All about that Cloche (Oregon City Arch Cloche)

This is the story of my design, The Oregon City Arch Cloche.

Almost two years ago, I was asked to design (as I had done before) a couple pieces for two of the Rose City Yarn Crawl participating shops. These two shops were on either side of one of the bridge that was celebrating it's 100th anniversary that year. Wynona Studios was on the Oregon City side (Eastside and does not exist anymore except in cherished memory) and Wool N Wares on the Willamette Falls (West) side, also considered West Linn.

First of all, something that you may not know, Rose City is one of many nicknames for Portland, Oregon. Ah, you say, now I get it, ROSE CITY Yarn Crawl... One of the other nicknames is Bridgetown. The Oregon City Bridge is not in Portland, or even the same county, but it's still included in the list of bridges in the area.

When it was originally built, to celebrate it's completion, a young man walked across from one side and his bride walked to meet him in the middle and there they were married. How fun, huh?

So these two shops thought it might be cool to celebrate the anniversary of bridge by remembering the wedding with projects that commemorate that time period and fashion. Also, I wanted the two items to kind of go together. JJ at Wynona Studios gave me a fingering weight yarn and we decided to make fingerless mitts, lacey with nupps for a bridal, Edwardian-period feel. We named them Blushing Bride Fingerless Mitts. They are created with a braided wrist band (a three-fold braid is symbolic of marriage and, for me, girlhood) the mitt picked up and knit from one edge, finished with a picot edge, with an optional lace cuff picked up from the other edge.

The Cloche that this post is about, uses that same braided band so that they can go together, but it's knit of worsted weight yarn and continues to be very not-at-all like the mitts.

The word "CLOCHE" by definition (French meaning Bell) is a close-fitting BELL-SHAPED ladies hat. I did not create it to be felted, but I would like to see someone knit one over-sized to felted. Hopefully the stitch textures wouldn't be completely lost, by over-felting.   I began this again with a HAT BAND of the braid I mentioned, a little smaller than head size, hoping to help it stay on the head. To achieve the bell-shaped crown, stitches picked up (again similar to the mitts) the decreases start slow and pick up speed to the end. The brim, I thought should flare but only just a bit, so the stitches are picked up with only a few increases in number. and worked for just a short time till the brim and then for the neat finished edge, bound off with an i-chord. That final touch seems to me to make it also look tailored, but that may be my own pride.

Now, why am I telling you this story?  This little hat has been the most popular pattern in my designs sold on Ravelry. I love the texture, the shape, in my opinion it looks best in purple, but the one that appears in the pattern for the Yarn Crawl was done in a nice medium blue Cascade 220, still nice.

Some have not had an easy time of it, it's not an easy knit pattern, the pick-up and knit is intimidating for some as are cables. Many have not done the brim, have just created it as a beanie. Which is nice, too. I like the texture, but some have mistaken it for crochet and passed it by for that reason. I've discovered, as much as that would make me feel wonderful, I can't make everyone happy. I still love this little hat.

SO, because I love it so much and want to see more people knit it up with THEIR favorite worsted weight and PLEASE post it in Ravelry so I can see it and go back and admire yours over and over again, BECAUSE I WILL! I am offering it at half off through the end of 2014. Please click the link for the Oregon City Arch Cloche above, use code Blog2014

STITCHES East 2014 ~ Hartford, Connecticut

I was fortunate to be asked back to assist the XRX team at Stitches East, which held in Hartford, Connecticut.

The weather there for the most part was decent. This was the view outside the hotel window.

Cake the Elephant is somewhat of a celebrity.
He has his own Facebook page! I enjoyed
coffee with him a couple of mornings at
the registration desk.

Benjamin Levisay, CEO of XRX
publications, which hosts the
Stitches Events, is also host of
the Fiber Hooligan Podcast. He
allows me to assist with a group in
Ravelry, a page in Facebook
and Twitter. Also the final portion
of each podcast called.
  State of the Hooligan.
Here Cake gives us tips for
upcoming episodes!

This was actually taken at Stitches Midwest in Chicago.
I felt that I got to spend a little bit more time with
the dashing Franklin Habit at Stitches East (short of
sitting alongside and knitting with him, as is my dream)
so I'm including him here. He presented his 'Weldon's
Practical Magic' to the Hartford audience, which I felt
was thoroughly enjoyed by all. 

Jane Slicer-Smith, author of
Swing Swagger Drape,
published by XRX, traveled
to Harford from Australia.

