Art at the Winery May 2

     I am very pleased to have been invited to participate in Art at the WInery, a regional show & sale at Snus Hill Winery (SnusHillWinery.com) near Madrid, IA on Sunday, May 2nd.  Snus Hill is one of our favorite local vineyard/wineries, and I'm excited to be part of the event this spring. 

     At last count 22 local artists were confirmed to be participating.  The media are varied -- photography, jewelry, pottery, painting, collage and prints (my friend Deb Anders-Bond) and fibers (that would be me!).  I've been working for several weeks to get ready for the event, and I have a nice assortment of wearable art that would make great Mothers' Day gifts.

There little felted "gadget bags" are just the right size to hold small items in your backpack, computer bag or big purse.  Some

of them even have sparkly zippers (OOooooo!).  They are made from leftover bits of yarn from other projects.
     In addition to my "signature" felted bags -- I have several new ones to show off -- I'll also bring some gorgeous hand-dyed silk scarves and handknit cotton socks in bright summer colors. 

And for all the knitters who come to this event, look for these beautiful hand-dyed yarns in several weights.

Hours for the May 2 show are noon -- 5 pm.  For driving directions check the Snus Hill website. The winery's tasting room will be open, so take the opportunity to sample some of their award-winning Iowa wines, almost all made from grapes grown right on the property.  Many of their varieties and bottle labels feature names and images of cats (Catnip, Kitten, "Hairball"-- actually, that one has a much classier-sounding "real" name), reflecting the Larson family's fondness for felines. 
   

Yarns to dye for, or skein dyeing two ways

     Teaching a dye workshop is one of my favorite creative outlets, so having a group of enthusiastic participants willing to get their hands dirty last Saturday was a fun way to spend an afternoon.  We tried two different ways of dyeing skeins of yarn -- both of them easily accomplished at home in the  kitchen.  Everybody went home with two beautiful hand-dyed wool yarns.  Everybody's hands looked a bit like they had been "making money", but the dye stains will wash off in a couple of days and the yarns will become beautiful knits.

     We used Lanacet dyes, which are commercial acid dyes.  This stuff is very concentrated, and only a little is needed.  We used foam brushes of various sizes to apply the dye to different areas of the yarn, creating patterns and long or short runs of color. Once completed, the colored skein is wrapped, placed in a ziplock bag, and the bag is processed in a microwave oven.

     The second technique we discussed, while more time consuming, is easy and by far the best way to produce solid-colored yarns.  This method uses a crockpot -- one that won't be used for food preparation anymore -- to gently immersion-dye the yarn..  With  very little work you can get really good results.
     A few things to remember:  Use only pots, utensils and tools that will not be used for food preparation, since dye is toxic if ingested.  I splurged and bought myself a new crockpot to use for preparing food, and marked the old one "Dye Only. Concentrated dye solution must NOT be poured into a drain or sewer since it will end up contaminating everything it touches.  Acid dye solution is stable and can be saved for another project.  As always, fibers such as wool, alpaca and other delicates should always be handled gently and never "shocked" by moving them from hot to cold (or vice versa) water.
     Rose Tree Fibers sells Lanacet (and other types of dyes and dye ingredients) in bulk by the ounce.  This is much more economical than purchasing whole containers of dye powder and eliminates the problem of disposing of toxic material if you find yourself with a color you don't like.  One ounce of Lanacet dye is about three tablespoons, which will color a LOT of yarn or roving.

Birthday Sale at Rose Tree Fibers

     The 82nd birthday of Rosemary Heideman, founder, owner and spiritual leader of Rose Tree Fiber Shop, seemed like a really good excuse for a party, and we (the shop staff, that is) decided that a really good sale was the kind of party everybody would like best.  Rosemary was all for it, and last Saturday we invited area knitters and fiber fans to come celebrate.  With virtually everything in the store on sale, it was a good opportunity.
     People stopped by all day to wish Rosemary a happy birthday and pick up bargains on yarn, needles and patterns for summer knitting.  Spinners found a great variety of fibers, rovings and raw fleece.  The day's bestsellers included colored rovings, Berocco Vintage and sock yarns and all the wonderful yarns from Brown Sheep Co.  By the end of the day there were noticeable "holes" in the yarn bins and fleece baskets, and parts of the needle wall were almost bare.  Without a doubt, this was a successful event.
     The Metro Knitters from Des Moines came as a group, enjoyed lunch at the deli next door and shopped to their hearts' content before joining the knitting circle in the shop's back room. A special guest, Rosemary's longtime friend Emmy Shakeshaft, stopped in for a visit and to replenish her stock of spinning fibers.  Emmy taught weaving at Rose Tree for many years -- in fact, she was the first teacher Rosemary hired after the shop opened.
   

Rosemary (right) shows Emmy a photo of the the two of them taken at an event in Wisconsin. The poncho Emmy is wearing is one she wove from her own hand-dyed and hand-spun yarns.

