Author Archives: Karen Templer

Our Tools, Ourselves: Carrie Bostick Hoge

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In Our Tools, Ourselves, we get to know fiber artisans of all walks, ages, styles and skill levels, by way of their tools. For more on the series, read the introduction.

Our Tools, Ourselves: knit designer Carrie Bostick Hoge

Yay, Our Tools, Ourselves is back! Sorry for the unintended hiatus, but I’ve got lots of great makers lined up for the coming months, and I’m so pleased to be able to get things going again with none other than Carrie Bostick Hoge. You may know Carrie as an independent knit designer, as the photographer and art director of Quince and Co., or as the woman who does all of the above under her own brand, Madder. Carrie was one of the first people whose work I gravitated toward when I took up knitting, and I’ve always enjoyed the glimpses of her barn-studio on her blog. But having now seen the images she sent for this interview, I’m wondering if there’s some way I could secretly take up residence in there, like the kids in the “Mixed-Up Files.”

Be sure to follow Carrie’s blog, Swatch Diaries, and find her as “madder” at Pinterest and as “maddermade” on Twitter and Instagram. And thank you so much, Carrie, for this:

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Do you knit, crochet, weave, spin, dye, sew … ?

I am a knitter and beginner sewer. My mom gave me several knitting lessons in my teens, but it wasn’t until my early twenties that knitting finally stuck and I became obsessed. I played at sewing even before I held a pair of needles. The birth of my daughter in 2011 reignited my desire to learn for real. I want to sew little clothes for her! I’m determined to become a more confident sewer.

Swatches and baskets of knit designer Carrie Bostick Hoge

Tell us about your tool preferences and peccadilloes.

I am very attached to my straight wood needles. (Although my cats love to chew on them—so naughty!) In fact, it was a pair of wood needles that changed my view of what knitting could be. My mom had plastic or metal needles, so that’s all I knew in regards to knitting tools. But one day I saw my boss-at-the-time’s wife knitting some raw single-ply wool with wood needles. This resonated with me — from that day on I knew I wanted to commit to learning to knit. I will use metal needles depending on the project, but I always begin with my wood straights if possible.

How do you store or organize your tools? Or do you?

I have a basket for my circulars and fabric organizers for my DPNs and straight needles. But, honestly, the fabric organizers quickly become unorganized because my daughter is drawn to them like magnets and is constantly pulling the needles out and using them as drum sticks. Between my cats and my kid, it’s very hard for me to preserve order with my needles.

How do you store or organize your works-in-progress?

I’m a basket lover, so there are lots of baskets in my studio and at my house. In the basket I usually store the project in a plastic bag to keep it protected. My barn-studio, sadly, has mice so if the plastic bag doesn’t seal, I might still be in trouble. I recently found a bag of yarn with acorns in it! Not good.

Buttons, needles and tools of Carrie Bostick Hoge

Are there any particularly prized possessions amongst your tools?

I have my grandmother’s sewing machine and a lot of her sewing notions that I treasure. I have a tin of her buttons, too, that I relish.

Also, I feel a little funny saying this, but I like knitting bags. I splurged on a tote that my friend Karen Gelardi designed and sold on Quince earlier this year. I also have a vintage bag that my mom used as her knitting bag and she passed it down to me. This one is really dear to me. I also have a small project tote that I made in a sewing class that I like.

Do you lend your tools?

Yes, I’m happy to share what I have with others.

What is your favorite place to knit?

I’ll knit anytime of day, anywhere. My favorite place to knit is at home on my couch, or in bed is nice, too. I love that knitting is portable — it’s one of the aspects of knitting that really sealed the deal as I was learning. Coming from photography, where you need expensive equipment and a darkroom with chemicals, it was such a relief to find the simplicity of knitting. You don’t need much — a pair of needles and some wool. So I try to make the most of knitting’s portability as much as possible. It makes me less anxious, too, when waiting, for instance, at the dentist’s office.

In Carrie Bostick Hoge's barn-studio

What effect do the seasons have on you?

I do a lot of planning, dreaming, thinking and playing in the spring and summer. This past summer, I collected quite a bit of fabric. Fabric inspires knitwear design ideas — I try to imagine the perfect handmade sweater for the piece of apparel I’m planning to sew. (Or dreaming that I’d like to sew.) With the first hint of cool weather, I’m usually back on the needles working on the ideas that brewed over the summer. I love Autumn; it’s my favorite time of year. And winters are quiet and meant for knitting.

Do you have a dark secret, guilty pleasure or odd quirk, where your fiber pursuits are concerned?

