Branching Out

double knit scarf hanging in our vermilion Japanese maple

I've been working on Falling Leaves / Falling Snow this week and I am super excited that I might actually get this pattern out soon.

But that is due in a large part to my breaking down and asking for help.  In the past, I always tried to juggle it all at the last minute and I would muddle through but it was so very stressful.

Recently, instead of not asking for help with things, I have been reaching out more and more.  I thought it would make me feel vulnerable and less than myself because of some crazy Aries independent streak I've had for years.  Instead, I found myself supported like I was cocooned in a fuzzy blanket sitting by a fireplace drinking hot cocoa.

I've always tried to be there for my family and friends.  I try to help out people on social media as much as I can with knitting questions and such but I rarely would let people help me.

I realize now how flawed that view is when your loved ones see you needing help but you refuse to ask and worse when they reach out you say, "I've got it," or "I'm good."

For a long time, I've had all these dreams that are halfway there.  Something always gets in the way of me getting to that finish line and I fall just short.

So I did it.  I admitted I needed a little help and instead of feeling like a failure, I feel so uplifted.  Now I have a soundboard to bounce ideas off of.  I have someone who understands my vision and my desire to create empowerment in the knitting community.  I have help and it is so, so freeing.

I am super excited to announceVixenpath now has a quality control department headed by an amazing person who can look at my patterns through a different lens and help them to really shine!

In life, it is so important to have a support system of people you can rely on.  We were not meant to do this alone. 

As we head into Thanksgiving here in the US, I feel so blessed, so thankful and so absolutely full of gratitude for my family, friends, and bundles of fur that we love so much!

I am so grateful for all of the people who visit this page and open a window into a small bit of my existence for the 17 years that I have had this blog.  

It has provided me a place to: create, mourn, teach, pontificate, empower, fail, grow, succeed, and write about things that maybe someone needs to hear that day.

Wishing you a safe and Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours.  💖

Happy crafting!

Ruinwen 🤗

**************************
Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗
**************************
Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  
May you be safe.  
May your loved ones be safe.  
🙏
**************************
Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.
🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏
**************************
Vixenpath is a safe space.
If you are:
LGBTQ+
Black
Brown
Asian
Any race
Coming out
Anything.
I am a safe person and I will always hold space for you in love and light.

Ruinwen

😀

On the Edge Part I

I was asked by someone what is your design process?

There is this post that really summed it up when I was working full-time.

But lately, I have been hyper-focused on figuring things out in a design to make it work or add that special something.  For the last two weeks, I have been re-working my brioche tutorial pattern.

I thought this would be an easy process but as you saw last week, there have been many changes that need to be really pondered before proceeding.  I am happy to say that I think I have edited the pattern in a way that allows for flow and cohesiveness.

a little swatch to look at edging

The problem I have been facing this week is putting an edging on that flows from the one color to the two-color brioche.  This would seem such a simple thing, right?

It has not been.  Whether it was my brain going away to Hawaii for a vacation or me just missing the simplest thing, it has really been a struggle.

But the struggle is part of the thing that I love about designing.  It forces me to think outside of the box and to create something that is a part of my unique vision.

Edges are really important to me.  I slip the first stitch a lot and I talked about it in this post here.

For one color brioche what I am using in the pattern is pretty simple.

Setup Row (RS):  

K1, *yf sl1yo, K1* rep ** to last 4 stitches, yf sl1yo, K1

Row 1 (WS):   

sl 1 wyif, *brk1, yf s1yo* rep ** to last 4 stitches, brk1, bring the working yarn to the front before slipping the last stitch purlwise

Row 2 (RS):    

K1, *yf sl1yo, brk1* rep ** to last 4 stitches, yf sl1yo, K1

This makes a simple, nice neat edge.

The problem is when the two-color brioche starts.  Each row is knit twice with two different colors, one is designated as the edge color or the main color (MC) and the other is the contrasting color (CC).  

This means that the CC cannot be worked on the first or last stitch of the row so MC edge stitches must be slipped on CC rows.  You can see this in the swatch picture above.

It is amazing how many ways that you can slip the first stitch.  There is knitwise or purlwise.  The working yarn can be in the back (wyib) or in front (wyif).  You can slip through the back loop or the front loop.  There is a lot to consider.

So yeah, this is what I've been working on this week, and I think that I'm almost there but I think after I finish getting the blog out then I'm going to take a little mental break to have some fun.

Part of working from home for me is being able to do some housework or self-care during the day and I alternate between the two.  

I will be back next week with the answer to this edge puzzle.

For now, I think I will answer the question that was posed in the beginning: what is my process?

