Friday, August 18, 2017

Episode 35: K2TOG & Brioche

Hello dear knitters! Welcome to episode 35. We are in the classroom today and Marcy and Kim are sharing all of their FO's, WIP's, new CO's, uber craftiness and some extras as well. Grab your knitting, a soothing beverage, get comfy and join us!

Episode 35 Audio


Marcy and Kim after recording. We're holding the adorable
letters that Marcy made for Kim.

What's in our Lesson Plan?

  1. On the PA system
  2. Show & Tell
  3. We are Uber Crafty
  4. What's on our Black Board?

On the PA System

  • The SSACAL (summer stripe along CAL,) ends on August 31st. Finish your stripey projects and post them in the thread,  so that you'll be eligible to win one of  the amazing prizes that are available! We are hosting this fun CAL along with Andersmills knits, Simply Stash Less, Giddy Knits and Hudson Valley Knits video podcasts. (All of these podcasts are linked on the group page.)
  • Stash Dash ends at 11:59 PM on 8/20. Kim has posted her flag in the 10K category and she currently has 10,582 m!!! Woot, woot! Just keeping track and posting progress is a win for her  ; ).
  • Please join our Ravelry group and sign in, we'd love to hear from you and get to know you.
  • Ravelry has upgraded their image options on the project pages, go check it out!
  • Marcy discovered a helpful post on Ravelry. They don't have an app, but they do have a Rav icon that you can download to your home screen. You can read all about it here. (Look for the entry from 8/11/17.)

Show & Tell 

Kim has fallen down a huge and very deep brioche rabbit hole! One of her yearlong goals was to learn how to increase and decrease in brioche. She found the beautiful Sternanis hat by Katrin Schubert on Ravelry. After lots of frogging and re-knitting she finally got it down and has started a 2nd one to gift for Christmas.
Kim's Sternanis hat. 

She has also knit another Brioche for Beginners cowl. This is the pattern that she used last year to learn brioche and its free on Rav. She intended to gift this cowl but made a few mistakes and so she started a 2nd. Check out that project page, Kim has added tips and tricks for learning brioche knitting.

***We talk about some of the brioche superstars in the knitting world: Andrea Mowry, Stephen West,  Suzanne Somers and of course Nancy Marchant who is known as the Queen of brioche! We also mention an ep of The Fruity Knitting podcast wherein they interview Nancy Marchant. The patterns that we talked about are: P-Rex, Ramble, and  Briochealuscious.

Kim has finished the cuffs and leg of her Afterthought Everything Socks. She has CO a new pair of socks that are a gift for her nephew using Regia yarn. She CO the gorgeous Gilead top by Leila Raabe using Shibui linen. 

Finally, Kim has CO the beautiful Hotel of Bees CROCHET shawl by Christina Hadderingh. The shawl is based on a hotel in the wonderful book, All the Light We Cannot See. She is reading and crocheting along and is really enjoying this well written crochet pattern. 

Marcy has finished her beautiful ...a hint of summer top by Isabel Kraemer. Two Ravelers were kind enough to sell  Marcy a skein of the discontinued color Lemon Ice after she ran out. Thanks to Tom (helloknitters on Rav,) and Michelle (smartgrrrl on Rav.) Marcy is very happy with her new tee and loves how it looks.

She is continuing to work on her Cancun Boxy Lace Top. This is a blending of the Boxy by Joji Locatelli and the cancun boxy lace top by erin kate archer. The yarn is Knit One, Crochet too Batiste and it's so soft and lovely. If you're interested in knitting this cute top, Marcy is writing down all of the details (well, you still need to buy both pattern!) on her project page.

Marcy has also CO the adorable Ice Cream Sundae shrug by Dani Sunshine. She is using Yarn Bee Dazling yarn and she's making the 2T size for her friend's little girl. This shrug is so cute and it's a fun and fast knit too. 

We Are Uber Crafty

Kim has been spinning a lot ever since she moved her wheel downstair on 7/4. She's spun all 2 ply skeins and she's excited to knit with them. She also has added to her fiber equipment!!!! She bought a used Schacht Ladybug spinning wheel today and she loves it. This wheel will live downstairs and her beloved Lendrum will live upstairs.

Meet Tabitha, Kim's new Ladybug wheel.

Here is the dyed fiber from Kim's bday

Lots of dyeing has been happening too. Kim spent a part of her birthday dyeing fiber and she had a ball. What a fun way to celebrate!  She also spent a fantastic afternoon dyeing yarn with family while vacationing in Tahoe in July. If you're looking for a great group activity you might try dyeing yarn.
Kim and her family in Tahoe after their
dye day.

Our gorgeous dyed yarn in Tahoe.





















Marcy has been sewing. She made a crib sheet and changing pad cover for her friend who is expecting a baby. She also made some crib sheets for Pippa and she found all of the fabric online at Spoonflower. 
Pippa's room with her custom crib sheet & the arrows I made.
Pippa's helping Marcy sew.

Pippa has the cutest new mobile in her room! Marcy made this beautiful mobile using scrapbook paper in 4 colors and she had to figure out how to construct it from a picture on Pinterest and from the Easy shop TrueLoveAndPaper. She is really happy with this project and proud of herself for figuring it out. 

Marcy gave Kim her birthday gift on air. She wrapped  papier mache letters in yarn and made the phrase "K2TOG" and it is the cutest and sweetest gift for a knitter! She saw these letters in a book, Brioche Chic: 22 Fresh Knits for Women and Men. Kim is so excited to hang these letters up in or near her knitting studio.
Marcy's Uber Crafty bday gift to Kim!

What's on our Black Board?

In our next ep. we will "most likely" ; ), be reviewing a few magazines and or books. Of course, we'll share our knitting, crochet, spinning, dyeing and sewing too! 

Thank you for joining us! We hope that your making is going well and that you're having a blast being creative. Happy knitting!