My guilty pleasure is fabric. Definitely fabric. And yarn, too, I have an enormous yarn stash that is quite overwhelming at times. Yarn that I’ve had for years from past jobs, from past Rhinebeck trips (!), and some hand-me-down yarn from friends and family. But, this coming year I’m going to try to knit and sew with what I have and will try, try, try not to accumulate any more for a while. I’ve run out of baskets.

What are you working on right now?

I’m working on so many projects for Madder at the moment! Right now I am working on finishing up a pattern called Uniform Cardigan. It is one pattern with several variations, so the knitter can build their own cardigan. Hopefully I’ll be able to release this in a couple weeks. In January I hope to release a small collection of sweaters for Ladies and Little Ladies. I’m pretty excited about this project and look forward to sharing more in the new year.

Desk and yarn of Carrie Bostick Hoge

PREVIOUSLY in Our Tools, Ourselves: Kristine Vejar

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Photos © Carrie Bostick Hoge

The yarn makes the hat

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Purl Bee Simple Rib Hat in Worsted Twist

I don’t have much to say about this hat other than it’s the most purely pleasurable knitting experience I’ve had lately. You know how sometimes your days are so fast-paced and jam-packed that all you want to do before bed is cast on some stitches and knit mindlessly in a spiral for a little while? That’s me at the end of last week. A stockinette hat was sounding like the knitting version of a long, hot bath, and I’ve had my eye on the Purl Bee’s Simple Rib Hat pattern since it first posted.* I also have a nice little stash of Purl Soho’s Worsted Twist, which they sent me a few weeks ago, and I thought this hat would be the perfect “swatch” to try it out with. Man, was that a good idea.

This yarn is magnificent: soft but structured, beautifully plied, and so well behaved you can hardly believe it. (The photo above is of the unblocked hat.) I’m eager to see how it takes to cables and such, but the thing about a plain hat like this is that all of the pressure is on the yarn. The finished piece will be exactly as dull or special as the yarn is, and the Worsted Twist is way over at the special end.

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*I hadn’t knitted this particular hat before, but I did borrow the tassel for a baby hat last year.

Introducing … the Yarn Pyramid

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Introducting the YARN PYRAMID letterpress poster from Fringe Supply Co.

You guys, this is a thrilling day for me. I had this funny idea for a poster exactly a year ago, when I was working on what was then to be the Fringe holiday web pop-up, now known as Fringe Supply Co. It was such a simple idea but it made me laugh: the Yarn Pyramid. (“For a balanced fiber diet.”) I couldn’t make it happen with the time and resources I had at that moment, and it led to the wildly popular “High-fiber” tote bag, which I love, but the original idea has been rattling around in my brain ever since. And it’s finally come to fruition.

The finished product wound up being a collaboration with two amazingly talented friends. My pal Leigh Wells did the illustration. I designed it to look like an old-school educational poster. And our friend Victoria Heifner of Milkfed Press is doing all of the printing on her hand-cranked letterpress. So it’s a beautiful artifact, with every shape and letterform pressed into creamy Crane & Co cotton card stock. I couldn’t be more pleased, and I hope you’ll all want one hanging on your wall at home.

Introducing the YARN PYRAMID letterpress poster from Fringe Supply Co.

The Yarn Pyramid print is available today at Fringe Supply Co. and also at some of the best yarn stores known to man:

• Fibre Space in Alexandria VA (703.664.0344)
• Tolt Yarn and Wool in Carnation WA (425.333.4066)
• My Sister Knits in Fort Collins CO (970.407.1461)
• Knitterly in Petaluma CA (707.762.9276)
• Makers’ Mercantile in Kent WA (425.251.1239)
• Fancy Tiger Crafts in Denver CO (303.733.3855)
• Gather Here in Cambridge MA (781.775.9504)
• Haus of Yarn in Nashville TN (615.354.1007)

I’ll be making it available to new stockists starting next week and will keep you apprised of any additions. Or, of course, you can always order it here. Online orders will ship rolled in a tube; the stores will sell it to you flat.

ALSO: Pom Pom Quarterly issue 7 landed in two bundles the past two days. The preorders all went out yesterday and fewer than a dozen copies remain, so if you’re ordering that beautiful new poster for yourself, you might want to grab one of those as well!

If you love the Yarn Pyramid, it would mean the world to me if you’d help spread the news by pinning any of the images from this post or the store page, and/or sharing it with with your Facebook or Ravelry friends.

Introducing the YARN PYRAMID letterpress poster from Fringe Supply Co.

Thanks so much to all of you for supporting Fringe and me in so many ways. It is a joy being able to make things like this happen, and I owe it all to you. Have a terrific weekend!

