I finished a test knit using Tidal Yarns and some fringe. Plus, new cast ons, fiber-y events, stitching a self-portrait, the return of #powerpantry, and a poem suited to the times by Kay Ryan.

It’s a review of my weekend in Rhinebeck for the New York Sheep and Wool Festival and A Woolen Affair. I talk about what I wore, where I shopped, and all the goodness of a fiber festival at peak leaf peeping in New York State. Plus, a life-changing loaf of bread, my clog obsession, and a poem to celebrate the season.

Yes, I swatched and lived to tell about it! In this episode, I give the details of finished socks, Rhinebeck sweater planning, making simple syrups, and a poem in celebration of Pride Month. All that, plus an update on the Q2 Ko-fi prizes that will be drawn and announced in the next episode.

Mom gave me some tips on pattern matching for the plaid skirt on my re-drafted, maxi-length Farrow dress. I’m also planning to sew a shower curtain with fabric that will hopefully arrive this week!

In preparation for cutting the steek in my Yell cardigan, I created side steeks in the poncho I've been wanting to re-design. 

After a break during some blazing hot weather, I’ve returned to knitting on my Yell cardigan. Thank goodness. I’ve also started a new project with some handspun from stash, and I talk about my TdF spin and sewing projects. Plus, an August poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. It’s all in this week’s episode. Enjoy.

A finished sweater,  progress on a sock spin, and a new source for fabric to make a wearable muslin!

It’s hot, humid, and I’m working on house projects at Yin Hoo.  My limbs are tired and I can only muster the energy for easy fiber projects at the moment!

In this episode I provide the details of the #yogisockskal taking place during the month of June.  Want to join in and knit a pair of yoga socks for yourself or a friend?  The directions will unfold on my Ravelry project page over the course of the month.  Post on IG using the hashtag and help me raise funds for Soul Fire Farm’s mission to end racism and injustice in the food system.

In this episode, I relive the fun, friendship and shopping of the Washington County Farm and Fiber Tour.

Don’t obsess over your weight; eat like a heroine; exercise intuitively and renew through nature — sound advice and ‘elegant strategies’ that can be extracted from Jane Austen’s novels and applied to contemporary life.  In this episode I read an excerpt from Byran Kozlowski’s recent article, talk about completed projects and new cast ons, and discuss three updates I made when sewing Grainline Studio’s Farrow dress for the second time.

This episode is chock full of finished projects and pining for the spring festivals.  I'm scouring some fleece and trying to find just the right pattern for my handspun Lenore yarn.

DISTELFINK, my new design for a colorwork beanie in fingering weight yarn, will be available on Ravelry April 15th.

This episode is a primer for getaway participants, and includes an overview of the retreat, information about lodging, dining and activities, plus tips for packing.  

I’m so pleased with my completed Arlequin Cowl, a design by Sidney Rakotoriello.  I used a variety of handspun yarns in natural and botanically-dyed colors.  This cowl was lots of fun to knit and will be a cozy accessory as well as a helpful teaching tool.  I found Sidney’s cowl in a bundle of patterns by BIPOC designers, which is featured on the Solidarity Swap group page.

This week I talk about knitting and sewing projects, recipes, and a recent purchase of leggings and a sports bra from Girlfriend Collective.

In this episode I share the details of my newest sock design, Venus & Cupid, as well as completed and just-begun knitting projects.  As I often do on this podcast, I investigate how poetry helps me to consider important subjects.  Over the past few weeks, I’ve been turning to the poems of Lucille Clifton, both as a source of personal healing and because Clifton’s has been such an important voice on the topics of race and identity.

Progress on the Hedgewitch shawl and a poem by Mary Oliver.

Happy New Year!  In this episode, I share an update on recent projects, and respond to prairiepoet’s question about the tubular cast on and bind off that I have referenced so frequently over the past few years.  It has really become a favorite set of techniques.  If you haven’t yet tried them, I hope that this episode provides some inspiration and encouragement.  

How many knitting projects is the perfect number of knitting projects?  For me, three is ideas.  Any more, and projects languish.  Fewer, and I don’t do as much knitting. Since the last episode, I’ve completed three knitting projects and three sewing project. Plus, I have three new things on the needles.

I've been mending my Cambria duster using a variety of techniques -- inspired by the fact that Cal Patch is coming to teach mending at Orange on May 19! Meanwhile, I've knit my first sweater using beautiful Tidal Yarn, artfully dyed by Patricia.  It took some knitting and un-knitting, but I finally achieved the botanical sweater I have been dreaming of.  All this, plus sock knitting (eye of partridge heel and double gusset have returned) and a poem for the season by Beth Ann Fennelly.

What’s November 31st? It’s a holiday for knitters. How do you celebrate? Stay up late to complete the project you had all month to knit.  Around 11:45 pm, pour yourself a Scotch to celebrate while you bind off!

I’ve been infatuated with hand embroidery and dimensional appliqué on knitted fabric over the past week.  Now it’s time to get back to my knitting if I want to complete the Doocot during the month of November. Plus, the details of my Haremere jacket.

