Tag Archives: weaving

Projects for a holiday weekend, revisited

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Crochet, macrame and weaving project ideas for the long weekend

What with the Memorial Day weekend (the illusion of free time!) and my having been working on too many long-term knitting projects lately, I’ve been having that urge. The one that sends me searching for enticing, small-scale projects I could hope to start and finish in the space of the weekend. Oddly, I keep coming back to the list I made last Memorial Day. I’d be happy to whip up another crocheted bowl, tap into my childhood macramé memories, or spend some time reacquainting myself with my crude little frame loom. Of course, if the goal is to finish something, I could spend the weekend with my Textured Shawl and maybe, just maybe …

(I did finish The Sweater last weekend, for anyone wondering. But it had been 95% finished for so long it almost doesn’t count as a new FO. Pics and details next week.)

Have a great weekend everyone, holiday or otherwise. Love to hear about your plans —

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Quick shop note: Pom Pom Quarterly is sold out already! But never fear, there are more on the way. I’ll announce it when it’s back in stock, but if you want to reserve one, leave a comment to that effect below (or email contact@fringesupplyco.com if you prefer) and I’ll contact you directly when I’ve got the new batch in hand.

Elsewhere: Yarn news, Q&A’s, inspiration and more

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yarn news, Q&A's, inspiration and more

Yarn news:
— Quince and Co. has released their first alpaca blend yarn, a worsted-weight beauty called Owl. I tend to love alpaca in the skein and not so much in the finished product, but have high hopes for this one. In addition to being blended with wool, it’s woolen-spun, so hopefully not so dense and oppressive feeling as I find typical alpacas to be. And I love even more that it’s overdyed, so the natural tone and heathering of the wool come through the color. Can’t wait to get my hands on some of this. There’s also a new pattern to go with: the Sherwood Mitts by Pam Allen.
— My local yarn store, A Verb for Keeping Warm, is collaborating with Sally Fox on a California wool. They’ve got the first samples in hand, but I haven’t been in yet to plead for a chance to squeeze it. I’ll post more once it’s actually up for sale. I’m super excited about this.

Some good Q&A’s:
— with knitwear designer-photographer Carrie Bostick Hoge at A Butterfly in My Hair
— with knitwear designer Tara-Lynn Morrison at Beaux Mondes
— with Alpaca rancher Sara Bender at Blue Sky Alpacas blog
— with knitwear designer Helga Isager at the Knitterly blog
— and I love love LOVE this video profile of denim artisan Loren Cronk at Anthology’s blog. Magnificent.

Pretty, inspiring things:
— Heather Taylor on cochineal dyeing at Beatrice Valenzuela’s home
— home tour with a weaver at Design Sponge
— Um, Wooly Heads — not sure what to say or think about that one (thanks, Jo!)
— and Karen Barbé’s great embroidery sampler on a simple canvas tote

Speaking of canvas totes, I shipped my first wholesale order this week — a big box of the High-fiber totes went out to In the Loop in Plainville MA (between Boston and Providence). So if you’re in the vicinity, look for it in their new location next week. The popularity of this tote bag continues to thrill me, especially as I’ve been receiving orders for them from around the globe. I love picturing it walking down the streets of Vancouver and Lyon! And also love it when people post pics of theirs to Instagram — that really warms my cockles. So thanks again to everyone who’s been shopping at Fringe Supply Co., and helping to make this blog possible in the process.

What are you working on this weekend?

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Welcome to Fringe Association

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fringe association intro sampler

When I started this blog last December, and called it Yarnover.me, it was primarily a cleaner way for me to show my beloved friends Meg and Jo what I was up to. They were my only knitting friends at the time, and they live most of the way across the country from me. I also hoped it would help me find more kindred spirits, and it quickly became not just a place for me to document what I was making, but to share the great patterns and bits of inspiration I was finding as I scoured the internet. It’s no small chore — finding the needles in this particular haystack — but I love doing it. And it’s incredibly rewarding that so many people are choosing to spend a few minutes here each day. Nothing makes me happier than to hear that someone has been inspired to try a new skill, or that they saw a link to the perfect pattern for them. One very kind person told me she thinks of me as her imaginary friend who she goes yarn shopping with, because she doesn’t know any knitters, and that made my heart melt.

Up to now, my yarnophilia — and this blog — has been something of a secret identity, an aspect of my life I rarely and reluctantly mention to existing friends and colleagues. Nobody ever found it the least bit odd that I sew or garden or cook. And yet they find it improbable and hilarious that I knit. So while you know I love fringe in a literal sense, the new blog name is also a tiny joke about the fact that — even despite the boom in knitting over the past several years, even in a place as handmade-centric as San Francisco — knitting (or crochet or weaving) can still feel like a subversive activity.

