Spinning Along

Time for turtles — the fiber kind. Today I thought I’d share progress on my long-term project of spinning yarns for a Journey of Mind Cowl (Ravelry link to the design by Diana Niedobova).

The Amethyst Heathered BFL from Greenwood Fiberworks has turned out to be a real joy to spin. It flows onto the spindle quickly and easily. At this point, I’ve finished two spindles of it and plied them onto a Golding drop spindle. The result is just what I hoped for — a 2-ply light fingering weight yarn that should be perfect for knitting the cowl.

Now I’m spinning an equal amount of undyed mixed BFL onto the two Turkish spindles. At this point, I’m nearly done. Soon I’ll be ready to begin plying it. And then the knitting can begin! I’ll continue to spin more yarn after I get started knitting the cowl.

I love how portable these Turkish spindles are. it’s easy to keep one in my bag, so that anywhere, anytime, I can spin a little if there’s an opportunity.

We’ve had days of rain here, and more coming tomorrow. So when I saw the forecast of sunshine for today, I decided to hit the Mill River trails just a few minutes from home. There’s a special spot there next to the water where I like to stop and spin (see the “heart place” highlight in my Instagram Stories). And just a few minutes further on, there’s Puffer’s Pond, one of the prettiest spots in Amherst. An hour’s walk in the woods always puts me in a peaceful frame of mind — something that’s more important than ever now that I’m partially furloughed again.

When will the stress and uncertainty of the past year end? While I love having a morning free to spin and walk in the woods, I hope that soon I’ll once again have the stability of a full-time, permanent job. I have a lot of irons in the fire and am hoping for positive news soon. Fingers crossed!

Puffer’s Pond, Amherst, Massachusetts

Designs in Progress (and a Wee Sale)

Looking for a relaxed-pace knitalong to join as you shelter in place during the coronavirus pandemic? Mason-Dixon Knitting has announced they’re having an MDK March Mayhem KAL — and you can knit any pattern that’s been in any bracket — from 2017 to this year. That means you could join the KAL to knit Downy, which was in last year’s bracket.

To celebrate, the pattern is on sale in my Ravelry pattern store for the next two weeks. Save 25% on Downy with the coupon code MAYHEM. The sale ends midnight EST on April 1.

And don’t forget to vote in the MDK March Mayhem bracket! See this year’s 64 patterns here.

Downy Hat, by Bonnie Sennott

I am home for the time being — Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker has ordered nonessential businesses to close and has issued a stay-at-home advisory. I’m using this time to take a lot of online yoga classes, go outdoors for walks as much as possible, and work on upcoming patterns (of course!)

I’m rewriting and reformatting my Falling Water scarf pattern — the first I ever published, back in 2006 — and knitting up a new sample, using O-Wool’s O-Wash Fingering. The chart and pattern layout will be upgraded to my current pattern format, and the instructions will be expanded to include the original narrow scarf and a wider version, too.

There’s also a Falling Water Shawl coming — an asymmetrical triangular shawl similar in size and shape to my Notch Shawl. I’m knitting up the sample in O-Wool’s O-Wash Fingering in a very pretty color called Pasture Rose. I plan to release both Falling Water patterns at the same time — look for them later this spring.

I’ve also taken the opportunity of unexpected free time to start a log cabin wrap inspired by my Next in Line afghan, using fingering weight yarns in my stash. Clockwise from lower left, the yarns are Into the Whirled Pakokku Sock in Stark, String Theory Caper Sock in Canyon, Anzula Squishy in Hippo, Luna Grey Ariel in Goldenrod, and The Fawn and the Fox Otter in Let’s Stay Home (such an appropriate name!).

I’m using the Next in Line pattern as a jumping off point, but modifying it quite a bit. What I envision is two log cabin ends with a striped section between them, joined by grafting (or three-needle bind-off, if you really hate grafting). I will likely put out a call for testers, once I’ve finished knitting (and writing) one half of the wrap. If you’d be interested, please watch the Ravelry Blue Peninsula group for an announcement.

Every day brings new changes and challenges, and I’m so thankful to have knitting to focus on and keep my mind from going into full-on worrying mode. I’m not sure which of these new patterns will be ready first, but I’m definitely working on them every day.

How about you — are you doing more knitting? Have you joined a knitalong? Wherever you are, I hope you and your loved ones are well and safe. Keep calm — and knit on!

New Pattern: Catbird Shawl

Catbird — a new crescent shawl pattern — has winged its way into my Ravelry pattern store. I designed it especially for the Rhinebeck 2018 colorway of Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors sock yarn. (Isn’t the color gorgeous? I was thrilled when I opened the package of yarn last summer.) The yarn and the shawl will be at Rhinebeck this weekend — find them in Building A, in The Spinning Room booth. To celebrate, Catbird is on sale through October 24. Use the coupon code CATBIRD25 to save 25%.

I was honored when Karin of Periwinkle Sheep asked me to design something with her beautiful yarn. As always, her Rhinebeck colorway is exclusive to the festival, and when it’s gone, it’s gone. So get there early in the weekend, if you don’t want to miss out.

Catbird is worked from the bottom up, with short rows in the garter stitch section creating the gentle crescent shape. It’s the kind of shawl that spans seasons — carrying you from fall through winter and into spring with ease. It’s also a quick knit, making it a great gift idea. The lace is engaging but not complicated, and it’s provided in both a chart and written form. So if you’re not a fan of charts, you’ll be fine.

Here’s hoping for great weather this weekend. If — like me — you’re still knitting your sweater — good luck!

