Tag Archives: bulky

ferox mitts

Posted on by

bulky yarn often gets a bad rap

(for being, well, bulky),

but i so adore it.

let me

tell you just exactly why

that is…

you can easily find

a plethora of intricately cabled patterns

worked in beautifully fine fingering and sport weight yarns.

they are lovely, and they should be as they take ages and ages to knit up.

the time is the price you pay for

the final project’s delicacy.

truth be told,

it’s easy for me to lose motivation

what with all the notes i have to keep

just to keep from losing my place

in the mass of numbers involved in

pulling off shaping and cabling and textures

in these light weight yarns.

then,

there is bulky weight

where 1

(yes, i said 1)

properly placed

decrease

can make a curve that

hugs your wrist just the way it’s meant to

and the drama of a single cable twist can carry an entire design.

i admit that i’m a sucker for the drama of bulky yarns

like ‘frosting-chunky’ from delicious yarns.

their semi-solid colorways make me swoon a bit

and with a pattern like ‘ferox’

(you can actually knit these in a weekend)

there’s no reason you have to choose just one color.

i decided on ‘grape’ for this first pair, but i have my eye on ‘burnt orange’.

don’t you think this shade

will be the perfect pick-me-up

to whip up for myself

some weekend this winter

when the snow has washed out

all the colors outside?

i do!

‘winter’ taken from 8:22 of genesis.

bottom yarn photo courtesy of ‘delicious yarns‘

modeled photos shot by leslie of blueeyedcrafty photography

cable needle necklace in top photo hand crafted by leslie wind

 

 

Save

Save

Save

bouncing

Posted on by

when the day starts with an e-mail saying

that my library book

(which i haven’t’ yet finished and i didn’t know was even due)

is now far overdue,

it does not feel good at all.

then i go to try out the new recipe i’ve been waiting to try

and i don’t have an ingredient. i don’t have the main ingredient.

so i decide maybe  little guitar playing is in order,

but the song that i most want to play has a

solo lick that is kicking my butt.

so i think: knitting.

grabbing a skein of malabrigo mecha and dpns,

i settle in to whip up a pair of fingerless

no pattern, no pressure.

just to ward off

the chill at the bus stop each morning.

i spend a few happy minutes on the ribbing at the cuffs

only to realize that i don’t have the right size dpns to knit the rest of the glove.9700well, who needs ‘the rest of the glove’ anyway…

feeling a bit like alexander

(in the ‘terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day‘),

i decide that it’s late enough to go to bed.

every creative thing attempted all day came to nothing,

so sleep and a clean slate kind of morning

sound really, really good.

now it’s the next day.

the library fine is paid and the book renewed.

there is a huge head of califlower in the refrigerator,

i got over the hump of the tricky lick and am getting better at it,IMG_1692 sq

and a quick trip to a lys later, i have the size 10 dpns that i need to work

the rest of the mitts.

what a difference a day makes. seriously.

‘feeling’ taken from 59:10 of isaiah.

 

coming back around

Posted on by

ages and ages ago,

i was very excited about a new design

that i had planned for galler yarn’s ‘asana bulky’.

it’s thick and thin. it has tone upon tone. the personality nearly oozes from the fibers of it.

asana sqi jumped into the planning

for a hugely cozy large cabled collar

topping off a cardi that felt like wearing a squishy hug around.

i was only weeks away from being ready to release the pattern when

a fellow designer released nearly the same thing.

no, she had not seen mine,

and no, we had not talked and inadvertently copied each other.

they were predicting a cold, cold winter and i think we both set our sights

in the same direction.

that happens.

so the knitting was frogged and i began again.

trying to listen to what else the yarn wanted to be.

the thing is, i still wanted it to be

the big collared cardi with extra wide cables.

i couldn’t hear other options as they dropped off my needles and into the swatches

because i didn’t want to hear new options.

i think from a creative point of view,

i sort of dug my heels in

and pouted.

it’s been many, many months since then.

more cold weather is predicted for this winter

and i took the asana out of the bag to have a looksee.

i love this yarn. it’s so interesting and different.

the color variations give the stitches such depth.

there is now enough distance

between my head and the original idea

to hear what this yarn wants to be. finally.

of course, i’d like to tell you that i am not affected

by these things.

that i am never a moody creative,

that logic rules my process at all times so i always get done

what i intend to do in the time i plan to do it in

but, it’s not truehttps://www.talithakuomi.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=8389&action=edit

i imagine that you wouldn’t believe that of me anyway.

at this point, you know me all too well.na sq

so, here’s to a new pattern

rising up from its old abandoned beginnings.

if all goes well this time,

it should be keeping some of us warm

by the time we hit the deep chill of winter this year.

 ‘abandoned’ taken from 54:7 of isaiah.

sequential

Posted on by

i just wanted to knit.

something straight forward and nearly mindless,

in stockinette stitch and a stashed bulky weight yarn.IMG_1267+

but, the indian lake artisans needles that i wanted to use

were still in a hat that i’d started at vklive ny in january.

nothing, somedays it feels like

absolutely nothing, is a straight line in my life.

so, since the hat in classic elite yarns chateau was nearly done

i thought i’d just whip through the decreases lickety split

until i saw this:IMG_1266+

why didn’t i write down what i did as i went along?

huge designer no-no, unless you like to painstakingly stare at your knitting

trying to jump start your memory as you count

stitch by stitch to record what

 you think that you probably did when you were knitting it in the first place

and thought that you’d never forget – so why write it down?

deep sigh.

the thing is that it’s not that complicated of a hat,

i just didn’t want to take the time.

i wanted to be knitting with the richly red swan’s island bulky. IMG_0532+deep sigh again.

i did, for the record, figure out how i’d knit the chateau hat.

i wrote it all down and i finished the decreases.

it felt good

to have accomplished something

that i’m really happy with. i know that i’ll wear a lot in the fall.

patience is a virtue.  it’s true, especially when it doesn’t feel like it.

it’s probably most true then.

