The Charleston Indigo Scarf

All this time that I've been mucking about with indigo dye (and loving it!), I've thought, I really really REALLY need to come up with some knitting pattern that will show off this amazing color. Really. A couple of months ago, I was given a charge by my friend Pat to create a pattern that would be "something very Charleston...you know...maybe with indigo...a scarf or a shawl or something...". Well, Pat, I did it. What do you think?

It's not cold here yet, but it will be, and I think I will have to wear this scarf every. single. day.

Some lace, some textured stitches, some drop stitch action on each end...there's always something going on!

It helps to have a model who is studying to be a professional dancer...

On location--this house did not survive the big earthquake of 1886, despite being one of the oldest Ashley River plantations in Charleston. The primary crops grown on this once prosperous site were, you guessed it,  INDIGO and rice.

Stitchy!

This pattern makes me happy.  I loved knitting it and I was a little sad to finish it; it was that much fun to work on! I used 100% cotton worsted weight yarn, hand-dyed in my backyard in a big ole vat of natural indigo, knit with US size 8 needles for a gauge of 18 stitches = 4 inches   (measured on that twisty stitch stuff in the middle that looks like the spans on bridges or the details on the roof line of an old house in the historic district of Charleston.).

If you want to knit this scarf (and make my day by doing it), you'll need the pattern, available for sale in my Ravelry store or in my Craftsy store (and later on at SAFF, but that's a story for another day in October), and approximately 450-550 yards of yarn. I would love it if you used blue, but let's be honest--not everyone wants blue. I personally think it will look amazing in any color, and I promise not to judge you if you use a different color.

As always, with any pattern I sell (or class I teach), I want you to be happy with it, so just give me a holler if you have any questions.

Finish for Fall, part 2

Finish for Fall makes me want to dance for joy! Or at least find a dancer to model a finished project: The Charleston Indigo Scarf

So it's been a week since I admitted to the world the appalling state of my yarn stash/unfinished objects/knitting storage.  I will now further humble myself with photographic evidence of my progress:

I found 14 projects tucked away (2 not pictured). That's a lot of unfinished business!

My progress was slowed by the constant need to stop and untangle yarn balls.

By the time I was through getting it all organized, I had one bag of yarn to put away, one bag of knitting projects to finish and a basket of odd-ball yarn to make decisions about. And a head, but that's a story for another day.

Since that first day of digging it all out, I have frogged 6 projects, bound off one where it was (it was a swatch)(sorta), and completed the knitting on both a random dishcloth and the Charleston Indigo Scarf.  14 - 9 = 5!  I now have a very full tin of stitch markers, several more sets of needles and an abundant supply of row counters that had all been "in use" for years in some cases.

There is still much to do, of course, and I know I will be casting on new projects (for new designs I'm writing) long before I finish my Cold Mountain shawl or some of the other projects still on needles.  That's why my list is coming in handy.  The next step for me is to develop my time-table for finishing that big project and even more importantly, to stay "solvent". My plan to Finish for Fall has given me a new resolve to not let things languish or get pushed aside into a dark closet or drawer.

I started this beaded wrap several years ago. Frogged!

I started this random dishcloth (what were those eyelets all about??) last spring. Finished!!

How about you? Did you start this Finish for Fall project, too?  How is it going?  Is it helping? I'd love to hear about it. If you feel brave, share with us in the Ravelry group. If you're too mortified by how much you found lurking in the shadows, post an anonymous comment and know that you're not alone.

A funny thing happened on the way to my blog post today...

My original plan for a blog post was either going to be Knitting-Related content or More Knitting-Related content, but what I did during lunch time derailed that--in a good way.

Today I had the opportunity to attend the first in a Series of Discussions on Women in Leadership, hosted by our U.S. Senator Tim Scott and featuring Carly Fiorina, former chairman and CEO of HP. I was able to invite other women to attend, which made me deliriously happy because I love being able to encourage others, and I felt that this had the potential to be helpful to women in leadership positions.

"Women represent half the creativity and potential of the nation... Leadership is about making a positive difference and unlocking potential in others." Carly Fiorina

Carly Fiorina and US Senator Tim Scott at today's Women in Leadership luncheon

I had to wonder at first what a high-powered executive like Carly Fiorina could say that would apply to me--a not particularly high-powered wife, mom, knitting instructor, knitwear designer, knitting blogger. It didn't take long for me to realize that the principles of great leadership apply wherever you lead. The passion that I have for knitting instruction comes directly from wanting to make a "positive difference" in the lives of others. When people learn to knit or learn a new technique, it empowers, it satisfies, it will even potentially lower blood pressure and increase manual dexterity! People tell me that they've tried to knit and failed, or that they could never ever learn it and I always say, let's just give it a try (or another try).  I see the potential for them to master a skill, because I said for years that I could never ever learn. (I was wrong.)

She also spoke of how she loves to see that look the people get when they realize they can do something they did not think they could do. She may have meant problem-solving on an executive level for a Fortune-50 company, but if there were ever a perfect description of watching someone catch on to a knitting technique, this is it.

So my advice to you today, my Simple (Not Really)Knitting Tip, is to be encouraged. You may be a Senior Manager or a mom of a senior in high school, but you are a leader where you are.  You can make a difference in the lives of the people around you--empower, uplift, develop, invest. The potential in a new knitter (or a new sales consultant or student or employee) is powerful and you really never know how far someone can go with some training, some respect, and some confidence. People matter. You matter.

And in case no one else has mentioned it lately, I'm glad you're here.

Wading in the pool, the murky pool of pooling colors

Just so you know, I am fully aware that today's topic might be controversial.  I am prepared for the dislike mail, the ugly comments, the disdain from knitters and crocheters who disagree with me.  Being fully aware of the stir I'm about to make, I am plunging in anyway, into the murky waters of color pooling.

There are some who adore pooling.  I get that. I really am open minded about this and I hope you can find a way to be open minded about what I'm about to say.

I am not a fan.

I tried, I really did.  I have seen projects pool that did so in ways I could live with ("it's artistic, yeah, artistic. That's it...").

This block from my Flying Geese quilt has some pooling of sorts that works.

A little pooling on this border between the green sections.  This I can live with.

But there are way too many that turn out much less artistically. Much less.

See the section at the top? Where the brown turns all muddy?  Looks like, well, a pool of mud.

And then there is this. It was supposed to be a sock. It's sock yarn even.  But the splotches of color were so disturbing, that this yarn is now on its way to becoming a scarf. (Will post link to pattern when it's published FREE on Ravelry. Stay tuned!)

When good socks go bad, or something like that.

I realize there are those of you out there who love it when yarn acts this way.  There is a Ravelry group for you and even a website that will (somehow) tell you how to plan your pooling. (Thank you, Desiree, for that tip!)  My friend Dianne tells me that SAFF will have a class on working with variegated yarn, but I think it's too late for me.  I tried, with the sock yarn above, using two skeins and switching every row to "break up" the pooling and it looked even worse.  I also hated having to stop and untangle the two working yarns all the time.  Fighting the pooling to make a sock was sucking all the fun out of sock knitting, and y'all, that just ain't right.

It probably shouldn't have surprised me.  I prefer Baroque music and Georgian architecture for their symmetry, so yeah, the vagaries of variegated yarn and its issues with pooling are difficult for me to embrace.

My lesson here is that I might be happier sticking to solids, self-striping, tweeds, hand-paints and tonals. And I'm ok with that.  Remember, life is too short to knit something you hate.

What has been your experience with pooling? Are you a fan? I'd love to see what you've done. Either post in the comments below or in our KnitOasis Ravelry group.