• Look for inspiration everywhere - any moment can inspire you if you are open to it
• Be consistent with your creativity - make a time to be creative and stick to it, if you can't do your set creative task, do another.  Creativity is not limited to that one action, it permeates all of your life.  Any task where you come up with new ways to do something or find your way to tackle something from cooking to masonry to everything in-between is using your creativity.
• When ideas strike, write them down somewhere.  They may or may not be relevant now, but one day they might be.
• Some of your best ideas will come to you when you are doing something relaxing like taking a shower, meditation, or a walk because your mind is not focused on them.
• Don't compare yourself to others, you and your vision are unique
• Failing a thousand times does not make you a failure.  Your worth does not come from your creative endeavor.  You are worthy just by being the amazingness that is you.
• I like to swatch with soft lovely yarns that inspire me to want to knit with and create with them.  Yarncraft is about the color, texture, and how the fiber feels as it flows through my fingers.
• You will swatch a lot.
• Use lifelines.
• If a design doesn't work out, that is okay.  You are not your design.  You are awesome and a new design/idea will come your way before you know it.
• Don't rush the process.  The journey is half of the fun.

What are you all creating this week?

Happy crafting!

Ruinwen

😀

**************************

Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

**************************

Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

**************************

Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.

🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏

**************************

Vixenpath is a safe space.

If you are:

LGBTQ+

Black

Brown

Asian

Any race

Coming out

Anything.

I am a safe person and I will always hold space for you in love and light.

Can You Hear the Mice Singing?

You know that scene in the Disney cartoon of Cinderella where the mice are putting together a dress and singing along...that is what went through my head as I worked on this scarf.  If you haven't heard it then here is a link.

The gist is the two sisters throw away a sash and some pearls because they are so last season.  The mice pick them up and create something absolutely stunning for Cinderella.

I have three yarns that have been thrown away by my friends and I'm going to call them Cinderella yarns.

The first culprit was quite a trouble maker.  Her sister skein had been wound on a ball winder and during the knitting process pulled herself inside out.  Once ribbon yarn has been allowed some freedom it gets really tangled and that is when we met.  I lovingly untangled this yarn for about a week.  Slowly as I knit on the project as a little ribbon became free and it was slow patient, meditative work but in the end, my friend had a beautiful scarf for all that trouble.  She didn't want to even touch the other ball so it became mine.

The next ribbon yarn fell into similar circumstances; her brother had given the knitter so much grief she didn't even want to look at the second skein...I took him in also.

The third ribbon yarn didn't have any kin and from the cast-on she was so despised that I had to take her in too.

And there they sat until I thought about putting all these lonesome ribbons together and see what they could create when someone believes in them.  "cue the mice"

I started with the leftover black cotton from the baby sweater because I thought it would be stabilizing but in my wildest imaginations, I never saw the stark contrast that the black provided against the colorful ribbons.  I fell in love with this combination and from that moment on I just have loved working on this project.  It is so simple yet, so rewarding.  :)


I love knits that make you feel good.  I just adore fibers that make my fingers sing as I work them.  I finished my prayer shawl by the way and it is soooo soft!  I enjoyed working with the Billow more then I can say.  And when you have to bind off almost 600 stitches in the end...that is saying something.  :)

Sorry, no picture; I was so happy to have it done...I packed it up in its mailing box and got it all taped up when I remembered.  Ooops!

In the last week, I actually completed a lot.  I finished this Fair Isle hat.  While I have done Fair Isle before this was the first time I knit Continental and English at the same time. It was also the first time I did the floats right.  I took a fabulous class with my friend at the Mannings from Missy Burns and we had a blast.  It was one of those aha moments that you don't know how you functioned before you knew the key.  Well, I know how I functioned.  I would pick up the yarn and move it so it was in the right place and there was no hole...and well, I got really fast at it...but still.  There is no substitute for knowing the correct way to do something.  I'm really happy with my hat.  My stranding got better and my hands started to understand that this was the way we were doing this by the third motif and then...it was a whole new world.  

So now I can redesign my iPhone bag and finish the bag o' Fair Isle that I started...and make sweaters for so many things...babies, stuffed animals and possibly a vest for me.  I've had the pattern for years and certainly enough Palette to last for at least 10 vests.  Ah, the doors that have been opened... it's like a magic wand was waved over my head and I've been "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Booed" by the knitting faerie.  :)

I've been putting a whole lot of my energy into a lace class I will be teaching.  The shawl the students are making will start with simple lace techniques and grow as they learn new stitches and such.  It is a joy to figure out the motifs and watch them knit into being.  Right now I'm test knitting on Malabrigo chunky.  I like to see what the lace will look like in different yarns so if someone wants to use something different I have first-hand knowledge of what it will look like.  Besides...Malabrigo is so soft and yummy and I have been on this soft tactile kick lately.