This birthday cake did not last long.....in fact, it was completely demolished by mid-afternoon.
  
   

So much yarn.....   so little time!!!

Colorwork demystified

     I've been fascinated by the technique of stranded colorwork for quite awhile, and have tried doing it with pretty good success but no real understanding of what I was doing or whether I was doing it correctly.  So when we found a well-qualified teacher at Rose Tree Fibers who was willing to hold a class on the topic, I was excited  to sign up.  The first class was last night.
     The classic technique for knitting two colors at once involves working one color with the right hand and the other with the left hand -- thus the knitter holds a strand of yarn in each hand, working from a chart and knitting each stitch with the appropriate hand.  It sounds simple in theory.....until I tried to do it.  First problem came when both the instructor and I realized that, while I am a firmly committed English-style ("thrower") knitter, she was an equally committed Continental ("picker") knitter -- and we had the old Clash of the Knitting Methods right from the git-go.  Turned out that almost everybody in the class was a "Thrower" and we all struggled to re-learn knitting from the very beginning, since Continental  knitting is the ONLY way the two-handed technique will work.
     As each of us struggled, a stitch at a time, to try and figure out how to master this new method, I was comforted by one thing the instructor tossed out, almost as an afterthought:  "Just figure out a method that works for you."   I soon found myself resorting to the technique I had worked out for color knitting in the past:  holding both colors in my right hand, one over each of two fingers, and simply switching fingers as I changed colors.  It worked, I managed to produce presentable fabric, and I was off and running.
    When I got home, I dug out the unfinished Philosopher's Wool sweater I started working on two years ago but gave up on because I couldn't figure out how to do the two-handed technique described in the book the PW folks had published -- the same technique being taught in the class I was taking.  I looked closely at the half-finished sleeve I had done, working a total of six colors into the design but using my right-hand method.  It looked fine.  I turned it inside out and examined the "floats" -- the unused yarn carries across stitches worked in other colors.  They looked presentable, if not quite as smooth and even as the teacher's work I had seem last night.  But my results, using my not-exactly-textbook technique, seemed to at least have promise. I COULD use that method and get good results after all!
     Having seem all of this, I feel comfortable continuing to use "my" technique, weird as it is, and not worry too much about following the rules.  The results seem to justify the means.  Or to put it another way, the route doesn't matter as long as you get to the right destination.
    I learned a lot in that class last night, especially about European knitting techniques of sweater construction, steeking and finishing tricks, and some specifics about fiber behavior.  Some of my most cherished notions -- such as the virtues of using good wool yarns and taking the time to get a correct gauge -- were affirmed by this teacher, who learned to knit as a child in Germany when knitting was a school subject.  I came away from the class feeling like I had a lot of new knowledge AND that I had been on the right track all along.  What a great feeling!

Goddess of Knitting, Herself

Who is Yarna?

     Yarna is the Goddess of Knitting.  She was born in a project for a graduate seminar on the goddess religions that I took a few years ago at Iowa State University.  Each participant was was tasked with creating a personal goddess for her- or himself.  I gave the assignment a lot of thought, and concluded that since knitting and fiber-related activities represent a major part of my life, a knitting goddess seemed appropriate.  Research failed to find an already-existing Goddess of Knitting, so I made one using materials from my "twiggy bits" bin -- wool, alpaca, mohair, cotton, linen, cellulose, soy, bamboo, silk, nylon, polyester, acrylic and even dog (Golden Retriever, in fact) fibers.
     Yarna is made of all these (and probably a few others), and her most important attribute reflects the one superpower I wish I possessed:  she has two pairs of arms and hands, enabling her to work on two knitting projects at the same time.  The biggest challenge that came with her creation was choosing a name, and such a serious responsibility required careful thought.  What about Purl? (Too obvious.)  Cashmira?  Mohaira? Merina?  (All fiber-specific, and The Goddess of Knitting does NOT show favoritism,) Tink?  (Pleeze.... get serious!)  I considered calling her Elizabeth, since Elizabeth Zimmerman is one of my true knitting heros, but I  decided that EZ would probably not have approved of such foolishness.  In the end, the made-up name of Yarna seemed like the right one for a knitting goddess, and Yarna she became.
     When the class ended, the next question was what to do with Yarna.  I considered keeping her at home, near my stash and, in a sense, returned to where she came from..  But a better suggestion came from a knitting friend:  take her to Rose Tree Fibers, the local yarn shop where I work, teach classes and lead workshops, and connect with members of the knitting community.
     Yarna now lives on a shelf at Rose Tree, where she is surrounded by an ever-changing array of beautiful and colorful yarn, roving and fibers. Everyone who comes to the shop seeks inspiration, guidance and knowledge. Yarna's  presence seems to encourage each knitter to try new techniques, improve skills and (channeling EZ) to "knit on through all crises."