity & snobby sounding snippet # 2 for this post: well, I can't help it, the visuals didn't do much for me at the time so I barely looked. That was then.
Now, Knitcircus has evolved into a beautiful & interesting magazine. Great layout and function, better content, engaging visuals and big beautiful photos.
It's sort of a hybrid of some other faves  like  Knitty and Twist. Presented  in the same page turning format, optional PDF download as Twist but, instead of having each pattern for sale individually, catalog style, you  order the whole issue's worth for $7.99. There are yarn & book reviews, interviews with knitwear designers, sock talk from the sockiest source I know,  Wendy Johnson, and the cookie recipes, yum, are free.

When I emailed  Jaala Spiro, the  editor-in-chief to ask permission to use some covers/pages here,  she generously offered a year subscription giveaway. Cool, yes? That's 5 issues! So, here's what you need to do: go look a the Holiday Gift issue. In  the comments, tell me what you liked. Could be a project, could be some of the reviewed yarn, could be the interview. Maybe the cookies? Enter by midnight Friday November 12th. Drawing by random number.

digging in

my holiday making so far:

• survey loved ones who like receiving handknits as to what they wish for

• remind them  there're no guarantees

• receive a photo of multicolored radishes at a farm stand from one sister, saying these are the colors she likes for her gift request of a granny square scarf

• rejoice that they are an interesting combination, with odd green leaves. 

• consider it a definite upgrade from her request last year of grey. 

• nothing against grey but I don't actually think of it as a color.

• radish inspired yarn put together* , some newly purchased, some here already.

* when I say put together I mean gathered, put in one bag,  or looked  at in a pile with a satisfied nod of the head
One gift sprouting. It's a start.

getting gifty: photographer edition

Santacon New Haven, last Saturday on the Green

I'm not going to recommend the  single kickass camera that you must have slung around your neck.  One that magically turns she who possesses it into an amazing photographer. You know why?

It's not the camera, it is what you do with it.

But camera  accessories? oh yes! I have Big Opinions on those.  Like, a new camera strap is a perfect gift.  Until Nikon pays me for the ad space around my neck, I ditch the loud branded strap that comes with my cameras. My current favorite strap is aqua with big brown dots from My Funky Camera . But the faux wood strap over at  Splityarn cracks me up,  and  how about these at Souldier.  FWIW? The ones you'll find that are black rubbery non-slip feel awful to wear (and leave black skid marks) and the uber stretchy neoprene ones are sweaty and way too bouncy, especially if you have a heavy dslr slamming up into The Girls.  If you know what I mean. 

The most important accessory: the camera bag.  Great gift options. We women photographers have compounded camera bag issues. a) being smaller than guys , the gender most camera gear is designed for and b) needing to solve the purse/camera gear conundrum. If not the purse/camera/diaper bag/knitting bag conundrum.

Keep in mind these important points:

1) I was only kidding, diaper bags & camera bags do not mix well. Bacterial mold can invade your camera lens elements  and it costs a lot to get it cleaned out. Ask me how I know.

2) You don't want your digital camera bumping & jostling around. Back in the  day, you could be all cool and casual and toss your mechanical metal slr into any old bag. Now, you want those electronic sensors to be floating on air and padding . Go for function over form in the  camera bag department.  If it's cute but not padded with divider sections, take a pass on it.

Personally, I like a bag that's roomy, that allows quick one handed grab access to what's inside, and that doesn't send out a siren screaming  "Hey, over here! I am a photographer ! Grab my bag!".

•  Domke bags. These wear like crazy, look even better when they are all beat up, are well designed and you'll fit in with the globe trotting PhotoJ crowd. Downside: no matter where you go, you look like you are on assignment. Or maybe that's an upside, the bag gets you access.

• The LowePro backpacks. That one I linked to is a two piece deal, with a super padded belt pack , you could use it alone swung forward, that holds a camera, lens battery packs and strobe, and an upper packpack section for clothes or knitting ot whatever I'd put in my purse.  Downside- totally inaccessible when it is on your back. Upside- sturdy, compact & pretty comfortable for travel in all terrain & airports.

• Crumpler bags . So many sizes and colors. So...cute.I haven't personally tested one but I'm looking at you Crumpie.

• Courierware Incognito bags. Look at the bottom row. Form + function, this could pass as a purse. brilliant.

Extra special camera bag gift idea: put something in it. An inspiring photo book, or a Tshirt like this one , or the PhotoJoJo book that mixes photography and crafty projects. Or a gift certificate to a photography class . Self promotional alert: if you happen to live near Connecticut, I just happen to be teaching  one day workshops of Photography for Knitters in January.  I have gift certificates and I'm not afraid to sell them. Just saying.

ps. If you are looking at cameras , click over to  DPReview, it has a features search and a compare side-by-side function. Nice!

Disclaimer: none  of the aforementioned gear was given to me to flack.  Most of it I've test driven personally, or examined covetously.

getting gifty, a last minute knit

A  moment of knitting alchemy. A simple pattern + a specific yarn + a deadline = something really wonderful.

 

Destroyed Cowl (Ravelry link,)  in malabrigo worsted, the indescribably hued Pearl Ten

Ironically, I hit this gold when sister Lulu requested something gray for her Chanukah gift. Gray? really gray? we do not normally do gray. She likes the stylish, I figured the infinity scarf, an endless loop that may be doubled as a cowl and is all the rage, would work

A quick knit: a provisional cast on, knit the skein in stockinette until almost out of yarn, drop a few stitches along each edge, kitchener the the ends together. Hold breath while unraveling dropped stitches. Admire the strip of stockinette transformed into a drapey, lovely piece* that shows off the kettle dyed subtlety.

This could easily be the gift you knit over the weekend. Simple enough to socialize while churning through it, and small enough to take along while traveling.