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Q for You: How do you weave in your ends?

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Muckle Mitts knitted by karentempler

OK, so fair-isle knitting is an extreme example to use as the art for this Q for You, but I also really want to show you how my first colorwork project turned out! (Am I awesome or what? They’re Muckle Mitts, and the yarn is that Kenzie that Skacel sent me, and here they are on Ravelry. I love these from top to bottom.) But for real, the Q is: How do you weave in your ends?

(This is obviously another good one for the Beginning to Knit page, and I have a closely related one coming up next time.)

Like most things with knitting, everyone has a different favorite method, or a new one every month, or the answer is “It depends.” For me, the perfect project, in this context, is anything that starts and ends with ribbing and has no other loose tails in between! That’s because any time I’ve got a tail at the edge of some ribbing, I just run it down one side of a stack of knit stitches on the wrong side, then back up the other side of those same stitches. (Pictured below.) Give a tug to even out the tension, and snip! Done. I have no idea if this is an officially sanctioned method — I’ve just always done it, and it is so so simple. But if there’s no ribbing or seam to hide the ends in, I either use the duplicate stitch method or, if it’s a reasonably sticky yarn, I just weave them in a couple of zigzagging lines through the purl bumps on the wrong side. What about you?

How to weave in ends in ribbing

PREVIOUSLY in Q for You: Do you prefer your patterns written or charted?

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New Favorites: Round yoke sweaters

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New Favorites: Round yoke sweater knitting patterns

There’s so much discussion of the relative merits of raglan versus set-in-sleeve sweater construction that it’s easy to forget about the raglan’s discreet, seamless cousin: the round yoke sweater. Unlike raglans, where the yoke-shaping increases or decreases* line up visibly along the seams, round-yoke sweaters have them evenly distributed around the yoke, making them all but invisible. For me at least (but I believe generally — you’ll correct me if I’m wrong), round yokes are chiefly associated with Nordic sweaters, where the round-yoke approach means the increases/decreases can be disguised within the characteristic colorwork of the yoke rather than interrupting it. But the method has its merits, colorwork or no colorwork.

Hannah Fettig recently released a small collection of round-yoked patterns, called Knitbot Yoked, and there are also a couple of great ones in yesterday’s Wool People 6 collection from Brooklyn Tweed (which of course is full of all kinds of loveliness). But ever since trying it on, I’ve been obsessed with the round-yoked cardigan from their previous collection, BT Fall ’13, which fit me around the shoulders like no other sweater I have ever had on. So these are now all on my official to-knit list:

TOP LEFT: Trillium cardigan by Michele Wang is the one I tried on and can’t step thinking about. Flat body and circular sleeves are knit separately from the bottom up, joined at the underarm, and the yoke — ringed with texture instead of colorwork — is knit seamlessly from there.

TOP RIGHT: Willard Fair Isle Pullover by Hannah Fettig is my favorite from her aforementioned Yoked collection. Top-down seamless with a minimalist’s version of colorwork. AND! It’s designed for Quince and Co.’s Owl yarn, which I’m dying to knit with.

BOTTOM LEFT: Skydottir pullover by Dianna Walla is a more traditional stranded-yoke design, showing just how beautiful a single contrast color can be. Body and sleeves are each knit circularly from the bottom up, joined at the underarm, and knit seamlessly in one piece from there.

BOTTOM RIGHT: Rook pullover by Kyoko Nakayoshi is my absolute favorite from Wool People 6. Top-down seamless with gorgeous cables and a doubled neckband.

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*Increases if you’re knitting from the top down; decreases if you’re knitting from the bottom up.

How to learn to knit

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How to learn to knit

I’m asked this question, in one form/context or another, on an increasingly frequent basis, and it probably should have been first in the Beginning to Knit pool of posts. But it’s kind of a hard question to answer! You’ve seen an Instagrammer knitting some amazing mitts, or you’ve ventured into a store with a friend and witnessed the aesthetic splendor of modern yarn selections, or you remember your great-grandmother knitting when you were tiny and you’ve always wanted to learn. Maybe you’ve gone so far as to buy a ball of yarn and a pair of knitting needles. And the question is: Now what? How do I learn how to knit?

As with most things, getting started is the hardest part — especially if you’re an adult human trying to learn from scratch. In order to knit at the most basic level, you need to know two things: 1) how to cast on stitches (i.e., get the first row of stitches onto your needle) and 2) how to knit into those stitches to begin forming a fabric. From there, you can build your knitting skills at a feverish pace, but those are the first two building blocks. Like any new thing, it will feel awkward and maybe a little frustrating until you get the hang of it, and the better teacher you have, the better.

