Knitty’s 2011 spring issue, with a review of the 10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters

“In a publishing climate that still wants to crank out knitting books that impossibly serve every need at an impossible pace, this gem of a book takes a deep breath and travels on its own path.” ~ knitty

Online & in stores May 10

Finally, I’m blogging. Well, sort of. I’m a good Twitterer, but an appalling blogger. Nonetheless, here I am because I want to tell you about my new book coming out May 10. Lisa Souza and I cooked up what we believe is a wonderful and exciting knitting book.

You can preorder the book at Amazon or purchase it at your local bookstore or knit shop. I’ll be adding more info and photos as the launch grows closer. Rather than blather on, here’s a preview of what’s to come:

Some stats… 28 Patterns by 21 Designers • Pattern levels from Beginner to Advanced • 9 Profiles • Lots of critters • A spectrum of yarns  • 1 short fable • Socks, sweaters, scarves, home, toys, kids • knitting, crochet, spinning, lace, felting • Did I mention critters?

Welcome to the 10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters

Solvang Weekend Vest by Kathleen Day

Our 2nd Secret

St. Martin's promo piece for the book.

The scarf is a physical reminder of all those missing and dead in Peru's conflict.

Many, many women in Peru have a place in their hearts that feeds on blackness and silence. It is a bleak landscape of remembering, the result of husbands and sons and nephews and fathers “disappeared” by the Shining Path rebels and state forces in the 1980s and ’90s. Now, today, these women are knitting a Scarf of Hope, a remembrance of the thousands gone from their lives. I am humbled and saddened… and hopeful that the knitters will triumph.

*************

A Scarf of Hope and Remembrance, by Dan CollynsBBC News, Ayacucho, Peru

There is something warmly familiar and comforting about the quiet chatter of women and the clickety-clack of knitting needles. Standing or sitting huddled together in small groups, the knitters dressed in traditional Andean hats, big “pollera” skirts and draped with a “manta” or shawl, form a multi-coloured feast for the eyes. But they have more in common than crochet. These women are some of thousands in Peru who lost husbands, brothers and sons in the country’s bitter internal conflict between the Mao-inspired rebels of the Shining Path rebels and state forces in the 1980s and 90s.

Read the whole story here.

I wanted to note Bill’s latest book, Every Day Was Special. When Bill was fishing, every day really was special. He loved to fly fish more than just about anything in the world, with the exception of spending time with his kids and me. Well, usually me! Sometimes fishing won out.

Bill's newest fly fishing book. I'm so proud.

Yet I’m fairly obsessed with documenting each day and each new yarn. Thus, this listing. Okay, somewhat boring, yet think of it as a mantra for knitting. Ommmmm.

Day 12: Hearty and thick wool mystery yarn. I was in a white mood.

Day 13: I love Foxfire yarn, and this gorgeous aqua hand dyed Cormo/silk sport weight is de-lovely. I was in a foxy mood.

Day 14: Same yarn as 13, but a lovely rose color. Through rose-colored glasses, perhaps?

Day 15: Artfibers’ golden tussah silk. Yes, I was in a silky, slithery mood. Yes, it’s gorgeous fiber.

Day 16: Romney Ridge Farm—artisanal yarn from Maine. Wool, mohair, angora. A longing for the Pine Tree State prompted this day.

Day 17: Plymouth yarn’s luscious Baby Alpaca Grande. I felt pretty grand myself that night.

Day 18: Lisa Souza’s remarkable Flying Fish, perhaps my fave all-time yarn.

Day 19: Mirasol yarns merino/alpaca/silk. Just a yummy yarn that makes me feel good. It’s also good for the people of Peru it supports. Beginning a color poem.

Day 20: Marisol 2 in pretty, pretty blue.

Day 21: Marisol 3’s golden amber is gorgeous.

Day 22: Marisol 4’s purple brings this color poem to an end.

Day 23: Artfibers’ Bistro cotton and nylon, in their Spring Yarntasting Sampler. I love this. It makes me smile.

Day 24: Artfibers’ Chameleon nylon and viscose. It’s full of texture. I was feeling pretty textural, too.

Day 25: Artfibers’ Hana, pure, unadulterated silk. Divine.

Day 26: Dream in Color’s Classy (worsted). My Mother Earthy feelings sometimes come to the fore.

Whew! Well, that’s it for now.

Onward!

So here we have a compilation of days six through 11.

Day Six: Fun with Chenille—I love Colinette Yarns. Here’s a giant skein of chenille with yummy colors. I got it on sale several (embarassment!) years ago. I thoroughly loved knitting with it. It’s hand dyed, DK weight, 100% cotton. Slicker needles would have been better, the the bamboo works okay for a few rows. This is happy yarn.

