VenessaBentley.ca

It is May, and here at the studio of working hands, the gardens are being tended, inside and out. The Peerie Flooers hat, one of our Fair Isle on a Small Scale class projects, is blooming in our hands.

This week’s class focused on shaping the crown. This is done by knitting diminishing wedges, that are shaped by double decreases, evenly spaced around the hat. Each of the 8 students has customized the size of the hat, but we all loved the colour combination that Kate Davies chose in the Rowan Fine Tweed. We found all the colours at three bags full, in Vancouver. Groupies with pointy sticks!

It’s Easter weekend and students gathered in the Working Hands Studio space to begin our Spring program, Fair Isle on a Small Scale. It was a busy 5 hours while we cast on for the hat and began the multi-coloured corrugated rib. Learning the stranded colour work techniques, and how to read a colour chart, all for a small project, is a great way to swatch for larger projects, such as pullovers and cardigans, as part of other studio programs. Peerie Flooers is an enchanting floral design for a hat and mittens with a lined cuff. We will work through the set during this program.

While we come together to learn and work really hard, great friendships grow as we share our life stories, from one month to the next. This week we enjoyed beautiful sunshine, a lot of laughs, home baked muffins, fresh fruit, spiced tea, and a little Easter chocolate.  Over the next month we’ll knit our customized versions of the hat, and come back together to shape the crown.

New students are always welcome, but classes fill quickly.  If you are interested in upcoming programs, please check the schedule page, or email for more information.

Recently I joined a yarn club. I am not a joiner, so this took a lot of thought. I chose Spirit Trail Fiberworks because I love the Thoreau quotation, and the Spirit Trail Pathway explanation on the home page!

THE SPIRIT TRAIL

The basis of the Weavers’ Pathway concept is the traditional Navaho fear of being enclosed on all sides with no way of escape . . . the fear of enclosure is extended to weaving when a border surrounds the design.

In Navaho, two words are employed to indicate the consequences of weaving a rug with an enclosed border. They are adii je tlo, “too much weaving,” a concept involving sickness of body, and adaage de tlo, “close yourself in,” which can be considered a sickness of mind or spirit . . .

And so a complex concept emerges from a seemingly simple line – a concept involving the weaver’s fear that in channeling all her energies and mental resources into a rug with an enclosing border, she may encircle and thereby entrap her spirit, mind, energies and design.

In jeopardy are future loom experiences: the continuous use of design, the well being of weaving muscles, and of paramount concern, her vision and sanity.

The moment of Pathway is the moment of liberation, of peace, of serenity – and a wish for the future: may the next weaving be even better.

Noel Bennett, “The Weaver’s Pathway: A Clarification of the ‘Spirit Trail’ in Navaho Weaving,” Northland Press, 1987.

It helps that the service and product line is great! Jennifer Heverly carries spinning fibres that are hard to find elsewhere – black Gotland fleece, Ronaldsay from The Orkneys, and Arapawa, for examples – and she is always quick to respond to email questions. Her dyeing is beautiful and her yarns are of good quality. I wanted the surprise of working with a yarn that I would not seek out in my yarn store. On Thursday afternoon I got my wish, along with a challenge!  I picked up a little package at the post office from the yarn club, month #2, and found a beautiful hank of Holda – lambswool, angora, and cashmere blend. . . . 295 yards . . . .’This is why I joined’, I reminded myself. The surprise I wasn’t ready for was that it was green!

I knew that if I didn’t cast on at that moment, this lovely yarn, that is also green, would get stashed and never knit. . . . . 295 yards means fingerless gloves, cowls, hats. . . . Help please Ravelry! I quickly logged in, and searched by yardage and weight, leading me to a sweet shawlette called Cristata, by Susanna IC. I purchased the pattern on line, cast on impetuously, that means no swatching! and 12 hours later I had a shawl that I will likely wear. I just need a little time to ease into the green idea. . . .

Bernadette the body form is all dressed up and ready to go! Yes, I really do have long arms don’t I?  The last button was stitched on just after midnight, and a blast of steam later, Charleswood, a modified version of Kiyomi by Barbara Gregory, is ready for the show. This colour work jacket features Mosaic Knitting, and has been our class project, here at the studio, for the last four months. The project notes can be found here.

The fair, Fibres West, runs March 16 and 17, at the Ag-Rec Complex in Abbotsford. Please see the website for all the details about classes, vendors, and lectures.  Are you going. . . . . . . .?  Parsley, sage, maybe some cambric, and oh so much luscious fibre!

Losing one hour really messes things up for old labradors who live for having their food served at the same time every day.  We can handle this one though.  It doesn’t hold a candle to November’s falling back an hour.  It takes Lila all winter to get over that one!  Pssssst. . . .

This year, it seems a little unSpringy on the West Coast, so far.  It is still really chilly here, so I made two purchases this week in anticipation of taking the leap into unSpring!  I bought some ruby cashmere, and a pink wool blanket. Good choices, don’t you agree?