‘patience’ taken from 21:19 of luke.

the capitals

Posted on by

we don’t do colored eggs and bunnies in this house,

at least not on easter weekend.

instead we encourage Hope and Love,

laughter and compassion,

and happy hearts.

we try to keep this up year-round, so when the schools

celebrate things in fun ways, we’re down with it.IMG_8964brimost recently celebrated was dr. seuss’ birthday.

that’s when my 9 yr old son

said he needed a

full sized tail that he can wear all day

by first thing the next morning.  then what’s a mama to do?

braid one, that’s what.

out of something light and airy like

classic elite’s chalet.

my only regret is that i looped the long strands i cut,IMG_8962bri

through his back belt loop, so the tail had to be cut clean off before the faded jeans

got washed and dried that night.

next year i’ll know better.

‘morning’ taken from 38:12 of job.

in this moment

Posted on by

IMG_9022urbi’ve been doing a little 2 steps forward, 3 steps back

with this new cabled design.

fresh ideas are often like that for me, never a straight line

of forward motion from beginning to end.

it’s a good thing that

it’s the process of the knitting i love.

if i only had my sights on the reward of reaching the goal,

and wasn’t able to enjoy the tangental paths that take me there

i’d be miserable doing what i do.

helps immensely

to be surrounded by yarn and needles

that i really like working with.

in this case, it’s rowan’s cocoon and the new handcrafted

hexagonal needles from indian lake artisans.

now, tonight i’ll move a few more

steps forward, and see if they stick or not.

‘paths’ taken from 3:17 of proverbs.

snug as a bug in a rug

Posted on by

or as cozily warm (and excited)

as a catepillar about to burst forth and see

the world as a butterfly for the very first time.

it’s all white outside, but in the kitchen

a welcoming shade of grey

is growing.

always feels so good

to watch lovely yarn (like rowan’s cocoon)

becoming something.IMG_8961brnot too many details to share yet,

but this is the beginnings of a collaboration with jul designs

working its way from idea to reality.

watching the process on the sunny island in my kitchen is

a great way to end a long,

cold, snowy week.

‘burst’ taken from 55:12 of isaiah.

will travel

Posted on by

i first saw kate and the yarnit

friday night at vklive in new york city.

this little nugget is so obviously made by a knitter for knitters,10410290_10100171656970027_5694256389859965537_ncropthat it stuck in my mind

despite all the other distracting lovelies in the marketplace that night.

by early saturday, i was sporting one

slung over my right shoulder.

now, you

can read all the great features of the yarnit

over on the website,

but here’s another one that isn’t mentioned:

it’s therapeutic

(unofficially, of course).

i am not very good at waiting in lines,

or walking slowly through a crowd to get where i’m headed.

no, i’m not very good at it at all.

i quickly feel impatient and fidgety

(do you see where i’m going with this?)

but, with the yarnit on, i have knitting at the ready.

my hands are happily busy so my patience kicks in,

leaving my head free to take in the rest of the scene

and enjoy my surroundings.

by saturday night i had finished the cowl

that i brought as great knitting for on the train.

by sunday i had started to design this new hat.IMG_8851cropit’s straightforward and easy to keep track of

while you and your yarnit are on the move.

i am about to write up the decreases

and will post finished pics

as soon as i can.

‘patience’ taken from 7:8 of ecclesiastes.

secure(d)

Posted on by

yarn.

oh how love it.

i don’t love it tangled and unruly, though.

so, there’s this little contraption that i got in new york city: the yarnit.

i’ll tell you more about it and i at vklive tomorrow.

today i just want to show you

how happily it sits on the piano in my kitchen

(yes, i said ‘piano’ and yes, i said ‘in my kitchen’).IMG_8847cropi can knit a few stitches, stir whatever’s on the stove,

all the while knowing that the yarn will be exactly where i left it

(having not rolled down under the piano where the dust bunnies thrive).

the yarnit sits there while i chase after

whatever kid needs whatever thing at any given moment, too.

it’s sort of a nanny for my yarn and

this busy mama is really loving having a yarn nanny.

for sure.

‘chase’ taken from 12:11 of proverbs.

turn around

Posted on by

when i took a step back

and looked honestly at the progress of my nomadic nights slouch

i could see it was a  good idea gone sideways.

the three very differently textured yarns

that i had chosen so they would

pop individually,

blended together until the personality of each fiber was lost.

ugh. time for plan b.

i lovingly rewound the original skeins for another day,IMG_8829crop

and began again

with three

muted shades of

julie asselin’s ankara.

this is big, squishy

bulky at its

best.

still enjoying holly‘s pattern and now i’m so liking

the finished hat as well.IMG_8810crop

i guess that since

the snow

refuses to hear

my pitiful cries and stop,

that i might get quite a bit of

wear out of my new

slouch.

[love]

‘finished’ taken from 5:4 of luke.