Pooling in knitting is the deliberate knitting of hand-dyed yarn so that the colours stack upon each other or move in such a way as to create a definite pattern, such as Argyle. There are some machine dyed variegated yarns that can create very interesting pooling as well.
A few years ago I tried pooling several different yarns with varying results. The resulting ebook was called Just “Pooling” Around.
Hidden Pools Scarf and Hat, River Moebius and Delphinium Shawl are from Just “Pooling” Around
I just finished another pooling project. A version of my new pattern Pinecones Cowl.
From yarn to finish – Pooling Pine cones – Darlene and I both like the results. Elise too, it looks great on us all.
I had forgotten how much fun it could be. When it works well! Or how frustrating it could be when the “drift”, colour movement, gets out of hand! Still it was more fun than frustrating! And I am very pleased with the results.
I think of that proverb often as I am something of a procrastinator! Never mind something of a procrastinator – I can and have at times turned it into a fine art!
Procrastination, practiced properly is a time management tool that works to my advantage as I tend to work better when under just the right amount of pressure. That is what happens when I practice it consciously. When it sneaks up on me and I get distracted by the new toy – usually yarn – it can cause a bit of a disruption, which why I am releasing two patterns today – I, ummm, kinda missed last weekend somehow. It got lost in the sands of time and distraction.
It wasn’t that I have been doing nothing. Just not the planned things.
Two Versions of the bento box. So called because it is a little boxy with options, just like a bento box. PS – that is me in the Lapel version of the vest!
Today’s releases are the Bento Box Vest and the Garry O’ hat. They represent totally opposite ends of the knitting spectrum.
Garry O’
The Bento Box Vest is knit with big needles, 10mm, (I used my super sparkly ones) and super bulky yarns and can be knit in a couple of days if you have a little time. Garry O’ is knit with much smaller needles, 2.5 and 3.0mm, and much finer yarns and will take a little time. Both are very satisfying knits for very different reasons!
Today has been very busy! The first jam of the season – ummm, strawberry was made and Elise and I had a great photo shoot. Below is a sneak peak at some of the upcoming patterns for the Just Playing Around ebook.
Some upcoming additions
I hope that you have had a couple of great weeks. Working in your gardens or knitting up a storm, even working. Life is starting to feel just a little more optimistic.
I have picked 8 whole strawberries from my pots so far – and I am seeing lots more forming. The peas are coming up almost faster than whatever bug is eating them and the beans and tomatoes are looking pretty healthy.
It is the flowers that give me the greatest joy! Peonies, Poppies, Roses, Honeysuckle and Lavender are all blooming the thyme and sage as well. The bees are ecstatic and the humming birds as well. We are getting lots of rain right now which is good as this last Spring was way too dry. How does your garden grow?
So it must be a good day to release a new pattern. Meet Pinecones Cowl. A fast and easy knit for you or for a gift. Infinitely versatile and can be used to try out a new technique – pooling.
The pooling cowl is for me! My favourite colours all in one easy to wear piece. A rare photo of me (I never like pictures of me). wearing the pooling cowl.
Elise and I got together this morning for a quick photo shoot! In the rain! But it was fun and went well. I love to photograph my knits in different lights and at different times of the day. Morning light, on grey days is my favourite, there just seems to be a freshness about it – the colours seem to come out better.
The simpler version of the Plumier stole knit with Handmaiden Flyss.
We were getting pictures of the Pinecones Cowl and of the Plumier Stole, a new pattern that will be ready in two or three weeks. There will be two versions. One version, a little simpler, was knit with Handmaiden Flyss and my favourite version, which is a little bit more challenging but I love the effect. Knit in two colours of BC Garn Bio Shetland. The lace patterns used are all Shetland in origin, my favourite style of lace if I had to pick a favourite! Really I haven’t met a lace pattern that hasn’t called to me in some way! LOL!)
Plumier Stole – knit with BC Garn Bio Shetland – the colours are little brighter than reality.
Today we are going to pick some rhubarb from the garden and I am going to make rhubarb strawberry pie – a favourite around here. How do you like your pie? Do you prefer it plain or serve it with whipping cream or ice-cream? We go both ways in our household.