May what you create give you joy,

Ruinwen
:)

Connections

"What every man needs, regardless of his job or the kind of work he is doing, is a vision of what his place is and may be. He needs an objective and a purpose. He needs a feeling and a belief that he has some worthwhile thing to do. What this is no one can tell him. It must be his own creation."

-- Joseph M. Dodge

My Grandpa was a lineman with Ma Bell...Pop Pop was too...and so is my Brother-in-Law who works for Verizon...those black cables lines that surround most of us connect all these amazing men.  There are 114,000,000 cable lines crossing the US connecting us to friends and loved ones at the touch of a few buttons.  It really is quite magical to me how a voice can travel from place to place at any time of day or night.

This thought had me up at two in the morning and I had a vision of a cabled scarf that I could design to honor these men in my family who have kept us connected over the years.  I imagined three cable lines that come together in a unique sort of way.

So I found a cable pattern I liked called Fishernet.  It was four cable lines all perfectly happily flowing into each other; so I shook things up a bit by removing one of the cables.  Now it was asymmetrical and very wonky to say the least.  So I charted two possibilities one with the bulbous exaggerated cables and one with nice flowing cables.  The charting reminded me of one of those pictures you stare at and suddenly everything shifts and you see whatever was hidden.  Suddenly, I could see the cable lines as clear as if they were really there.

I brought both charts to Knit Night and the girls voted on the flowing cable so that will be the one I swatch.  From beginning to end a new design can take quite a bit of time but sometimes everything flows and falls into place quickly and that is always a nice surprise.  But I suppose most things are like that.  

I have knit a pattern with no trouble at all; all my numbers work the first time and it just flows.  And then I have knit a pattern which I tink back more then I knit and I am dreading each stitch.  Sometimes I have silly setbacks that all can be chalked up to fate and not the pattern....such as this is the second day that I have forgotten a needle to finish my friend's baby sweater.  It has been that kind of week and it is only Tuesday.  *sigh*

Oh well, I still managed to get it done later that evening.  This cotton yarn is is Dark Horse, Desert Flower in black.  The pattern is Naughty Knots Top Down Baby Cardigan from February's Cast On.  I really enjoyed knitting this despite the fact I kept forgetting the needles.  

I adore the sheep buttons that I got at the Knitter's Nest, sorry the picture came out blue.  I want to make this again in something bright; the black was hard to see at times but when you have a city baby who likes his dark colors...I just went with it.  lol

I've been working really hard to put our brand on my patterns and get them up on Ravelry.  I've been making folders for all the patterns and systematically going through a checklist on each of them.  1) does the pattern work?,  2) layout the pattern, 3) photoshoot, 4) brand it, 5) check the whole thing again for accuracy and spelling and stuff and save it as a PDF...load it up and feel just a little freer.

The new ideas get folders too.  I get them to a point that I will be able to continue where ever I left off.  Which is where Linemen is.  It is all ready to be tested...and then I will make it reversible and test it again.   It all seems like a lot of work at times but when you see someone wearing something you designed and they tell you how much they love it...all the creation stress goes away.  Besides I really like the puzzle part of it.  Figuring out a pattern really is fun for me.  

I hope you all had a wonderful week; if not relax, make some tea and take some time to appreciate the wonderfulness that is you.

Happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:)

NOTE:  I had to change the settings to my comment feeds because of really bad spam.  Some of you said you couldn't read the little pictures with numbers and words and I agree: I can't either   So, I have moderated the comments.  I will try to keep up with them in a timely manner.  Thanks for your understanding.  Hugs!  :)

Evolution of a Hood

Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up.
-- A. A. Milne

The evolution of a pattern over a 3 year period

1. I found a pattern that I liked and it was really neat…a scarf that attaches to a hood to make a hooded scarf and decided to make it for a Christmas gift. It is now October.

2. After swatching I realize I’m not going to be able to deal with the back of the fabric and decide to redesign the cable to be reversible.

3. After messing up my math in every conceivable way and pulling my hair out, I chart the pattern correctly. There is much rejoicing. :)

4. The scarf is flawless and I love it. It is a joy to knit and I love the finished project. There is much happy dancing. :) It is now November.

5. Feeling on a wonderful high I use the same now tested cable pattern to replace the cable pattern on the old pattern’s hood and I am feeling pretty happy about how it looks and is making up.