The gift of a pattern and inspiration from a new book are just what I needed to revitalize my making this week. For the second time, I’ve completed the Lotta dress.  I’m much happier with the result after making a repair to correct color and extend the length of the dress. After collecting the materials for visible mending this summer, I did nothing on the project until paging through Katrina Rodabough’s Mending Matters. Since then, I’ve been making repairs and refining my technique. Though I had been familiar with the work via Rodabough’s IG feed and her interview on the Love to Sew podcast, I was missing the “how to” steps I needed to get going.  For those who are confident stitchers, this is a pretty book of quotes and pictures, but for the true beginner, it can be a useful guide.

Success mending one garment gives me the courage to snip into another on this week’s episode.  I talk about new patterns in my queue, yarns I’m itching to knit with, and my adventures at NYS&W with Samuel. Mending is a theme, but I forgot to mention that I purchased Katrina Rodabaugh’s new book.

Lovage is complete and I absolutely adore it.  I’m so pleased with the fit and the clarity of the colorwork.  Hopefully Rhinebeck Weekend will be suitably chilly so I can wear this sweater all day long!

How yellow is too yellow when it comes to the colorwork in Marie Wallin’s Lovage sweater?  That’s what I’m trying to decide this week as I work my way up the yoke after attaching the sleeves to the body.

Thank you for your generous donations to Elysa’s Knit Happens to Help project.  They have been coming in all summer until I took a trunk full to school.  Elysa  will accept donations until Halloween.  If you want to learn more about the project, give Episode 198 a listen.

In this very special episode, I join my friend Hope at her shop and we talk over our visit to Quiet Valley Farm, where we spent the day in period costume and learned about the harvest and preparation of flax to make linen thread. The photo series here is a companion to our description of the process on the audio episode.  If you have any questions or wisdom to share, I hope that you will participate in the discussion thread on Ravelry.

No-churn ice cream, indigo dyeing with Emily of FibreTown, fermented pickles with mom, and the SewLiberated Matcha Top.

I pre-recorded this episode for you to enjoy while I’m vacationing in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  I’ve packed waaay too many projects, but it’s good to have options, right?  I also share a poem by a beloved Ptown poet, Mary Oliver.

My finished Eun is the coziest sweater in my closet, and knit just in time for a few days' wear before the temperatures rise! In this episode, I also share the details of a completed spinning project, spindle spinning for 100 days, and returning to the knitting of my colorwork sweater in Tidal Yarns.  Plus, a poem by Wendell Berry.

It was so hot that I didn’t do much knitting.  I was busy with a number of other projects, however, and managed to find some air conditioned crafting situations over the course of the past two weeks.  As I’m typing up these show notes, it’s a dark and stormy morning here in Delaware Water Gap.  The region is finally getting some much-needed rainfall.

Thank you for your part in the Yarns at Yin Hoo community. It has been nearly five years and I’m so grateful for the friendships, knowledge, skill, and inspiration I’ve acquired as a result of deciding to start a little audio podcast about the fiber arts and other post-apocalyptic skills.  This week, I talk about returning to crochet with Cal Patch’s Boxet Bag.  My entry into the fiber arts was the occasion of learning to crochet in a staff development workshop. I feel so fortunate to have discovered fiber arts through the lens of crochet because it has brought out the best in my technique and understanding.  

Rhubarb recipes, a fringed necklace and hemstitching a fringed scarf!

Handmade Endless Summer Tunics in knit and woven fabrics radiant despite a light drizzle.  My mother has made several of these and Laura is modeling her first knit version, which is even lovelier in person because she has such a fantastic hand for embroidery. I’m also wearing my completed Iris shrug, which pairs with so many things in my wardrobe that I foresee getting a lot of use out of it this summer.

An overview of the Washington County Farm & Fiber Tour, plus starting the Iris shrug and a poem by Ted Kooser.

Thank you to everyone who has purchased a copy of Humblebee, my first pattern for knitted socks.  Your purchase funds Heifer International‘s effort to provide gifts of honeybees to agrarian communities.

Knit from cuff to toe, the Humblebee socks feature a beautiful textured pattern on the front, a column of bees down the back, and several design elements to give you a great fitting sock. Check out my IG feed for a chance to win the pattern, yarn dyed by Julie of Sweet Sparrow Yarns, and a set of stitch markers from A Lovely Homemade Life.  Each pattern purchase will benefit efforts of Heifer International to supply agrarian communities with honeybees.

I’ve decided to seize the opportunity to record a short episode on a Tuesday afternoon so that I can fill you in on some of my recent projects.

Winter Storms Reilly and Quinn sent us packing for a few nights, and we were grateful for the warmth, coziness, and good food of my mother’s house.  While there, I was drawn to the many textures and textiles she has collected over the years. I am so pleased with the finished result of the Humulus design by Isabell Kraemer. This was my first time knitting with lettlopi and I love the warmth and thickness of the sweater. In this episode, I discuss some of the modifications I made to accommodate my loose gauge and create a subtle feminine shape.  The best news: I only used half of my lettlopi stash, so there is another sweater in my future!

This episode features updates of my stitching on several projects, a new design ready for test knitters, adventures in fermentation with paneer and water kefir, as well as a book recommendation.  At the end of the episode, I announce a giveaway sponsored by The Woolly Thistle.

This episode is anchored by my intentions set over the first two weeks of February: honor creative impulses and open your heart. I share a number of new works, talk about my continued spinning progress, and read a poem by Andrea Gibson, poet laureate of Colorado.

This episode includes three completed knitting projects, a lettlopi sweater in progress, a review of Addi’s Flexi Flip needles, and the details of how I’ve been making water kefir