The happy fact is, knitting is increasingly becoming a real focus in my life. But “Fringe Association” is also meant to convey that this is about much more than me. It’s about whatever and whoever is worth knowing about in the crazy, warm, wonderful world of yarn.

So, with that, I have two requests of you:

1) Talk to me. I regularly hear from people through all sorts of channels, but I’d love it if you’d leave a comment below letting me know who you are and what brings you here. What would you like to see more (or less) of?

2) If you like the blog, I’d be honored if you’d tell your friends about it. That might mean mentioning it to your three-dimensional knitting friends, or sharing a favorite post on Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest. Any mention is greatly appreciated.

And regardless, thank you so very much for reading. There’s lots more to come —

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PICTURED ABOVE, snippets from: 1) Transformative Mods: A modern spin on Flukra; 2) Blog Crush: Wiksten; 3) New Favorites: from Wool People 3; 4) Unspun and undyed; 5) FO Sightings: Kent Turman’s impeccable headwear

Blog Crush: Cathy of California

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cathy of california blog crush

I know I’ve mentioned Cathy of California a time or two before, but she really warrants an official Blog Crush. Cathy Callahan is a vintage-crafts buff in Southern California with an apparently amazing collection of mid-century craft and fiber-arts books, which she shares images from. The blog is really that simple. Posts tend to be occasional and brief, but I experience every single one of them as a little burst of inspiration. I have her own book (Vintage Craft Workshop) on my wishlist, and I recently discovered that we have at least one mutual friend, so maybe I’ll wrangle an introduction one of these days. Meanwhile, I’m a devout fan.

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Projects for the Labor Day weekend

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knitting weaving projects for labor day weekend

As much as I want to hunker down with my Walpole chunky and make some real progress over the long weekend, I have that recurring urge for a little instant-gratification project. Something fallish. Liiike … charming knitted acorns, in small or large sizes, to slip into the hands of assorted friends. A pair of slippers — maybe these, or these, or a new spin on these. Or perhaps a little branch weaving? We’ll see.

But please, if you care about me at all!, tell me what you’ll be working on this weekend.

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Elsewhere

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sonia delaunay hot pants and elizabeth zimmermann

Welcome to Elsewhere: the historical edition! Some inspiring and informative links from this week’s travels around the Internet —

- Threaded has the skinny on hot pants.

- Kate Davies is on a Sonia Delaunay kick.

- Dominique Browning discovers Saori weaving and has her first experience at a loom. (OK, that’s from March, but I didn’t see it until now!)

- And it’s nice to see Elizabeth Zimmermann tweeting.

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In other news, Knitting Daily has put out an amazingly thorough Free Guide to Knitting Needles. Worth coughing up your email address for.

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Seen at Stitches

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habu handspun tassar silk

I’m back from Stitches Midwest and a little bereft, missing Jo and Meg after a fun weekend together, surrounded by knitters as far as the eye could see. I thought I’d share a few scenes. Above is my favorite thing that came home with me — two bundles of handspun tassar silk from Habu. It’s like pliable twigs, and I can’t wait to try weaving with it.

watershed cardigan knitted by jo strong

Meg’s cardigan was a huge hit, prompting countless inquiries and lots of petting. It’s Amy Swenson’s Watershed cardigan pattern, and was knitted by Jo in Tosh DK. (It was perfectly adorable on Meg, but I was trying to figure out if I could do it with sleeves and straight edges for myself.)

sincere sheep napa valley wool at carolina homespun

I was surprised and happy to see some Sincere Sheep wool hanging in the Carolina Homespun booth. Even more surprised when we walked around the rack and found Brooke Sinnes herself sitting there, knitting away on a shawl like she always seems to be. Meg bought enough fingering-weight merino to knit the Walpole cardigan, in a color which is hilariously called Kung Hey Fat Choi. I wonder if she’ll have it done in time for the parade.

indigo weaving

A seriously gorgeous blue table runner, woven by a demonstrator whose name I failed to write down. But thank you for the book recommendation!

advanced tunisian crochet stitch sampler

Part of my stitch sampler from my Advanced Tunisian Crochet class. We did lots of beautiful stitches, but I was mostly stunned to learn of Tunisian Knit Stitch, which you can see above looks exactly like stockinette (but so fast to do).

manos del uruguay wool

I wanted to bring home these bundled hanks of Manos del Uruguay — all of them — and just put them in my living room as decoration. So beautiful. I had to settle for two skeins of that brilliant kelly green you can just see on the left edge of the photo.

plucky knitter sarah dimond colorwork cowl

And it was a pleasure to meet Sarah Dimond and her sister, of The Plucky Knitter. They won my best dressed award, for sure. Sarah has great color sense, and her multicolored cowl looked amazing with her navy schoolboy blazer, jeans, and sandals.

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