Steve Malcolm, host of the It
Takes Balls to Knit blog,
traveled to Hartford from
Vancouver, BC. He must
be on his knees here, he's so
much taller than me!

Robin drove in from
Schenectady, NY, is a
faithful listener of
Fiber Hooligans and
Yarn Thing with Marly Bird.
She is the FIRST person to
recognize me, I believe, that
I didn't have to identify myself
to and include a bunch of tactless
name dropping.

Anne Berk, is an awesome
teacher and recently published
author, from our old neighborhood
near Portland, OR. She has
developed a method of
intarsia knitting her husband
calls ANNETARSIA,
which is the name of her book!

This is Brooke Nico, who designed the cardigan I'm wearing. If I ever owned a garment that
was 'lucky' it would be this one. I was wearing it the first time I met Benjamin Levisay and
he recognized it as her design from the (then) recent Knitters K100 magazine. She also has
a new book, featuring her genius lace designs. called Lovely Knitted Lace.

There was an opportunity to meet some of the
authors that XRX has published as soon as the
market opened. Here is Elise Duvekot,
Myra Wood and Betsy Hershberg.

At the other end of the same table is Laura
Bryant and Gwen Bortner.

Marly Bird has allowed me to pester her beyond all reason for over a year
 and has let me monitor her Ravelry Group, Facebook Page and Twitter,
 plus her Newsletter. She says I'm helping but sometimes I gotta wonder....
Pure coincidence that she caught me wearing the new Derby from
Buffalo Wool Co (one of the sponsors of her podcast,
Yarn Thing with Marly Bird) and she was wearing a great hat as well!

I LOVE YARN DAY took place on Friday while Stitches East was happening. This picture of the Convention Center Staff
was published in the local paper.

The Convention staff were so involved in the
fun of Stitches, that this sweetheart wore her
own crochet work to greet folks on the last day
of Stitches East 2014. 

Part of all the fun at each Stitches Event is seeing what
Lily Chin's costume is at the Student Banquet and Fashion
Show. At Stitches East 2014, she came as Marie Antoinette.
Complete with guillotine and mortal neck wounds. The
majority of her gown was machine knit, as there was probably
no way to complete this entire ensemble by hand in the
two months since Stitches Midwest in Chicago.

I went with a shopping list for this event. I had to check my bag
so I left lots of room by bringing completed gifts to giveaway,
then filling it with such goodies as Erin Lane Bags, these two are
special editions. The one on the left is a Kristin Omdahl fabric
introduced at Stitches East 2014 and the right is a Marly Bird
bag, created as a collectible for this event. The skein is Kristin's
Bamboo So Fine in the PURPLE that I had to have more of!

I think this is the majority of the accumlation I brought home. The hat from Buffalo Wool Co, mentioned before, and a skein of yarn to make another hat of my own pattern. Books, bags, my skirt from Darn Good yarn and it's yummy bag, probably a new project bag, and the Namaste BYOB I've craved since hearing them on the Fiber Hooligan podcast.

The last day I was there in Hartford included several hours with nothing better to do than be an obnoxious tourist. Some of the ladies I spend a lot of time working alongside came up with a wonderful plan to see the Mark Twain House, not far away from the hotel. So, two pictures I like best from that:

First, we had to pose with Lego Samuel Clemmons.
I did say 'obnoxious tourist, did I not?

This view of the Samuel Clemmons' home is this, with the atrium. (No one is allowed to photograph in side the house.) The veranda that the family was photographed on many times there on the right. From that location the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe is seen although of a bit of a distance, close enough to borrow a cup of sugar but far enough that the children could be children and not disturb the neighbors. There wasn't really time to see Harriet's home, but we did visit the Interpretive Center, where you could purchase souvenir knitting needles or quilting tools. Imagine that! 

I hope you enjoyed this post of my first excursion to Stitches East and Hartford, Connecticut. There was a quote of Mark Twain's that I saw that seemed absolutely true to me at the moment I saw it while I was there, and I think it will be the perfect conclusion to my little picture story.

'Travel is fatal to prejudice.'

Seeing another area and wondering how people function, live, work, enjoy life is always an eye-opening experience as well as hearing different accents in the way people speak. However, in a fun event like Stitches, where everyone is as giddy as you are about the inspiration they are seeing and learning about, we're not so different after all.

Not the sweater I hoped to share

I have to apologize right up front, this is not the post about a sweater that I'd hoped to share.

