Disney Knitting Retreat Recap & Cowl

I just got back from teaching at the Magical Fiber Fantasy Retreat at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort. What an adventure! This fantastic retreat and marketplace was hosted by Amy Manko of The Ross Farm and Laura from Four Purls, with knitting and weaving classes galore. I was delighted to be part of this special retreat teaching Fair Isle, Lace, Thrumming, and to meet so many knitters who came out just for the event. It truly was magical and I look forward to next year!

Back when Amy and I were throwing class ideas back and forth, I mentioned the idea of a retreat-exclusive pattern for my 6-hour Fair Isle class. I knew my class would have mostly stranded color work newbies or people who had briefly dipped their toes into the waters of multiple strands and multiple colors on their needles, so I wanted a project that was not only fun and interesting to knit for a wide audience, but something that encompassed the theme of the retreat that would give my students a souvenir of sorts and be reminded of their retreat experience when they wore it. I told her my idea and Amy sent me off to design.

Cinderella has always been one of my favorite fairy tales. I loved the story of redemption, her attitude, her incredible dress, the sparkly shoes, her mouse and bird friends (as a kid I really wished I had a slew of forest creatures to help me with my chores), and her kooky fairy godmother. Any time a new version of this tale would show up in theaters, I was there watching. Ever After from 1998 and Cinderella from 2015 are favorites.

Of course, there's also her amazing castle. When we would visit Disney World when I was a kid, some of my fondest memories were walking through the mosaics illustrating Cinderella's story through the main floor of the castle. My mom and I would go back again and again while my dad and brother went off on their own, looking at each mosaic carefully. I'm looking forward to taking my kids there someday to see those mosaics and I'm pretty sure my mom hopes that karma comes back around and they make me ride "It's a Small World" 5,285,104 times as I did with her.

After spending some time at the drawing board, I came up with the A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, a ode to Cinderella in the form of Fair Isle knitting. While knitting up her sparkling castle surrounded by fireworks, gorgeous dress, and life-altering shoes, you too can now feel like a knitting princess while wearing your cowl! I was tickled with the reception this cowl got at the retreat, and with so many people asking when they could get their hands on this pattern because my class was full, I knew I had to make it available right when I got home.

Knit on US 7 circular needles, this bottom-up cowl is worked seamlessly in the round with the Fair Isle sandwiched between corrugated ribbing. Heather over at The Lemonade Shop was awesome enough to dye my students custom colors called Haunted Mansion and Cinderella's Castle. How special is that? An addictive and magical knit, it was great to see this cowl on so many needles during the retreat. The story of Cinderella is loved by so many and while I didn't get a chance to get to any of the parks this time around, I felt like I got a little bit of her magic to come to me on my needles.

I'm thrilled to make this cowl available to all of us who need a bit of magic in our lives! Download A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes here and I hope to see you at the retreat next year!

Meyers Cowl

On our trip to Scandinavia last summer we museum binged. I got lost in drawers and drawers of historic fibers and knitting, saw textiles and embroidery that made me drool, looked at furniture and jewelry that belonged to royals, and got up close and personal with Viking ships and battle armor. It reminded me how very young the United States is and that while we have an eclectic history, it doesn't run nearly as deep as that of Europe, Asia, or much of the rest of the world, yet.

While at a museum on one of our last days in Norway, I stumbled across a very small glazed box that could easily fit in the palm of my hand. Apparently I didn't take a picture of the artist's information, but while cruising through the thousands of photos I took on our trip, this little box stood out and inspired my latest cowl design. I tucked it away in my inspiration file and knew it was time for it to come out and play.

Introducing the Meyers Cowl, a highly contrasting Fair Isle design with an i-cord cast on and matching i-cord bind off. This design is a mirror-image motif with the colors in reverse, making for a bold pattern that would look great in 2 pops of color, a bright and a neutral, or a variegated and solid. While the cast on and bind off techniques aren't super quick, they create a nice edge that won't roll, add a bit of extra weight to keep things in place, and create some dimension at either end.

I love local dyers and my friends over at The Fiberists don't disappoint with my favorite of their yarns, Audubon Worsted. A delightfully squishy 100% superwash merino, this is one of my go-to superwash yarns. The ease of care and bright palette named after elements makes this unisex design perfect for anyone. Knitting up on US 8 circulars, this 11.25" x 30" circumference cowl means it will actually keep you warm, and remember that stranded colorwork creates a double-thick fabric. It'd be a perfect knit for anyone on your nice list this year!