Rhubarb from the garden and purchased Strawberries. It should be the perfect temperature come dessert time.
Well the pattern is up on Ravelry and the kettle is on for tea. The pie is out of the oven and I am ready to sit down and knit for a couple of moments before I contemplate making dinner.
What’s for dinner at your house? Today I am cooking a roast. Sunday I always try to cook something that will produce enough leftovers for at least one meal – keeps life easier after work.
Memories last forever – even when we don’t want them too! But the good memories, the ones you never want to lose, never want tarnished or never want shadowed, are the ones we cling too!
Memories Shawl is to celebrate those memories – a gift from a special friend to commemorate an important event. A visit to an amazing yarn store while on Vacation; with a yarn you had never seen before in a colour that just made you drool! We all have those yarns in our stash! I will remember the event and the people I met every time I wrap myself in the Rhinebeck Shawl.
Rhinebeck Shawl
Memories Shawl is designed to take advantage of multiple skeins of yarn. Maybe two skeins that are similar or two the same, or three the same. Some of those skeins might not show lace as well as we want – the pattern in these shawls is small and repeating, perfect for a highly coloured yarn. It is the edgings that need to be more subtle. They will set off the body of the shawl – in all its coloured glory.
Rhinebeck shawl was made with a larger skein of hand-dyed yarn so the body is bigger and the lace edging is more intricate, because it was for me and my love of lace knitting.
The B.C. Shawl is smaller and celebrates where I live! Something I know you can all relate too. Most of us have a place that means more to us than anything – a place in the past or the right “now” place.
B.C. Memories
The B.C. shawl was made with smaller hanks of yarn and was embellished with buttons. You know how much I love embellishments. But you can knit it plain, the knitting itself is fairly simple and not a bad option for a beginning lace knitter with a little experience under their belt. The edging gets its impact for the sharply defined edge and pop of colour – not an intricate lace pattern.
The Memories Shawl is the latest release in the ebook – Just Playing Around.
Meet the Big Leaf Maple -Cowl and Toque. Knit with Handmaiden Flouf, on big needles – they are a quick and fun knit.
Both items are knit in the round and from the top down. The big leaf stitch is a type of drawn stitch and the post here has a video that I did to show how to knit the stitch.
Just Playing Around will be available at half price for just another evening. By around 9:00am pacific time the price will revert to the full price of $24.00.
It has been a wonderfully sunny weekend here and I have spent a lot of time in the back Garden. We spend a lot of time here in the Summer.
Where do you spend a lot of your Summer Time, well your free time anyway? On your Deck? In a your Garden? In a park? Out in the woods? We all have our favourite places, I hope to share some of mine with you!
Be well and Knit Happy!
Lynette
Another pattern to be released soon! Elise and I had some fun with a photo shoot this morning.
Video is approximately 3 min long. Watch and learn how to “draw” the motif for the Big Leaf Maple Cowl and Hat.
Big Maple Cowl and Hat is worked in a “drawn” stitch in that the contrast yarns are drawn through an eyelet pattern created in the rows or rounds before the contrast colour is introduced. I was really taken with this technique as it creates another layer of colour over our base.
This technique is some times called knitting into stitches below, though I think that drawn stitches better describes the technique as we are not really creating stitches, just loops. The yarn used is not really knit to begin with, just pulled through holes in our knitting and then knit together to gather and close the stitch.
It always amazes me how much certain knit stitches can look like like flowers, or leaves or other natural shapes. Norah Gaughan really explored that concept in her book Knitting Nature.
The Big Leaf Maple is a species of Maple that we see on Vancouver Island. I see it on all of my favourite walks and at all times of the year. It is truly a beautiful tree at all times but its leaves are immense – more than 12 inches across and perfectly formed, just as nature intended.
This stitch was just a stitch until one day I saw it as a maple leaf now that is all I can see. I hope that you see it too!
Turn on your speaker as you watch the video and you can hear my explanation as I knit and a little cursing as I correct myself!
Is a hashtag that I use all the time, because, you know, I knit all of the time! LOL!
As a crafter I really appreciate the hand work of other makers, like this gorgeous Pear Wood bowl by Terry Marshall of Bowled Over Woodturning. Sorry he is not on the Internet, but his bowls can be found at Mad About Ewe Fine Yarns.
