Dear Kay,
I’m declaring today National Wear a Handknit Day. Now that we are well into the glory season for handknits, please take a moment to dive into your archive for an on-trend pompom hat or an off-trend drop-shoulder intarsia tunic. Embrace the joy of a thing you made yet have not been wearing enough.
Here’s a quick peek at four things that really shiver me timbers. In no particular order:
Pixellation. Jennifer Beaumont’s Pixelated Pullover is the best kind of color-picking puzzle. What are the three perfect colors? Pictured here is Madelinetosh Tosh DK Twist. A ramble through the Pixelated Pullover projects on Ravelry reveals life’s rich pageant when it comes to selecting the three colors to use.
Temari balls. Have you ever heard of this Japanese craft? I sure hadn’t. With people on the verge of dragging pine trees into their houses and needing decorated balls to hang on them, seems to me that temari balls would be a good thing to get cracking on. Here’s a tutorial that makes something spectacular out of what is basically winding yarn in a superspecific way. Strangely appealing.
Coral by Louise Gardiner. Photo by Emma Williams
Watching the wind blow. Finally, we had blustery weather the other day, which always sends me to my favorite dreamy dream, a real-time wind map of the United States. You can zoom in to see the swirling in your neck of the woods.
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Temari balls make great Christmas decorations if you make them in red/ green/ silver. I did a (free) course once on how to make them – run by the local council for mothers of toddlers (with free childcare!! Yay!!)
Niece Kristin’s next sweater (her second but who’s counting) is Pixellation! She saw it at Rhinebeck and picked 3 colors of Neighborhood Fiber Co. Stay tuned!
I cannot wait! She will slam dunk that thing.
She SO will!!
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I love the colours in Pixellation. That pop of neon is amazing!
Agree: a slice of neon makes me so happy these days. Not sure what’s up with that, but it looks so modern in a handknit.
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OK, that tunic is beautiful but it looks (from here) to be that Rowan madness of fair isle knit flat. Even our 45 MPH windgusts cannot tempt me into that!
Mary Lou, you are so right. I hadn’t even checked to see the construction on this, holy moly. If you check out the intrepid folks on Ravelry making this thing, several have converted it to knitting in the round. The chart is apparently an eyebuster, too. But what a finished object! It really does use all the crayons in the box in a persuasive way. It doesn’t look like a crazyclownrainbow sweater.
I’m sorry, I couldn’t hear you. Wind map. No, really, it is a gorgeous sweater, but maybe I’ll go pixellate a cowl.
I have started this years Swiftmas decorations. Those Tamari balls look delicious. Maybe just one…and the rowan felted sweater is a beauty.
Sigh. I love embroidery.
I think temari balls in yarn would work up pretty fast, and eat up stash if you really got properly into it.
I’m going to try these temari balls too. I certainly have enough stash to get started (and if the truth be known, go on for quite a long while). I always look forward to Snippets. Thank you for the inspiration.
Oh, holy cow, that embroidery … ! For years, I’ve lusted after Madame Vionnet’s workshop coverall/apron/bungalow dress/whatever that thing is she’s wearing in this picture:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Madeleine_Vionnet_in_her_studio_about_1920.jpg
Since time travel is still impractical, I guess I’ll have to make it myself. Someday. After the temari balls.
Oh gah, don’t you wish you could up close to that coverall/apron/bungalow dress? It really is spectacular. I really need a coverall/apron/bungalow dress in my capsule wardrobe.
Blustery is one of those favorite words to say. It always conjures up “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day” images for me.
Sorry to repeat a link but I posted a lopi sweater called “Scatter” that has pixelation but perhaps not as complicated. Plus it is a bulky knit and some of us can’t let go of those size 10+ needles!
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/scatter-2
And yes, I am wearing my first easy-one-row-fair isle sweater I made!
I actually thought of Scatter, too, which is pretty surprising since I only heard of it yesterday. Here. Probably from you. Made quite an impression! 🙂
The pixellated pullover above looks a lot like the Scatter sweater someone linked to in the Lopi post yesterday. This one’s pixillation is a little more graceful than the Scatter pattern. I liked the idea of the Scatter pattern, but the execution is a little clunky.
So fascinated with this pixellation idea. Imagine working out multiple colors pixellating from one color to the next. It could be an epic cowl. Somebody please do this!
Oh please go for it, Ann. You know you want to.
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I will not be tempted by other crafts. I will not be tempted by other crafts. I will not be tempted by other crafts.
In other news, I’m going to go click on that wind map, because I’m pretty sure the winds of our continent are concentrated outside the church door this morning.
That wind map is absolutely gorgeous. I’ve forwarded it to many friends.
I love that wind map! Wow. What an amazing “personal art project” it is. I only wish it extended into Canada…
It isn’t as minimally lovely as the us b&w wind map, but here’s a global version in color:
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-87.25,40.70,352
You can grab it to turn and re-center it, and also click to zoom in.
For true wind geeks, this one lets you view the wind direction and intensity at different altitudes, and to go forward & backward in time, also with capacity to zoom in anywhere:
https://www.windyty.com
It doesn’t have the same B&W minimalism, but there is a neat global wind map at
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/surface/level/orthographic=-87.25,40.70,352
You can grab the globe, turn it, and click on spots to center and zoom in.
If you are a wind geek and want to see what is happening at different elevations, try
https://www.windyty.com/
Love the wind map! I’ve sent it to my favorite science geeks.
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Thank you for this gorgeous color-filled post! It’s exactly what I needed! Now to follow the links…. (I love that first sweater but fear on my more buxom fat-laden torso it would not look so gorgeous. Just sayin’….)
Hi! Also in the Pixellation/Scatter thread, I went down the Istex hole yesterday and there’s a similar free 2-color pullover called Neon knit in the Alfosslopi inf anyone’s feeling like a bulky version: http://istex.is/Files/Skra_0068220.pdf
XXO
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So good to be with you again!!!
I learned about Temari balls from Wendy at Knit and Tonic 🙂
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We had a Japanese foreign exchange student live with us for 6 months back in the late 1980s. She gave us an 8″ red and black Temari ball. I wonder what ever happened to it…
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I’ve read your blog for several years. I’m so happy you’re blogging again.
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Found your blog via several website visitors. Lovely. Treasure the sweet memories of your amazing performance on youtube and in our class. Have you done more since?
Have fun, Tilleke
Ann! Kay! I missed you so much! And here’s the I’m-a-dope truth of it, you were here all along.
For some reason, my bookmark for this blog has been going to the same old post, back in like April, for months and months (must have bookmarked the post, not the homepage,) and so I thought you’d gone AWOL like that time before, and I was so sad. Finally found you both on Instagram (new for me, that party), and thank goodness I’m back with you on the blog – whew!
You inspire me to knit on with pride and fortitude, through my humongous pile of WIP’s, and all your links and rabbit holes are so welcome and helpful – a wind map! Who knew?? And here’s the kicker – I live in the States now! Left Qatar in my name so you’d recognize me, but I’ll change that next time 🙂
We had a big wind storm here recently (Olympic Peninsula, yo – as far away from Doha climate as one can get), so the wind map will come in handy.
Missed your voices, and glad I’m back on track. Much love and hugs.
Oops! I totally missed this post of yours, because I was headed to Amsterdam for six days, with four – count ’em – hand knit shawl/scarves. And that with no checked bags and still room to pick up a thrilling assortment of yarns at Stephen and Penelope, a tourist must-visit right up there with the Rijkmuseum and the Van Gogh! So I appreciate your post in support of wearing all the things we make. Hey, if we wear them out, we get to make more!
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