accessories , BHWH group , designing fun , LoW Players , Ravelry , read-alouds , resources - books , scarves , shawls and shawlettes , Spring Gate Farm's cashmere , swatching , Teaching , thinking-outside-the-book , tips and techniques , unit studies , Yarn-alongs
Yarn-along … of wraps and tales
~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? Take a photo and share it either on your blog or on Flickr. Leave a link below to share your photo with the rest of us! ~ Ginny at small things
Yarn-along – October 16, 2013
Well, good morning! We’re in the throes of tech-week (there is VERY good reasoning for calling it “hell week”) of the LoW Players’ production of Meshuggah-nuns that opens this weekend. Only HotRod and Kit are in the musical review, but I’m there every night like a good stage-mom! So my nights and days are caught up in that and in prepping for the Third Annual Spring Gate Farm’s Cashmere Workshop … this year, the focus is on experienced knitters and designing. The theme is Shawls, Scarves and Other Wraps and we’ll be talking about stitches … and ways to increase/decrease … and shaping … and maximizing the fiber … and generally having a grand time down at Jane’s farm in Barboursville, VA. There are still a few spaces left if you’d like to come join us. Contact Jane directly for further information.
As I mentioned yesterday, I started a Ravelry group for all my designs and to have a place to preach my knitterly philosophy. I’ve already got my first test-knit going and the group promises to be a fun, active community of other fiber fanatics. If you’re on Ravelry, please consider joining in on the fun! The finished project in the upper right corner of this post’s picture is of the test-knit … it’s a reversible, cabled cowl (or scarf) that was done using a skein of yarn that had 25-yd stretches of color. This makes for a fun, color-block accessory. After a few folks have tested this pattern, I’ll be posting it.
On the needles currently, is a shawlette I’m designing in Plymouth Yarn’s Stiletto, a merino, nylon and lurex blend that sparkles and has gorgeous colors (I’m using colorway “chanticleer”, #700). The fingering-weight yarn is knitting up nicely on the #8s I’m using. The ball of tweedy loveliness (a merino/alpaca worsted) is for a submission to a magazine for next spring … wish me luck on that one as I have a design in mind that would be so very cool!
I’m still reading the From Stem to Steam … which is a great, thinking outside the traditional, type of curricular help. I like the idea of STEM (integrating engineering and science and math and technology) but I REALLY love the idea of STEAM (adding the arts to the mix). This particular book is quite good on showing how a traditional classroom assignment would proceed and juxtaposes that to how a STEAM-oriented theme would greatly improve the lesson plan. Altho written to the classroom teacher, there is lots for this homeschooler to take away!
For our read-aloud/literature unit, we are starting down a rabbit trail of classic fairy tales. This coincides nicely with our Middle Ages history unit. And there are few better compilations (and detailed research) than the Iona and Peter Opie volume, The Classic Fairy Tales. Love the illustrations throughout and the text is a fun (and a tad scary … perfect for my tween/teen) read-aloud. FUN!
So what’s on your needles and reading table? Wanna come play at Ginny’s?
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