Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

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Stash Boomerang

Part of my mother's stash came back to me. It was no small project in 2023 to clean out the room with embroidery stash. There was a lot of give away. There were some things I kept and finished. But there were many things I abandoned. A few months ago, I got an e-mail from the person in Pennsylvania who helped me donate my mother's stash to the Thimble and Thread chapter of Embroiderers' Guild of America . She had some boxes. Could I please take them? It turned out it was only three boxes, a lamp, a frame stand, and a kitchen garbage-sized bag of metallic threads. In other words, it only took up half my car not my whole car. Not too bad. I went through that stash, organized it, and donated most of it to Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance . Their thrift shop is a fantastic place to acquire materials. You never know what you are going to find, so it is a good idea to make a habit of visiting. In fact, I did not leave empty-handed. I decided to work a ...

When the Swatches Speak

Over the weekend I taught for the Next Level Knitting Conference organized each year by The Knitting Guild Association . Every time I teach for this group, I rethink my swatches and handouts for whatever I am teaching. The TKGA people are engaged. They are interested in the technical details and possibilities. They ask excellent questions. It is always a delight to present material to them. At the same time, when you are talking to knowledgeable people, there's the challenge of, "Will I have anything new to say?" The point of a class is to learn things. If students already know the material, why should they spend time in class? My class this year was about reversible cables. There's a very basic version achieved by working cables on a wide-rib fabric (4x4 or 6x6) and cabling on both sides. There are true double-knit cables, which are an advanced skill. There are twist cables, which is a trick I learned from TECHknitter. (From what I can tell...

Human Factors

Teaching is often about human factors. How do you make something unintelligible instead understandable? Knitting patterns have this same challenge. How do you tell someone else what you did in enough detail to be replicated, but not so much detail as to overwhelm? One of the techniques I teach occasionally is two-pattern double-knitting. This technique allows you to have two different patterns on each side of your fabric, instead of a reversed negative. The most common use of this technique is to put lettering into a project. The challenge is the charts. A regular double-knitting chart looks like this: And produces this: The chart that makes the letters read correctly looks like this: And produces this: Right away, you can see the chart for this technique makes your eyes cross. You must follow the chart carefully, mindfully, to produce the desired result. I recently stumbled upon a better method for these charts. A friend had been working on this ...

Möbius or Fauxbius or Cylinder?

Late last year my sister discovered Outlander . It is one of those book series/television series that "has legs" as they say. The first book was published in 1991, 35 years ago. It seems people continue to discover it, read it, watch it, and become enthrauled by Diana Gabaldon's talented storytelling. As for knitting, there is an Outlander Knitting official book . I do not own it. There are many, many things I want to knit. That particular book didn't have anything that caught my fancy. I haven't watched the television show, although I read the first three books more than a decade ago. In the television series there is a cowl made from large yarn in garter stitch. My sister sent me a picture and said she would like it. This was an easy knit for me; and something I was delighted to do. Sadly, my friendly local yarn shop did not have any super-bulky yarn in the color and size I sought. I ended up purchasing two skeins of Yarn Bee Effortles...

The Year Ahead

We are already more than a week into 2026. How did that happen? While I have the calendar out and am planning ahead, here are some opportunities I feel are worth elevating: The Livestock Conservancy has a "Save Our Sheep Sweater Challenge" class on Teachable. Deborah Robson is the teacher. The class is already recorded. This is similar to learning from DVDs before streaming became a thing. The class is only $20. If you have participated in Shave 'Em to Save 'Em or would like to, this inexpensive self-paced course should be helpful. With a teacher as talented as Deb Robson, I'm sure there will be multiple "ah-ha" moments. My dear friend Varian Brandon will be teaching several classes on stranded colorwork at Southeast Fiber Arts Alliance on the weekend of 6-8 February 2026. On Friday Varian is teaching beginning stranded colorwork ( knights' banner cowl , shown above with my alterations) and steeking. Saturday is a...

Blessings

As we come up on the return of the light in a few days, this is a traditional time of the year to pause and reflect. We reap what we sow, so make sure you plant something you want to harvest. This year I am feeling especially blessed for a variety of reasons. Cuddly Hubby is here at home. We have two happy, healthy cats who provide slack. A nice teaching schedule is coming together for me for 2026 (see right sidebar). The holiday season has featured time with some of my dearest friends, many of whom are at contented points in their lives. After watching so many people I care about work through a variety of struggles, I am without words to describe how lovely it is to watch them enjoy the fruits of their labors. For myself, I finished the baby hue shift blanket. It may not be perfect, but it is undeniably beautiful. I've started a new log cabin blanket. The yarn is Premier Puzzle from a big-box store, but I think Marble Chunky would work, too. I'm usin...