Technical Fiber Walkthrus and Discussions
There is a time for every increase – a time to Knit front back and a time to yarn over, a time to Make 1 Right and a time to Make 1 Left. These last two, abbreviated M1R and M1L, respectively, are two of my favorites. They are a perfectly matched pair, mirror images of … More M1R, M1L, M1P
Clue #1, at the beginning of our KAL, represents the beginning of the story – Creation. To replicate the look of a field of green grass, this clue utilizes twisted stitches and traveling twisted stitches. These techniques belong to a family of stitchery called “Bavarian Twisted Stitches,” and have been all the rage – both … More Twisted Stitches and Other Matters in Clue #1
It is no secret that I can be rather strident in my opinions. Neither have I kept hidden my forceful opinion that multi-colored yarn ought to be reskeined before it is sold – resulting in the engineering masterpiece you saw yesterday. However, I have been gaining ambivalence on the subject as of late. While I … More To Reskein or Not?
With the shawl finished, socks giving me fits, and a bad case of pattern writer’s block, my fingers were itching last week. Itching in a very particular direction. After yesterday’s post, you know it was all completely over when Susan over at Sunflower Designs started her line of Lord of the Rings patterns last year. … More Experimenting in Gradiance
I promised some black bean dyeing quite a while ago, and do not think I have forgotten! But before you do any dyeing, you have to mordant – and the mordant used for black beans is common enough that it really merits a post of its own (unlike vinegar mordanting, which to my knowledge is … More Dyeing with Black Beans (& Mordanting with Alum)
Heels heels heels. It is a long-standing truth among knitters that, while socks are spiffingly fun to make, darning socks is hateful. Elizabeth Zimmerman, the mother of knitting empowerment, herself said something like, “I have found many women employ the same darning technique I do. They hold the sock aloft, exclaim ‘darn!’ and drop it … More Reinforcing Heels
Hello my friends, It’s tutorial time! I don’t know how this started, but apparently I’ve gotten into the habit of showing you how to do the cool things I do. I’ve been doing this dyeing stuff for over a year now, and from the start I have depended on people generously sharing their experiences, so … More Dyeing with Pokeberries
Last week, while working on my completely ridiculous super-bulky cabled earflap hat of doom, I took the occasion to take some pictures of cabling without a cable needle to show you guys. As he leaned over my shoulder to take pictures of my fingers, Jared mentioned that I might want to deal with the real … More Cabling Without a Cable Needle
I’ve spent the past several Wednesday afternoons down on the farm, carding my little heart out. This week I finished the Dorset I dyed a little while ago. There are lots of excellent videos on youtube on how to use a drum carder to card fleece; I used this one, which is fantastically goofy and … More On Drum Carding a Fleece
So where were we? Oh yeah, you just turned a heel. Don’t you feel clever now? I always do. Anyway, now that you’ve got a nice heel, we need to connect it back up with the rest of your stitches to make a tube again. But the long sides of that heel flap are in … More The Flap Heel: Gussets Come and Go
Osborn Fiber Studio 