I don't know why I'm apologizing, though, because it's really not my fault.

There is a pattern that says ONE SKEIN will complete a sweater from size XS to 3XL. I had hoped to share this as an ECONOMICAL garment project.

NOTES: Usually, a knitter that is having to pinch the pennies tries to find projects that don't take many skeins or have low mileage (or meter-age outside the US) lengths of yarn to create. Often a knitter will have to skip garments in order to work with finer yarns.

Big girls like me tend to knit gifts for others.

I had a skein of Juniper Moon Farms Findley Dappled, in a purple colorway, of course, that I bought from a local shop when Susan Gibbs of JMF was visiting. It is a laceweight yarn of half SILK and half MERINO. Hours I spent pondering what to do with this one skein... Silk means it would have great drape and shine, merino means great stitch definition. I COULD have done yet another lace shawl. Here's the dilemma: How many purple shawls does one gal need? So, I kept looking. And looking... until I stumbled upon a pattern created FOR this yarn.

It's not often I get to knit a pattern with the yarn a pattern was intended for. In fact, I can't remember that happening to me before. Ever.

Reading through the directions, I have the needles, the gauge is do-able, I'm going to change a few things, per my usual, and what's this? ONE SKEIN IS ALL IT WILL TAKE? What the what?? For everybody?

Really. I am a bit incredulous. In fact, I now feel a DUTY to test that fact. So, I run off to another yarn store that the website says should have that pattern. The printed pattern says it too! At the next knit night, I cast on. I chose to knit the LARGEST size, even though it is not MY SIZE, because, well, you really should make the largest size you have the yarn for, right?

I hear you nodding at me, so I'll continue.

I made changes, as I said.

• The pattern is not top-down, like I prefer, but that's OK, I will knit the front and back at the same time on circular needles like many people knit, in the round. In fact, I knit the sleeves seamlessly as well. The only finishing I needed to do was the 'armpit' seams.
• I changed the texture also. The way it was written, in a lace eyelet pattern, a 16-stitch repeat with a space between alternating flowers of two stitches, but the repeats don't have any space between, so I move the alternate eyelet flower over one stitch. Now, there is one-stitch space between vertically throughout. 
• I also changed the eyelets themselves. It was intended to be a seven-eyelet flower, but the sleeves are picked up from the sweater and knit to the elbow, which make the eyelet flowers on the sleeves upside down to the body of the sweater. I took out the seventh eyelet. Except that the two and three stitches knit together can tell another knitter which direction the piece was knitted, they are now identical throughout.

Now at about the point that I reach the 'armpit' in the body, from bottom-to-top, my husband had a heart attack and was a week in the hospital. I tried to knit, but it seemed to me that the majority of my stitches had to be 'tinked' or unknitted (a nice way of saying taken out - in fact, TINK is KNIT backwards). Sitting in the waiting room of the hospital I wasn't making any real progress. Then I got a good look at my skein.

I CAN SEE THE END OF MY STRAND.

Earlier than I could have imagined I have proved that ONE SKEIN will NOT complete this pattern.

Due to the rescue of local knit night gals, I was able to continue plodding through.  The skein actually ran out about 3.5 inches above the division for the armholes, in the back (done first then the fronts, two: right and left).

I had hoped when I cast-on that I would be wearing this silk and merino t-shirt at Stitches Midwest, (see my last post). I could not have foreseen the chaos in my life that nearly stopped me from working on it. I didn't stop. By the time I got it to Stitches Midwest, the back was done, left the stitches on the large circular needle and continued working first the left front (on the plane, during slow periods in the market place or registration booth where I spent my days of which there really are not many slow periods, and then during Franklin Habit's presentation of Weldon's Practical Magic. It's mostly mindless knitting at this point so I can watch and listen without really needing to look at my work.)

By Sunday of the event, I'm on the right front. Rick Mondragon gave a demonstration in my booth of Knitting Backwards or Reverse Knitting. This means when working back and forth (instead of in the round has I had been earlier in the sweater), rather than turn your work to work back to the right-hand side to start your next row, you simply work the stitches from left to right. I thought I'd been doing this for years, began when working short-row heels of socks (it just made sense to work those 30 and ever decreasing stitches back and forth rather than knit, turn and purl, turn and knit again) and with entrelac knitting, instead of flipping the entire work around every ten stitches, to knit and knit in reverse direction! However, Rick showed me a more effective way of completing each stitch that speeds up my work.