I left Lulu a voicemail warning her: if we don't get together very soon to exchange gifts, she may never get this one. Seriously.

* model disclaimer: self portrait, so not my metier. Just go with me here and believe in the possibility.

Tomorrow on the getting gifty train: what to buy the photographer in your life.

getting gifty

Santacon , New Haven Ct on Saturday

No matter what holiday you celebrate- assuming you do celebrate something this month, a pagan howl at the moon? - you probably need to give some gifts. Maybe you're making some, maybe you're all wrapped & ready, maybe you've  even given some for the first three candles of Chanukah, maybe you're still thinking. Maybe, like me, you are all of the above?

Oh, good. Then let's talk. I figured I'd do  gift suggestions, in installments. Only suggestions there are still time to do, without too much crazy.  Let's call it the

She Shoots Sheep Shots Very Biased Gift Guide

 

Let's start out with my , ahem,  very favorite gifting knitting book, Shear Spirit

( see biased, above).

No seriously, it makes a great gift. You can give it to an addicted experienced knitter, you can give it to someone just getting into fiber so they can learn about where yarn comes from in an approachable, conversational way, or you can give it to someone who loves to travel and enjoys photography. Most  definitely it is for the someone who dreams of chucking the townhouse and living with  goats and  alpaca off a dirt road somewhere pretty.

Like wine, a book needs a pairing. (Actually, pairing a book with wine is also a good idea, but we'll stay fiber focused, OK?)

My suggestions:

for the knitter or spinner:  Shear Spirit and a skein or two of  indie farm yarns or roving

Some of the farms profiled in the book have online order sites and swoon worthy yarn

(left, from Montana) 13 Mile Lamb & Wool - organic, plant  dyed, spun at their own ranch mill

                               or (right)  handspun alpaca  from Victory Ranch in New Mexico.

  or ask at your LYS, they may have yarn from a farm nearby.
 

If you want to be really nice, stick a piece of yarn, bookmark style,  in a page with a pattern Tell your giftee you'll knit that for them. But be nice to yourself, don't say by when.

Alternative pairing, for the livestock lover:

 Shear Spirit and a share in a CSA fiber farm

Some suggestions, check with your state's (in the US)  farm bureau there might be one close by. Most of them welcome a visit.

 Juniper Moon Farm  (Virginia)

A Wrinkle in Thyme Farm (Maine)

Hudson Valley Fiber Farm (NY)

Willow Ridge Farm (Iowa)

Grandview Farm (VT)

Alternative pairing for the fiber lover with a charitable and giving attitude: 

the book Shear Spirit and a share of sheep by donating to  Heifer International,

an international aid non-profit agency that gives people training and livestock, allowing them to make sustainable livings in their communities around the globe.

More  tomorrow....happy gifting!

holiday reality check (hot off the press)

Non-traditional 5x5" press-printed holiday notecards, blank on the inside. They come with envelopes. In sets or as singles. Over at my etsy shop.

Red and green nature, if you prefer a more subtle holiday approach . Blank on the inside, makes a nice set of fine art notecards. Mix & match with any of the sheepiers/apaca-ier images.

5x7", press-printed fine art photo cards, w/envelopes. SheShootsSheepShots on etsy.

There's no denying it, the season is NOW. In the spirit of last minute shoppers everywhere, I just made these new cards. Whenever you order, I will send them out immediately. I happen to live next door to the post office, no kidding. Can you say con-veeen-yent? If you order them as sets of 5 cards, they go out Priority Mail.

And you can mix and match the combinations. Or just go with yarn. I won't judge.

All blank on the inside, you can choose your own message or give them as gift sets.
www.SheShootsSheepShots.etsy.com

brought to you by the letter b

My Annette is blocked & dry.

Thanks to yesterday's long roundtrip in my new car mobile blocking unit. Funny view back there- some photo equipment, my yoga mat and knitting. Throw in a cup of coffee, maybe a little dark chocolate, and there you have me. Thing wise, I mean.

I found these bug buttons marinating in my button tin. My sister Lulu brought them back from England for me a long time ago- maybe a decade or more. I've been saving them for just the right sweater.

As luck would have it, she popped by as I was contemplating giving them this permanent home. My other option, also under consideration at the moment, was mismatched vintage (and here vintage means not sure where they came from) green buttons. She told me I could do that if I wanted to "perpetuate my patchwork potholder look" . Or I could use the bug buttons if I wanted "a smarter style". Being mature and all, I didn't say anything in a sarcastic Goofy voice like "well, garsh, who wouldn't want to look smart" . But you know, I think I'll go for it.

what isn't there a blog for?

Are these not positively pleasing purple socks? I'd love to take credit for them, but it goes to Cookie, that goddess of pink (and other) sockness. And, whew, I should say goddess of laceness, take a peek at what she's been throwing off the needles.

I started preparing a post proclaiming purple pair perfection. I thought it'd be all clever and alliterative, but after a search for more P words, I discovered , it's been done. And not just in one post, that is a link to blog devoted to a year's worth of P word posts.

I procrastinated in showing you this pair, which arrived on the, ahem, heels of the other ones she sent me last winter. It's chilly here in the mornings, so I'm still rocking the woolies for a few hours a day (I'm an early riser).

For some silly reason she thought the others weren't up to snuff so she sent these. heh! Good deal for me! Having all her warm colorful socks augmenting the paltry posse I've knit totally made my winter bearable.I have to admit I am especially fond of this pair. I try to save them for special days. The color, the fit, the feel, the craftpersonship.....

You'd need to ask her, but they look like broken rib stitch, toe up, and the yarn, I think she said, is Malbrigo sock.

That Cookie does a beautiful toe.

p.s. Socks in Portugese? Peugas !