I love a splash of ruby red in the house, and I think, for unSpring, I need some on my head!  At Christmas I knit a Churchmouse beret in black Handmaiden 4 ply Cashmere.  These photos are from the Churchmouse website:

I bought the yarn here, and it will soon also be available here.  This yarn is a perfect pairing with the pattern; one that would make substituting really difficult.  The cashmere, warmed in your fingers as you knit, melds into a soft animal pelt-like (not!) fabric, which form fits to your head beautifully, whether you wish to look chic, preppy, or just cozy. A red beret will make easing into a cool spring a joyful experience.

The tulips and the card are a gift from a kind, beautiful, and talented seven year old named Norah, and the hand painting on the wooden chest was done by my mum, Jean.

I live in pink, in part of the house, anyway; the part where the studio classes happen, and where I do a lot of my knitted work and writing.  At home I find it soothing and calm to come home to, all year round.  So when Francesca recently posted her lap size blankets woven from PEI’s MacAusland Wool, in pink and blue, I knew that one had to come home and live in the pink room.

I fell in love with MacAusland 100% wool, knitting this cardigan, a few years ago.

You can read more about this beautiful yarn, and the project here.

Although meant for the lap, this size of blanket is ample for wrapping up in. It’s pretty and so cozy, perfect for rainy day knitting, with a labrador pacing back and forth looking for food.  You can purchase these blankets in a variety of sizes and colours at three bags full in Vancouver.

Happy springing!  Thank you, Norah.

Brenda Alexander, owner of Penelope Fibre Arts, sure knew what she was doing when she planned her annual Fibres West Show to celebrate the arrival of Spring each year. Just as our craving for colour and fresh ideas becomes insatiable, BC’s largest fibre show arrives to save us! It is once again time to make plans for classes, projects, new equipment, beautiful yarns, and fibre for our 2012 creations.

In response to your requests, I will be offering a full day Entrelac Knitting Program, Saturday March 17.   Entrelac, The Flat and the Round of It, is perfect for beginner entrelac knitters, and for those who are keen to push the boundaries a little, and work this interlaced technique in the round.

For those who were unable to attend the winter session at the Working Hands Fibre Arts Studio, Mosaic Knitting will be offered as a full day colour work program, Friday, March 16.   Come along and enjoy the adventure of this slip stitch technique, that builds complex motifs, while working with only one colour at a time.

Details on both programs can be found here.

Please register soon, as the deadline is February 29.

Thank you for the simple, the kind, the quiet, and the beautiful!

Happiness and beauty to you for 2012!

Scandinavian-style ornament, inspired by Arne and Carlos’ beautiful book, knit in Dalegarn Heilo.

This week, the Grade 1 children in my class, drew names to make a special handmade gift, completely from scratch. I drew a little girl’s name and knew right away what I would make for her.  Katie, the little girl’s sweet dog, died a few days ago, after having supper, and suffering a heart attack. Katie was often at school, helping children learn to read. Katie, with only one eye, loved to be read to. She was a white bull terrier, and her long wide snout, stocky little body, and wagging tail, all came together in a dog full of happy! She was so loved.  I knew that I would knit an angel.

My handmade gift is one of Alan Dart’s creatures, adjusted from a 2 needle knit, to a circular knit. Also, I knit I-cord in place of flat pieces sewn into tubes. You can find the free pattern here or on Ravelry.  Please email me if you would like help with the conversion.

I used Sandnes Garn Sisu and 2.75 mm double pointed needles.  I found some 6 strand gold embroidery floss in my stitching box and it worked really well for the wings and star, on the same needles.  Funny how the more I knit, the more the mouse began to look like Katie!

Wool roving makes a nicer stuffing than polyester fibre fill.  I love the way that a little of the fuzz always leaks out to add softness to the surface.

We open our handmade gifts tomorrow. . . . . . .

Our new fall program, Mosaic Knitting, began last weekend, and we are all busy knitting our swatches, and making a good start on our class project, Kiyomi by Barbara Gregory.

Our first swatch, shown here in Cascade 220 knit on a 4 mm needle, is a garter stitch mosaic pattern by Barbara Walker from her Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns. This is a lofty, full-bodied fabric knit this way.  Look closely to see the elongated slipped stitches that form the mosaic pattern.

Our project, knit in Elann’s Peruvian Highland Wool also on a 4 mm needle, produces a softer more supple fabric but shows the mosaic design off beautifully. This complex looking mosaic work is simply achieved by working with only one colour per row, and slipping the colour that forms the pattern. The work takes longer to grow in length because of the compacting effect the slipping has on the fabric. Working with an Addi Turbo makes quicker work of the slipping, knitting, or purling in each row. This piece, the back, folded in half, has been washed and blocked.  I’m working on the fronts now, and will post updates here and on Ravelry as they are knit.

and Lila says “You’ve been knitting too long!  Let’s play kangaroos!”

Are you in the mood for change?  Maybe this will help.  Enjoy a music break, because ’tis Autumn and ’tis time to make plans. .

There’s fleece to be spun, and dyed yarns to knit. . . .

a new line of garments ready to go to market. . .location to be announced soon. . . .

and a new fall program to begin in October.  Details will be posted here this week.  Hint:  you might be taking a slip this fall!

Yep!  ’tis Autumn and ’tis time to make plans!  Be the change. . . . .