At home again, sewed both shoulder seams in Kitchener technique so there is no visible shoulder seam, and did the neckline edge to match the cast-on-hem. Have done the left sleeve, picking up from the left shoulder selvage and continuing to work in the modified pattern of eyelet, then at the row beginning the decreases, knitting in the round, so there's no seam in the sleeve either. When I finish the right sleeve, all the finishing that will be left is to sew the selvage of sleeve to the bind off underarm on the body of the sweater.

Can't wait to block it. I'm anxious to see the effect of the silk drape, to block out all the crinkled texture of being wadded up and carted around all over the country, to the hospital and home again, to every knit night for months.

STITCHES Midwest 2014 ~ Schaumburg, Illinois

This will be a picture essay of my adventure for those of you not on my friendslist in Facebook and have seen it all already. If you are, you will find this all old news.

Betsy, the delivery truck that Ron and Teresa
 of Buffalo Wool Company drove from Texas,
was ON THE FLOOR! This was the second
STITCHES Event that she was in the Market,
the first at South in April. You can visit the
website at  www.buffalowoolco.com 

Kristin Omdahl has put her drawing talent to fabric and
Erin Lane Bags will be putting her art to their bags! Pre-orders
are now being accepted at http://erinlanebags.com/ and you
can find Kristin Omdahl's designs and wonderful new yarn
Bamboo So Fine http://styledbykristin.com/

This is the beginning of my pictures featuring the view
of where I spent the most of my time. From my post, it was
easy to see that the Verdant Gryphon was a very popular vendor.
http://www.verdantgryphon.com/

One person who I had not had an opportunity
to meet before now is Anna Zillborg. I have a
copy of her wonderful book, Magnificient
Mittens and Socks and this sweater was
very beautiful as well, but not as precious to
me as getting a picture of her ready smile.

I had met Rick Mondragon at STITCHES West but not to
spend much time with. I had an opportunity to spend
enough time with him at STITCHES Midwest to better
a particularly favorite knitting skill.
More on that with a later picture.

In front of the Market, was a brand new sign,
promoting the Fiber Hooligan Podcast. You know,
the one I'm on the end of? You can hear it at iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fiber-hooligan/id878217097?mt=2

There were two racks display samples:
This one shows off the pieces in the next
issue of Knitters Magazine (the Fall 2014)
http://www.knittinguniverse.com/
This piece up front is designed by
Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton, I was so
proud of myself to recognize it right off.

On the other side of our booth, the rack shows
pieces featured in the two most recent books.
The end closest to us are from Myra Wood's
book, Knit in New Directions which was
presented at STITCHES West, last spring.
On the far end, the pieces from the upcoming
book, Weave Knit Wear by Judith Shangold.
Both are published by XRX and available through
their website: http://www.knittinguniverse.com

Elaine Rowley is another who I had not met
before this event. She is often introduced as
the "R" in XRX, one of it's three founders.
When I asked her if I could take a 'selfie'
with her, rather than tell me no, as I'm sure
she would have preferred, she made me
laugh so hard I messed up my shot.
I still love it though, so I'm sharing it.

At about this point I was hoping to add a picture of myself with Franklin Habit. This was the first time I met him, but my phone had died and I was saving my opportunity for a picture. However, Benjamin Levisay invited me up to meet him and asked for a picture to be taken, which I have not found posted yet.  I plan to update this when it is... 

Marly Bird, on the other hand is a PRO at taking selfies.
I am her social media helper. She was teaching at this
event, but she is super busy with a podcast of TWO
episodes a week and designing. JUST TRY and keep up
with her at her website. http://www.marlybird.com/

Part of the events for me was the Podcaster meet-up. I made
an effort to listen to all the programs that said they would be
there, but Paula of the Knitting Pipeline was the only one I
had ever heard before I saw her statement that she would be
there. Find her program: www.knittingpipeline.blogspot.com 

I had a little bit of a panic when I considered
trying to get all of this home. I ended up
checking a bag and carrying all of this of
this on the plane. My current work-in-progress
is at the top of this shot....

This is the same work in progress. I received
some very helpful advice from Rick Mondragon
about knitting backwards, left to right rather
than right to left. Saves having to flip a large
project around every few stitches!

Marly and I again, this time at her Pajama Party which takes
on Friday nights after the Fashion Show and Banquet.
Makes for a long day, so I was a bit.... erm.... evil?

