OMG, I've moved the blog to a new address. woohoo!
c'mon over!! update RSS feeds!!!
www.katcoyle.com
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
good day
The sale, last Sunday, to benefit the Wisdom Arts Laboratory, went well.
I snapped a couple of photos of things towards the end of the day.
Wisdom Arts Laboratory set on my flickr page.
Friday, May 22, 2009
art sale
click to see big
Fund raising art sale for the Wisdom Arts Lab this Sunday 1:00 to 5:00!
Participating artists: Gordon Henderson, Abira Ali, Eliza Henderson and me.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
barn raising square
Knitalong author Larissa Brown is organizing a fund raiser for Doctors without Borders and needs volunteers to knit barn raising squares. Barn raising quilts will be auctioned at Sock Summit 2009. All the info you need is here.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Ethnic Knitting Exploration
I'm pleased to be a part of the blog book tour for Ethnic Knitting Exploration, the new book by author Donna Druchunas published by Nomad Press. The tour is going on all month. You can find the schedule here.
The book covers three areas of sweater knitting, raglan style sweaters from Lithuania, round yoke sweaters from Iceland and Saddle Shoulder sweaters from Ireland. Donna has created three methods for showing knitters how to make the garment of their dreams.
Option one is the visual plan which offers a schematic with indicators to all the key measurements, after you knit your swatch and decide on what size you want to make you fill in the information. This option works best for me because it is so easy to understand.
Option 2 uses planning worksheets, for those who like to plan everything in advance. Sometimes I plan everything in advance, but I do it in a more visual way. This option organizes, in a worksheet format, all the calculations needed and also explains how to do it.
Option 3 is the step-by-step project sheet; this method explains each step in the sweater making process. I like this option too because it's soothing and relaxing to have each step explained.
Overall, I found all the information given very straightforward and encouraging.
General knitting basics are covered, like how to do short row shaping and why, the different types of seaming, increasing and decreasing, how to center motifs, and knitting with two circulars. Donna includes some very useful charts: standard sizes for children, women and men, ease information, needle sizes, yarn guidelines, yarn quantities, and a few fractions to decimals to help with calculations. This is the kind of reference material needed when designing sweaters, so it’s great to have it all included in the book.
While reading the book I was inspired to start knitting a yoke sweater using yarn in my stash. It's a project that I've wanted to make for a while and Donna's book gave me the impetus to start. Instead of making a gauge swatch, I cast on stitches for a sleeve and set to knitting. I knew I wanted wide sleeves without shaping, so it seemed logical to just go ahead. There was no pre-planning with this sweater. But, that’s okay! It’s all about knitting, letting my instincts lead me while learning something new. All of this is in keeping with the spirit of Ethnic Knitting Exploration.
Around the same time I started knitting my sleeve, I received a few beautiful hand woven shirts from Guatemala. The color schemes, textures and patch together patterns are really inspiring. I don’t know if anything of those shirts will come through in my final sweater but they are a part of the creative process.
The last chapter in the book is all about cardigans. Good news for me, since I live in cardigans. This will be my first steek, and after reading about how to do it, Donna makes it sound simple. I like her style!
Check out Donna's website Sheep to Shawl, and other books here.
The book covers three areas of sweater knitting, raglan style sweaters from Lithuania, round yoke sweaters from Iceland and Saddle Shoulder sweaters from Ireland. Donna has created three methods for showing knitters how to make the garment of their dreams.
Option one is the visual plan which offers a schematic with indicators to all the key measurements, after you knit your swatch and decide on what size you want to make you fill in the information. This option works best for me because it is so easy to understand.
Option 2 uses planning worksheets, for those who like to plan everything in advance. Sometimes I plan everything in advance, but I do it in a more visual way. This option organizes, in a worksheet format, all the calculations needed and also explains how to do it.
Option 3 is the step-by-step project sheet; this method explains each step in the sweater making process. I like this option too because it's soothing and relaxing to have each step explained.
Overall, I found all the information given very straightforward and encouraging.
General knitting basics are covered, like how to do short row shaping and why, the different types of seaming, increasing and decreasing, how to center motifs, and knitting with two circulars. Donna includes some very useful charts: standard sizes for children, women and men, ease information, needle sizes, yarn guidelines, yarn quantities, and a few fractions to decimals to help with calculations. This is the kind of reference material needed when designing sweaters, so it’s great to have it all included in the book.
While reading the book I was inspired to start knitting a yoke sweater using yarn in my stash. It's a project that I've wanted to make for a while and Donna's book gave me the impetus to start. Instead of making a gauge swatch, I cast on stitches for a sleeve and set to knitting. I knew I wanted wide sleeves without shaping, so it seemed logical to just go ahead. There was no pre-planning with this sweater. But, that’s okay! It’s all about knitting, letting my instincts lead me while learning something new. All of this is in keeping with the spirit of Ethnic Knitting Exploration.
Around the same time I started knitting my sleeve, I received a few beautiful hand woven shirts from Guatemala. The color schemes, textures and patch together patterns are really inspiring. I don’t know if anything of those shirts will come through in my final sweater but they are a part of the creative process.
The last chapter in the book is all about cardigans. Good news for me, since I live in cardigans. This will be my first steek, and after reading about how to do it, Donna makes it sound simple. I like her style!
Check out Donna's website Sheep to Shawl, and other books here.
Monday, March 23, 2009
hats!
Last Friday was an exciting day over at the Wisdom Arts Club. Two of my students, Eliza and Ruby, finished knitting their hats!
I love all the colors in these hats. They learned how to knit in the round and how to decrease, and how to stick to a project even though it felt like it took forever. Patience! Rewards!
Eliza, did all her funky embellishments as she knit. So, the braids and flowers you see were worked in the first week. She had a story to tell about her design. It's about a magical land.
And, isn't it great how the girls wore such pretty flowery dresses on the same day.
Happy Spring!
All photos were taken by Laura Cooper. Thank you!
Sunday, March 08, 2009
flowers
This is the new pattern I'm teaching to the kids to make at the Wisdom Arts Club. At first, they were intimidated, but after thirty minutes or so, they were all getting it. It's interesting how anxious students get when faced with a new challenge. I'm seeing myself in their reactions. Teaching is such a learning process for me.
The combination of red and aqua is making me so happy.
Edited to add that on this day, in 2006, I wrote my first post. It has a photo of Felix running with the wind.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
