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My Whirwind Weekend with the Yarn Harlot

May 7, 2013 by Sarah White

yarn harlot and meOver the weekend I had the extreme pleasure of getting to take part in a knitting retreat with the Yarn Harlot, aka Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. There were 18 of us who got to learn from her, knit with her and laugh with her, and each other along the way.

We took three classes over the weekend, including knitting for speed and efficiency (in which she attempted to teach us to knit with one needle under our arms), grok the sock (where we learned how to knit a sock for ourselves without a tape measure) and knitting with silk hankies. That one was particularly fun because we got to take the silk cocoons and make hankies out of them, then turned others into a knittable substance. I’ve had some of these in my closet for a while and am glad to know how to use them — and what goes into making them.

There was also a more public lecture about the wonderful things knitting does to our brains, and a book signing at which the picture above was taken. knitting by the fire

There was also snow, in May, for the second time in recorded history in Arkansas (the first was the day before). So there was knitting by the fire.

That project is a gigantic wool cowl (or, if I decide it’s too wide to be a cowl, it will probably become a pillow) made out of the Clara Yarn I told you about. It’s really lovely stuff, and was the perfect antidote to unseasonably cold weather.

I know we don’t all have the opportunity or the means to have such an extravagant getaway, but if you ever find yourself in the position to run away and knit for a weekend, I highly recommend you do it!

Next Pattern:

  • Book Review - Weekend: Simple, Modern Knits
  • How Do You Put Yarn in a Yarn Holder?
  • Is Providing Yarn Substitutions the Designer's Job?
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Comments

  1. Eddie says

    May 8, 2013 at 2:06 pm

    Sounds like a fun weekend. I wish it was me 🙂
    I’m intrigued by the knitting from silk hankies part.
    Eddie

    Eddie’s Room on Facebook come over for some crafty ideas and conversation.

Have you read?

Knit a Linen Stitch Hot Pad

Linen stitch is one of my favorite knitting stitch patterns that, every time I use it in a project, I think about how I don’t use it often enough. 

It’s an easy stitch to make, with slip stitches done with the yarn held to the front of the work on the right/front side and to the back on the wrong/back side, which makes the strand of yarn a visible part of the pattern. 

It also makes a fabric that is thick and looks kind of like a woven fabric.

I recently used linen stitch to make a double-thick pot holder, which I worked in a kind of interesting way. I didn’t want to have to do any sewing on the project, so I started it from a crochet cast on and picked up stitches from the side of the cast on to make the hot pad all in one piece in the round with the edge sealed. 

This requires working on two circular needles, which is another technique I don’t use that often and am always reminded how much I like it when I do. 

The combination of double thickness and the stitch pattern makes for a hot pad that’s already pretty thick, but I also added a bit of old towel to the inside before I closed up the end to make it super thick and extra protective for your surfaces. 

I found the engineering challenge of this construction method to be a lot of fun, but you could also just knit it as a tube (casting on twice as many stitches as I did) and sew up the ends by hand when the knitting is done. Either way you’ve got a useful and pretty addition to your kitchen, whether you work it in a solid color, stripes or as a stash busting project will all your cotton odd balls. 

You can grab the pattern over at Our Daily Craft, or check it out on Ravelry. 

40+ Hot Pads You Can Sew For The Kitchen [Sewing]

A Cozy Knit to Calm Your Mind

Double Knit an Infinity Scarf

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