This is most of what I came home with. From Top Right: From Namaste, Inc. (http://www.namasteinc.com/) I purchased the Oh, Snap! bags to benefit Halos of Hope (http://www.halosofhope.org/) and Kelly gave me the shirt (really worked out well because I ended up wearing it when my plane was delayed getting home), a skein of Heaven from Buffalo Wool Co (http://www.thebuffalowoolco.com/), a iron-on transfer of rhinestones that says 'Knit Happens' (looking up the link...), from Veronica Van of Dream in Color, a Herdy coffee mug and key rings. (http://www.dreamincoloryarn.com/) NOTE: I meant to come home with a kit for the Chelsea's Cowl which is made with Dream in Color Jilly, but was waiting on something else that never happened, so will be ordering online or picking it up at Stitches East. Fiesta yarns (http://www.fiestayarns.com/) I purchased the yarn and pattern for a sweater that I have been admiring forever, Heavensent Cardigan. Book Artful Colors Mindful Knits by Laura Bryant, published by XRX (this was badly damaged, I rescued it. Not as nice as the one in the library, but I can write notes in it!)  There is the Marly Bird project bag from Erin Lane Bags (http://www.erinlanebags.com/) and a Franklin Habit print (sold through Miss Babs http://www.missbabs.com/) in the center of the picture. Most of what's across the bottom of the image had actually been given to Marly as part of her teacher bag and she regifted what she couldn't use to me. Includes needles and notions, Cascade Yarns Longwood and Schaefer (?) yarns Extra Merino Premium.

This event was put together by the hardworking folks at XRX publishing who create The Knitting Universe Magazine. Their website about their events, magazines, books and the Fiber Hooligan podcast is: http://www.knittinguniverse.com/

Just Knitting, Video Blog Post, KNITLIT, Part 8 ~ LAST!

Just Knitting, Video Blog Post, KNITLIT, Part 8 and LAST one... featuring Ann Hood's 'KNITTING YARNS ~ Writers on Knitting' published 2014 by WW Norton and Company, and Barbara Kingsolver's contribution 'Where to Begin'.

From Goodreads on Ann Hood: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24558.Ann_Hood 
The book info from Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17573667-knitting-yarns

Recommended Podcasts about knitting and books!

• Craftlit http://craftlit.com/
• 2 Knit Lit Chicks http://www.2knitlitchicks.com/

I can be found on Goodreads or Facebook, as Tammy Burke, or on Ravelry as wearingpurple, Twitter as wearingpurple1


Tammy's Disclaimer: I have not received any of these books as promotional materials from the authors or their publishers. I've obtained them on my own, by purchase or borrowing from the local library. The order in which they appear is not to be understood as a rating, but simply as an opportunity to share positive things about knitting. Please enjoy with me. Thank you!

Just Knitting, Video Blog Post, KNITLIT, Part 7

Just Knitting, Video Blog Post, KNITLIT, Part 7 features Maggie Sefton, Knit One, Kill Two, published in 2005 by Berkely Books, division of the Penguin Group. This was the first in a series of twelve, the last (so far...) being just published in June. 

From Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/series/51179-a-knitting-mystery 
Kelly Flynn, a corporate accountant from Washington DC, who has relocated to Ft. Connor, Colorado, and is learning to knit at the House of Lambspun:

I can be found on Goodreads or Facebook, as Tammy Burke, or on Ravelry as wearingpurple, Twitter as wearingpurple1

Tammy's Disclaimer: I have not received any of these books as promotional materials from the authors or their publishers. I've obtained them on my own, by purchase or borrowing from the local library. The order in which they appear is not to be understood as a rating, but simply as an opportunity to share positive things about knitting. Please enjoy with me. Thank you!

Just Knitting, Video Blog Post, KNITLIT, Part 6

Just Knitting, Video Blog Post, KNITLIT, Part 6 features Kate Jacobs, Friday Night Knitting Club, published in 2007 by the Penguin Group. This was the first in a series of three.

I can be found on Goodreads or Facebook, as Tammy Burke, or on Ravelry as wearingpurple, Twitter as wearingpurple1

From Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17204.The_Friday_Night_Knitting_Club 
A charming and moving novel about female friendship and the experiences that knit us together-even when we least expect it. 


Tammy's Disclaimer: I have not received any of these books as promotional materials from the authors or their publishers. I've obtained them on my own, by purchase or borrowing from the local library. The order in which they appear is not to be understood as a rating, but simply as an opportunity to share positive things about knitting. Please enjoy with me. Thank you!