Not a yarn bowl, but a notions bowl, something to keep all my bits and bobs in line. Made of Pear wood with brass filings filling a crack in the bottom of the bowl.. Very cool..
This week I have been working on the eb00k, Just Playing Around. and today I added two hat patterns to the book. Just Playing around is still available at half price until May 14th or 15th.
Practically Perfect and Perfectly Practical, a aran weight simple cap that is a free download for all. Knit with Noro Kureyon.
I started a pooling project for the Just Playing Around ebook as well. Have you ever tried pooling – it is deliberately setting up your hand-dyed yarn to stack and form columns of glorious clear colour.
Pooling with Llama Lace and Pine Cone lace pattern.
Jana, my test knitter has finished her version of the stole, Plumier 2 and now I need to finish my version, Plumier 1! No rest for the wicked. Plumier 2 is knit with Handmaiden and Fleece Artist Flyss in the Tourmaline Colourway – look for this pattern to come out sometime early June.
BC Garn Bio Shetland GOTS for Plumier 2. I am well into the second half, but still have about 2-3 weeks of knitting left.
So that is what I am up to! What about yourselves? I hope that you are all making up a storm of things to eat, wear and share!
Be Well and Knit Happy!
Lynette
A beautiful Pink Dogwood Bloom to celebrate this glorious Spring Day.
Flat Iron was knit with Ancient Arts Lascaux Fine Fingering. This heathered yarn adds a great depth to the cabled pattern. I like this yarn so much that you will see another hat in the collection knit with the same yarn.
Lascaux Fine / Lascaux Fine 50’s – 25% Manx Loaghtan/75% Punta Arenas Wool
Lascaux Fine 50’s – 175 meters / 192 yards per 50 gram / 1.75 oz skein
Lascaux Fine 100 – 350 meters / 385 yards per 100 gram / 3.5 oz skein
Gauge: 25 – 30 sts / 4 inches (10 cm) US 1.5 – 2.5 or 2.5 – 3.0 mm
Lascaux Fine is a delightful blend of heritage and modern sheep fibre spun into a 2-ply fingering weight yarn which is perfect for stranded colourwork projects.
The heritage breed sheep is Manx Loaghtan, found only on the Isle of Mann, and the modern breed is the Punta Arenas from South America. The natural colour of this yarn is a light brown, so it has a heathered undertone when it is dyed, and although it looks rustic, it actually knits up exceptionally soft! This is a great yarn that feels wonderful against the skin, making it suitable for garments like mitts, sweaters and even lace shawls!
Note: Lascaux has it’s own unique colour palette due to the natural colour of the yarn.
Ancient Arts
Flat Iron Hat – knit with Ancient Arts Lascaux FineI played around with the photo to really highlight the shading of the yarn witch did affect the colour somewhat!
The hat and mittens make a great set and take only one skein of yarn.
This is an ongoing project with a new pattern or two being released every week or so. The focus is on playing with our stash yarns – or lets face it – that new yarn that you have just fallen in love with.
There will be patterns and small articles about the yarns we love. We will be exploring techniques that use up odd balls of stash and those bits of beautiful leftovers that we just couldn’t throw away.
Techniques will in include stranded and fair-isle knitting, mosaic knitting, textural knitting, lace knitting and and a few embellishment knitting styles including working with beads or buttons, three dimensional shaping and embroidery style knit stitches.
Projects will include a couple a lace shawls, a vest (maybe two), several hats, cowls, shrugs and mittens.
There will be two projects released this week. A stranded hat called Flower Power – my personal nickname for it is “Mod Squad”, and an older shawl pattern of mine called Peace, Love and Understanding.
Both projects focus on using stash yarns, usually single hanks or smaller quantities of yarn that we just couldn’t let go or mini skeins that we loved but don’t know quite what to do with.
If you have a collection of bits and pieces of fingering, sport, dk, worsted weight, chunky or bulky yarn in your stash, you can knit a hat or a pair of fingerless mittens or any number of small things that can be knit with the yarns you pull from your stash. And we all have that collection.
I hope that you like what you see! A sneak peak at some of what is coming.
