Letters
A Year of Techniques: So Far, So Good
Dear Kay,
As summer arrives (be cool, Southwest!) (be dry, Southeast!), we pause to take a look at what has happened since A Year of Techniques launched in March.
In a word: tons.
In four short months, we have premiered video tutorials in the following techniques:
- Helical stripes, to make Hyacinthus Armwarmers by Jen Arnall-Culliford.
- Intarsia, to make the Brambling Shawl by Bristol Ivy.
- Pinhole cast on, to make Alex the Mouse by Ella Austin.
- Knitted edging, to make the Talmadge Cloche by Romi Hill.
The learning! The leaning in! The persistence and focus and stick-with-it-ness! Kay finished her mouse. I finished my shawl. Everybody’s finishing all sorts of stuff. Knitters are dipping in for one project, two projects, every project. Everybody’s being so kind to each other. And we have learned that Jen Arnall-Culliford can apparently answer pretty much any question about anything. She Who Cannot Be Stumped.
The conversations going on in the Ravelry group and the MDK Lounge have been helpful, inspiring, and just funny.
The quickest snapshot of all the making and learning is to take a spin through Instagram, where #ayearoftechniques reveals the glorious energy of knitters sitting down and figuring out how to do something new.
Want to Jump In Now?
Maybe you’ve been watching all this unfold and find yourself thinking, I gotta make a mouse. My stripes are never very helical. What is a pinhole cast on, anyway? Why don’t I have a cloche? Feel free to join the party right now.
The great thing about A Year of Techniques is that it can happen whenever you like, in whatever order you like.
The patterns are available as an ebook from Arnall-Culliford Knitwear, right here. You can order ebook only or a print/ebook combination, with the print book arriving in September.
We have yarn kits for all four projects—and we’ll continue to bring in a new kit each month for the upcoming projects. The yarns are great, and it’s kind of fun to get a little package of yarn in the mail on a warm summer day. In particular:
Helical Armwarmers, featuring the almighty Zauberball.
Brambling Shawl, a cloud of a shawl thanks to Fyberspates’s Cumulus, an airy alpaca/silk blend.
Alex the Mouse, using the sturdy, mouse-appropriate Socks Yeah! yarn by Rachel Coopey.
Talmadge Cloche, in one of the dreamier batches of color we’ve seen, Fyberspates Vivacious 4ply.
Or (clearly) feel free to use your own yarn, which is its own kind of fun. What we’re finding is that everybody’s having a swell time, and that’s what the whole thing is about: having a swell time figuring out new ways to have fun knitting.
Love,
Ann
PS Photos up top from stalwart AYoT folks. Follow ’em all!
chris.ninox, deborah.gray7, purplepolkadotty
jenna.aves, jojomom6, queenbeeknits
cathysusko, joyous360, auntyang
tilltrasslat, 01soupdragon, mimicodd
allly_if, canijustbejanet, needlenola
thelongway63, wickedhomemade, Melissa_J.
Thank you for being awesome!
I check the #ayearoftechniques hashtag daily but you still found some beauties I hadn’t seen. When we started on this road with Jen and Jim, I somehow didn’t think about all the FOs!
I’ve yet to start my helicial handwarmers. Makes me feel like I am late to the party..again!
My first handwarmer turned into a pair of socks using three balls of sock nubbins and then a preemie hat. I am completely enchanted by helical stripes. Maybe one day I’ll get around to making handwarmers… and maybe out of a Zauberball if I can bear to use one, they’re so gorgeous in the ball I think “what if I don’t like how they knit up?”
This is the rare party that runs 24/7, pretty much forever! You’ll love making the handwarmers—the stripes are such a magic trick.
I’m making my second of three sets of hand warmers, which will become Christmas gifts. Alex is in the knitting bag in the closet…no real urgency to make him, as there is no one right now to gift him to. Brambling has been started again, after updating the pattern on my knitCompanion app so I can follow it more easily (it’s going much better this time around.) Haven’t even thought about the cloche, simply because I have 4 other projects on the needles and I won’t let myself start another!
Brigid, can you say a bit more about the pattern/app interface? I’m potentially about to throw a bunch of Kidsilk Haze in a bag preflight as it would make for a lightweight travel project … Thanks!
Maggi have you considered the Airplane Scarf? Might be a bit more travel-friendly. It’s on my queue based on rave reviews from Ina Braun but I somehow never seem to throw those balls of KSH in a bag and get going on it.
It has been awesome so far. I just finished my hat and have only to sew on the buttons. I have to wait for a chance to purchase the clear plastic backing buttons. There was so much to learn. Much more than what was stated. It has also been awesome communicating with people from several different continents on both Ravelry and the Lounge.
I love how A Year of Techniques not only teaches, but provides a jumping off place and inspiration for knitters to try all sorts of new things. I’m thinking of the knitter who kept on making helical striped socks, not necessairly matching (love it!). I’m thinking of the knitter whose mouse has a Fairisle/Norwegian “sweater” and a SKIRT (love it!). I’m thinking of Ann who switched the wild yarn an solid yarn on her sweater (OK, not AYOT, but genius nevertheless–love it!). I’m thinking of Kay’s wonderful French chicken with the jaunty tassels (love it!).
Knit on!
Yes! AYOT has shaken loose all sorts of impulses to try new things.
I start every morning with a cup of coffee and my daily news from MDK. Imagine my delight this morning when I saw my very own brown striped hand warmers smiling at me. Nice feeling. A Year of Techniques has been a big fun learning adventure and seeing other projects is awe inspiring.
WOW, What a lovely way to start each day with a daily newsletter from MDK but how?
I look forward to saturday mornings because my newsletter from MDK is weekly on saturdays.
How can I obtain a daily newsletter to wake up to?
I signed up somehow on the website in the early days so I get the latest post in my inbox every morning. I guess it’s more of a notification than a newsletter. But if I didn’t get it I would still be checking the site first thing. Much gentler than the newspaper.
Thanks Ann. What a delightful surprise to be in your pictures!
Having a great time with these projects- thanks for doing this!
Ohmilordie. That skirt on the mouse! #extra Too awesome!
I’ve been missing the boat on the IG hashtag. Hitching up my skirts and getting over there right NOW!