Day Seven: String Theory—Oh, String Theory yarn is my downfall. Their colors are so divine and saturated and complex, that I love to knit with their yarn. Here’s their Merino DK in the color Teal. I knit a hat in this, and it was yumalicious. Loved knitting it for Knit a Year.

Day Eight: Frog Tree yarns alpaca in glorious orange. This is bulky weight. Grace, my basset, especially loves bulky yarn. She’s playing it cool here, but is about to steal my Knit a Year.

Day Nine: Looks like String Theory, but it’s not! I have been dying to try this yarn, and so I knit a few row in this project. Made me smile. It’s The Fibre Company‘s Road to China, Silken Jewels, made up of Baby Alpaca, Cashere, Camel and Silk. Aquamarine.

Day 10: Brown stuff. What we have here is some soft, yet hearty brown Worsted. I have no idea what this yarn consists of. I found it in one of my knitting bags, have no memory of whence it came, and am thoroughly enjoying the speculation about it. It could be Yak from Bijou Basin or bison from Buffalo Gold or merino from ??? Truly, I have no clue. But I like it.

Day 11: Hand dyed Big Loop by Interlacements. Again, a big, fat skein in my stash that I purchased (again) years ago on eBay. Knitting with the same bamboo sixes and – wow – what a pain. The yarn is 90% mohair – lovely and soft, not itchy – but difficult to knit on such “sticky” and rounded needles. It would do better on Addis.

Day Three:

Day Four: Sunday. While I don’t get to blog every day, I make sure to knit on my Knit a Year each day. That’s the fun of it. No matter how tired I am, I knit a few rows on the project. Today? Or should I say Tonight? My rows were a bit of a pain. I was busy all day, working, out to a movie and in late, but I was determined to knit my rows before midnight. I made it, but just. It was awfully close. I love the yarn—ArtFibers’ Sylph, a DK weight yarn made up of silk, mohair and wool.

ArtFibers is a fabulous shop in San Francisco and a rediscovered pleasure. The shop has a raft of special and wonderful yarns – silk, yak, cashmere, merino, cotton, bamboo, more. The prices are great. Did I mention the glorious colors?

Timeout: Watch Michael Jackson’s This Is It. I was awed, yet again, by the breadth and depth of his talent. Even if the documentary contains only rehearsal outtakes, what a show! The man was 50 years old when he died, and he sang and moved like a 20-year-old. His death, a waste. But you’ll thoroughly enjoy the film.

Day Five: Yesterday. I taught, so I arrived home at eight p.m….worked…ate, then went upstairs and experimented with this Isager yarn. It’s 50/50 Alpaca/Wool called Alpaca 2. Lovely and soft, it’s fingering weight, whereas the other yarns I’ve used in the project so far have been pretty much Worsted weight. The colors in the Isager yarns are gorgeous. I have several, which I plan to use over the next few nights. Happy.

I like how the yarn sits proudly next to the camel.

The photos don’t do the yarn justice, but I’ve been experimenting with my iPhone camera. Fun stuff.

And tomorrow, the winner will be…

The Knit a Year project is simply this:

Two rows…at least ten stitches a row…use 4mm needles (u.s. size 6)…a different yarn each day…leave the tail, so that at the end of the year, you have 365 tails or days.

The Web site for Knit a Year is here.

Wanna join in?

It’s easy as pie. Just email Beth Barlow. (Check out the bottom of the page.)

Why am I excited about Knit a Year? I guess it’s because I love fiber and yarn and knitting. I have a disturbingly large stash and lots of unique yarns. Knit a Year will be the ideal adventure for using those yarns.

And so I begin…

March 18, 2010…Day One of 365:

Find the needles – size 6 us. Got ‘em. Find the yarn. I dive into my skeins of stash. What to choose? Ahhhh.

The anchor for the project will be a skein of camel hair yarn. Not just any camel hair, but a skein hand carried from Mongolia to New Hampshire by my friend Sy Montgomery, who at the time was writing a book about the endangered Snow Leopard called Saving the Ghost of the Mountain. When I think that this skein was born in Mongolia, spun there, and traveled so far to be knit in New Hampshire, I get excited. Can I feel the hands, the touch of the spinner as I knit each stitch?

The camel hair is a rich caramel color and filled with life—springy, funky, gnarly…wonderful.

I cast on 18 stitches…for my 18 years with Bill.

I knit and knit and knit. Maybe four rows? I don’t count. I snip the yarn to make a lovely tail.

Day One is complete.

I wonder what yarn I’ll choose tonight.