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Twist CollectiveThe Last Mills Standing
by Carol Feller There is no shortage of sheep in Ireland. Wool for knitters is another story... In some areas of Ireland (rural Donegal, for example) sheep are in such abundance that you literally see them everywhere. Look upwards while strolling on the beach and you’ll likely spot what appear to be suicidal sheep trotting along the side of a sheer sea cliff. Given the abundance of Ireland’s flocks, it’s easy to draw the conclusion that wool production is a very large industry. That conclusion, however, is quite wrong—at least from the knitter’s point of view. The Little Spinner and the Spider or How Shetland Lace Came to Be
as retold by Daryl Brower Long ago on one of the Shetland Isles (no one can say for sure which one), lived a little lame girl called Mairgrete who lived with her mother in a little house that sat on the shore of the voe. (A voe,in case you are wondering, is something like an inlet.) Now, Mairgrete’s house was not like the houses you and I live in. The walls were rough stone, and it had a sod roof topped with odd little boulders wrapped in seaweed to keep the sod bits from blowing away in the wild Shetland winds. Daisies, sea pinks, and ragged robin grew from the roof, and the yard was made of fine white sand and little pink and white shells. Fifty-Mile Fiber Diet: Part Two
by Barbara Parry A well-rounded yarn diet should include at least one helping of gorgeous goat. When you find yourself craving cashmere or mohair (or maybe a little bit of both), do a little sleuthing and you may discover that there’s a farm-fresh variety near your backyard. This installment in Barbara Parry’s ongoing series on fiber foraging takes a look at the local goats delivering healthy servings of luxury fiber to North American knitters. Swatch It! Fall 2011
by Clara Parkes Scarves are a joy to knit, inviting textured stitches in plump, luscious yarns. They begin as a happy swatch that keeps going and going until it comes off the needles as a welcome and useful accessory. Knitted scarves are my constant companions half the year, my first line of defense against drafts and chill. Nestled within their safe, warm cocoons, I keep my thermostat low and heating bills down. With this in mind, you'll understand my powerlessness against the swatching temptation of Kate Gilbert's Autobahn. The original was knit in Zitron Nimbus, a smooth and splendid 100% organic Merino yarn. While Nimbus did a fine job of rendering Kate's reversible ribbing and cabled stitch pattern, I wanted to see how the pattern would fare with a yarn with more multi-dimensional texture. In Praise of Seams
Some knitters actively avoid patterns that will require sewing. But is seamless always the best way to go? by Sandi Rosner More Articles... |
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