Pattern Release and Yarn Giveaway: Wonderberry Shawl

How much I enjoyed knitting up this Wonderberry shawl! From start to finish, it was a relaxing, meditative project. The new garter and eyelets edging really appeals to my love of simplicity, and the new yarn — Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors II in Rose Quartz — is so soft, and so pretty. I'm not sure I'll ever take this shawl off.

The expanded and updated pattern is now available in my Ravelry pattern store, where it's 15% off with the coupon code WONDER15.

The Wonderberry pattern offers instructions for three sizes and two different edgings — the new garter and eyelets option, as well as the original beaded scallops. If you've never knit with beads before don't worry — it's not hard at all, and the pattern gives complete instructions for the crochet hook method of adding beads to your knitting.

If, like me, you're smitten with the lovely Rose Quartz colorway of the Periwinkle Sheep Watercolors II yarn, I have really good news for you. Karin has donated two skeins for an Instagram giveaway! See this post in my Instagram feed for details. I'm so happy that a couple of lucky knitters will get to try this sumptuous yarn for themselves. If you can't wait to get your hands on some, head over to Karin's shop, right here.

The Wonderberry pattern sale continues in my Ravelry store through Friday, August 17.

Thanks very much for reading!

Tips and Techniques: How Many Yards Are Left in That Skein?

If you're buying new yarns for a multicolor project like the About Town Shawl, you can simply choose colors you love and get started without being too concerned about yardage, as long as each skein has at least as many yards as the pattern says you'll need. 

But what if you want to use up some of those partial skeins of yarn in your stash? You'll need to be sure you have enough of each color. It's not difficult to figure that out, and in this post, I'll explain how.

You'll need a scale that allows you to weigh in grams (I use a simple kitchen scale), a calculator (or Excel, or old-fashioned pencil and paper and your awesome math skills), and the yarn label. Don't have the label anymore? Look up the yarn on the yarn company's website or in Ravelry's yarn database. (If you aren't sure what yarn it is, can you remember what project you used it for? You may have recorded the yarn on your Ravelry project page, so check that.)

From the yarn label or other source, gather two key pieces of information: 1) how many yards are in a skein, and 2) how many grams does the skein weigh. Write those two numbers down and let's get started!

As an example, I'll use the leftovers from a skein of The Fawn and The Fox Badger sock yarn, in the Fantastic Mr. Fox colorway. The label says the original skein weighed 100 grams, and had 464 yards. To calculate how many yards remain, first divide the number of yards in the original skein by the number of grams in the original skein. In my example, 464 yards divided by 100 grams equals 4.64. Now I know that there are 4.64 yards per gram.

Next, weigh the partial skein, then multiply its weight in grams by the number of yards per gram. The result is the number of yards left in the partial skein.

My yarn weighs 26 grams; 26 grams x 4.64 yards/gram = 120.64 yards. See how easy that is? 

Now you're all set to go stash diving and see if you already have some lovely yarns with enough yardage to make the shawl. Have fun!

Just a reminder — tomorrow's the last day of the introductory sale on the About Town Shawl. Save 25% in my Ravelry pattern store with the coupon code SHAWL25. The sale ends at midnight EST April 19.

Yarn Giveaway

Instagram yarn giveaway! I have two pairs of 100-yard mini skeins of American Sock by Pigeonroof Studios to give away -- the lovely yarn I used for the contrast colors in my new Rowhouse Socks.

To enter, head to my Instagram feed and follow the instructions on the yarn giveaway photo. (Don't leave a comment here on the blog -- only on Instagram.) Good luck!

Rowhouse Socks by Bonnie Sennott

Marigold Dyeing

Happy Labor Day! I hope you're having a beautiful holiday (or a beautiful regular day, if you're not in the U.S.). I've just come back from a ride on our local bike trail. So glad I went! It's sunny, a little breezy, and an all-around gorgeous day. After yesterday's rain, there was no doubt in my mind that today had to include getting out in the sun.

Sunshine has been the theme of this long weekend (even during the rainy parts), thanks to my latest natural dyeing experiment. I decided to try dyeing with marigolds, using some Cormo yarn that I bought from Foxhill Farm's booth at the Massachusetts Sheep and Woolcraft Fair in May.

It was a great success! The flowers produced a beautiful sunshine-y yellow:

After consulting my favorite natural dyeing reference — Jenny Dean's Wild Color — I gathered both fresh and spent blooms from the pots of marigolds on my balcony and let them soak in water for about an hour. I strained the water into my dye pot — an old enamel pot I picked up for a few cents at a yard sale — and heated it to a very gentle simmer. While the dye pot was heating, I prepared the yarn by immersing it in a mordant bath, using a tablespoon of alum for the mordant. 

After letting the dye pot cool down a bit, I added the yarn, which immediately took on a yellow hue. So pretty! I then put the pot back on low heat and let it stay there for about 45 minutes, gently stirring the yarn every so often to promote even dyeing (but not agitating it, to avoid felting).

I'm not usually drawn to yellows for knitting but this one is just so cheerful. I couldn't wait to get it on my needles. While the yarn was drying, I got busy plotting and charting. I've already cast on a new design — a dragonfly-inspired cowl, using a modified version of the lace stitch from my Enallagma Shawl. It's coming along nicely:

Every time I wear this cowl, it will remind me of summer sun lighting up the marigolds. I'm definitely going to save more of the spent blooms for dyeing again later this fall, after Rhinebeck (I'm hoping to pick up more yarn for dyeing there).

Have you ever dyed with marigolds? Or other flowers? Please leave a comment — I'd love to hear how it worked out for you. 

P.S. We're starting to plan the next KAL in the Ravelry Blue Peninsula group. I've set up a poll to find out what everybody would like to do. Hope you'll come and vote, and join us for fall knitting fun!