Download the Meyers Cowl here and be sure to check out The Fiberists Night Market in Herdon, VA on November 15th from 7-9:30pm. Details can be found here.

Photo Embroidery

I love when artists combine crafting with another medium. Mexican textile artist Victoria Villasana has paired vintage photographs of cultural icons and artists with brightly colored embroidery floss. The result reminds me of Fair Isle knitting and is unexpected and really interesting! Original article found here.

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Colorfully Embroidered Vintage Photos of Artists and Cultural Icons by Victoria Villasana

CHRISTOPHER JOBSON

Working with appropriated vintage photographs of artists, musicians, and politicians, Mexican textile artist Victoria Villasana applies a colorfully whimsical layer of embroidery atop each image. Criss-crosses of color and bright highlights around the eyes seem to lend a sense of empowerment to the works which often depict feminist icons from singer Nina Simone to artist Frida Kahlo. Villasana also takes her works into the streets and creates hybrid yarn bomb paste-ups from small stickers to entire murals. You can see more of her recent work on Instagram.

House of Faberge Cowl

Having an artist mother and a father who is very appreciative of the arts (and can draw a mean stick figure, hi dad!) I was brought up being very at home in art museums. We'd visit the MFA in Boston frequently, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, take day trips to museums further out, and pop into galleries. When at RISD I often found myself roaming the halls of the RISD Museum for inspiration and peace. Art appreciation is ingrained into my DNA and is such an imperative part of our existence.

There are a handful of shows that stick out in my mind as favorites - Picasso's Blue Period, David Hockney's Canyons, Monet's haystacks, Takashi Murakami, The Art of the Tiara - all at the MFA in Boston, all of which my mom took me to. Gerard Richter at MOMA, Rothko at the National Gallery of Art. Another of my two favorites were shows I saw at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art (yes, the Bellagio in Vegas has an art gallery, who knew?). My parents took me there for my 21st birthday (yes, my parents are that cool and it was an incredible trip) and Steve Martin's art collection was on display (the man has impeccable taste in art). Another show I saw there a few years later was a collection of items from the House of Faberge and it was spectacular.

Faberge was of course made famous by the Russian Tsar Alexander Romanov III and the whimsical and priceless Easter eggs he commissioned for his wife, Empress Maria Fedorovna. Our friends at Wikipedia tell us, "The House of Fabergé is a jewellery firm founded in 1842 in St. Petersburg, Imperial Russia, by Gustav Faberge. The firm has been famous for designing elaborate jewel-encrusted Fabergé eggs for the Russian Tsars and a range of other work of high quality and intricate details." Not only were some of the eggs on display, but jewelry, frames, snuff boxes, pins, etc. I do love shiny, sparkly things and this show captured my imagination. We went back twice!

It was this show that my mom and I wandered into by chance that inspired my latest design, the House of Faberge Cowl. Knit in Neighborhood Fiber Co's Studio Worsted, this cowl uses all of the MC (blue) and most of the CC (ochre), giving it a very nice weight and drape. Begun with a provisional cast on and knit in a very long tube, the cowl gets folded into itself and kitchnered together, creating an endless design with no wrong side. The hand dyed yarn creates a look similar to the hand painted enamel that was part of most of Faberge's creations, and the complimentary color scheme is bright and beautiful.

I've been very into slip-stitch colorwork lately, a technique that differs from Fair Isle because the colors are not stranded across the back, making it quick to knit. Only one color at a time is used while the other is left behind at the beginning of the round. Certain stitches are slipped and therefore elongated, creating an interesting illusion and texture. This cowl would be lovely in a gradient/solid combo, or even striped. I am completely in love with the weight of this cowl because it uses almost 700 yards of worsted. I brought it to a few of my workshops recently as an example of alternate colorwork and it was a crowd favorite! One student wore it the entire class and didn't want to give it back!

Art is so important to our history, our culture, and our souls. I was incredibly fortunate to have parents that recognized this and cared enough to educate me and bring me to countless exhibits and galleries growing up. I wear this cowl and think of them, and hope my children will learn to appreciate art as much as I do.

Download the House of Faberge Cowl here.