6. I knit furiously finishing the hood and come to the grafting part and realize that I never took into account that:

One) the pattern grafted the two halves together so they would kinda be a blob and grow from one another and (Two) by using the reversible knitting technique in order for them to join properly the 2nd cable would have to be totally reversed from starting with a purl to the whole CF8 / CB8 mess. There was much gnashing of teeth, swearing and crying. :( It is now the day before Yule.

7. A good friend promises me in the new year she will rip the hood out with me…the salt tears are not good for the silken wool. :( It is now the day after Yule.

8. I do not have the will to reknit this hood part again and I make the scarf longer and give it as a gift and it is loved and appreciated. Happy dance. :) It is the day before Christmas.

9. During the long weekend, I scour Ravelry and my books for ideas and find another hood/scarf idea I like. I redesign the cables into smaller ones and actually get the math right on the first try. Amazement ensues. :) It is two days after Christmas.

10. I realize that in order for the hood to “grow” from the scarf I must employ the use of short rows. I spend two weeks swatching short rows until DH begins to think they all look the same. It is now January.

11. I begin on the scarf section and tweak design six times before liking the smaller reversible cables. Wild cable happiness abounds. It is now February.

12. It seems the hood has a will of its own and my friend cannot rip it out to save her life. We plan a day and I make the cut that will hopefully unravel my hood and give me back my pretty Noro. It hurts but we do it and now the hood is in one big ball. I place the ball back in the stash and try and forget how much I loved that hood. :(

13. I painstakingly line by line design a hood using Cat Bordhi’s method of knitting short rows. I am hopeful this is the month I will learn how to knit her little sock. *hah* I am still happy with the scarf portion and the pattern is complete but not yet tested. Hello March…

14. I’m getting ready to start the increases for the hood and so far so good.

15. Life goes insane and creative knitting falls into the drain of disparity for the rest of the year.

16. It is February again and I have learned how to knit Cat Bordhi’s socks thanks to a knit group that I am part of. I resolve that it will help me with my hood and spend many sleepless nights worrying about “Larinking”.

17. February is ending and I have two socks to pass on and my creative mojo is coming back from its long hiatus. I feel that I can take on the world…or at least the hood.

18. March; okay I'm getting down to business here. I am fired up by the Aries energy coming in and I want to see this pattern birth into life like the blooms that are starting on the trees. Starting again with two cables running up the scarf I am excited that maybe this will be the time that I figure this all out.

The cables are pretty little things filling me with hope.  I get to the hood part and I split them and everything goes as planned.  *there is much rejoicing*.  I decide this is enough for today and happily go to sleep.

19.  Somehow it is April and I have not worked on the hood.  I pick it up and totally lose everything Cat had taught me.  I fiddle with short rows until I have something I can be okay with and move on.

20.  My beloved Father dies suddenly and I cannot seem to knit anything that is complicated.  I have to push to finish my project for my class and can't believe I managed to design something and teach it when my heart is filled with such sorrow.  *side note:  yes I was cheating on my hat/scarf with my cowl design...but playing with the sugar was just too tempting)*

21.  June flies by and I knit here and there but charting looks too intimidating.  I start doubting myself and feel like I should just rip the thing out.  I am pretty down...I cry all the time in private.  I talk to Dad and he tells me that I shouldn't be sad because he is still with me.  Every bill I pay for Mom, every call I have to make breaks me down.  But the hat/scarf is patient.  It doesn't judge me and I am thankful for that.

22.  We start playing Skyrim since hubby works for their parent company and we've been wanting to play for a while...I've expounded on my gaming before so this should be no surprise.  I found this game slowly bringing me back to myself.  It is hard to explain.  But knowing I could set out and finish a Quest gave me the courage I could do another.  The battle music filled me with a desire to go forward.  We all get inspired in different ways: Skyrim helped me get through the melancholy haze I was in and embrace life again.  While I watched my son and DH play I began to knit again with a ferocity that surprised even me.

23.  With over 20 dragons under my belt, I was feeling more like my old self but quite different.  I was tired of being afraid of failing, and I just jumped into my pattern and ripped the whole thing out and started over.  By the end of the weekend, I had tested the cables and they looked good.  By the end of the week, I was finished with the hood and the cables were back together going down the other scarf.

24.  December.  I bring my finished triumph to knit night and one of the girls says it is a little big.  Not deterred in the least...I start working on sizes.

25.  January.  After so much math that I cannot comprehend if 2+2 actually equals 4 anymore; I have three sizes to show for all my work.  I still need to test them which will have to stay on the back burner for a while.  But I think the math will ring true when I do.

26.  February.  After much work and considerable effort, my beautiful hooded scarf gets a photoshoot.  I am proud that I finished it.  I can feel Dad smiling in Heaven.

Happy crafting,
Ruinwen
:)