There are lots of options, and in reality you’ll use some combination of them all:

1) TAKE A CLASS
If there is a yarn store where you live and you can afford their introductory class, there’s really no better bet than learning from a professional. A good teacher not only knows how to teach knitting, but she knows more than one way of doing each and every thing and can help you find the techniques that will work best for you. A class will get you off on the right foot. In addition to yarn stores, there are loads of fiber festivals and knitting conferences that offer whole rafts of classes — at all levels and taught by traveling pros — which are generally well worth the investment. The big ones are Stitches, Knitting Lab and Vogue Knitting Live. At those events, there are often free Knitting 101-type lessons to get you over that first hump. If you’re averse to classes and have means, there are also private tutors in the world — ask your yarn store for recommendations.

2) HAVE A FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER HELP YOU
Knitters love to convert people to knitting, so don’t be shy about asking for help. Anyone — an aunt, a neighbor, a coworker — who is a reasonably skilled knitter can show you the basics. They may not be as good at teaching as they are at knitting (I was incredibly lucky in this regard) and they may only be able to show you how they do it, as opposed to a pro who can walk you through all the options, but having a human being show you and sit with you while you try your hand at it is priceless.

3) RELY ON THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS
If neither of the above is an option, see if you can find a knitting group in your area. Most towns have at least one that meets casually at some bar or coffee shop or library, and if you show up at one of those and ask very very nicely if anyone will show you the basics, there’s a chance someone will say yes. Have these two things with you: A ball (not a loose skein) of worsted-weight yarn, and size US7 knitting needle (either a circular, pictured above, or a pair of straight needles).

4) CONSULT THE INTERNET
Once you know how to cast on and knit stitches, I absolutely recommend that you watch videos at Knitting Help or The Purl Bee or YouTube, etc., to expand your skill set. (More on that here.) If you’re a quick study, good with your hands, and patient with yourself, it might even work to learn from scratch that way. If you’re going to attempt it, you’ll want to know first that there are two basic “styles” of knitting. Continental knitting is also referred to as “picking” and it involves holding the yarn in your left hand. English knitting is also called “throwing” and involves holding the yarn in your right hand. Knitting Help in particular has videos for each basic skill done in both styles, so you can watch and try both ways, and see what feels most comfortable to you. A hybrid approach would be to take an online class, at a site like Craftsy or Creative Bug — not exactly as interactive as a real live teacher, but a step up from a video, in that regard.

5) READ A BOOK
I know hoards of people have learned to knit from the “Stitch ’n Bitch” book, as just one example, and I find that amazing. Even being a visual learner, I find knitting diagrams and descriptions mostly inscrutable. So while I have a stack of books I use for reference — like when I want to compare a few different people’s advice on how to accomplish a certain thing — I wouldn’t have been able to learn to knit from them. But clearly it works for others!

No matter how you learn those starter skills, I really recommend signing up for classes to expand them. And/or finding a knitting group to hang out with. And/or attending “knit night” at your local yarn store. I’m always saying this, but things come up in conversations among knitters that don’t come up in books or videos, where the focus is simply on walking you straight through a specific skill. So take any opportunity to place yourself amongst knitters knitting. And if you take only one class, make it a class in fixing mistakes. You will make mistakes (not just at the beginning) and knowing how to fix them will keep your frustration level down and your bravery high.

To everyone reading this who already knows how to knit, as always you’re encouraged to share your thoughts on the subject below! And for anyone who’s about to ask: The yarn in the picture is some Fino that Manos del Uruguay sent me.

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See also: Advice for new knitters, Getting beyond garter stitch and the rest of the Beginning to Knit series.

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All star crowns

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All star crowns

It seems to me that one of the most interesting — and potentially fun — challenges in all of knitting is designing the crown of a hat. That is: taking whatever stitch pattern you’ve used for the tube portion of the hat and figuring out how to get it to artfully narrow to nothing within the few inches of the crown. Loads of hats avoid the issue altogether by having you, the knitter, simply stop whatever interesting thing you’ve been doing and switch to stockinette for the crown. And there’s nothing wrong with that. But I’m always wowed by designers who step up to the challenge — often making the crown the most beautiful and interesting part of the whole hat. These four great examples have floated across my screen lately, all of which happen to take a “star” approach, so I just wanted to take a moment to point at them and clap.

TOP: Tea Jenny by Kate Davies (who’s always good at crowns)
MIDDLE LEFT: Lowbrow Hat by Thao Nguyen (to go with your fave from the cowls roundup)
MIDDLE RIGHT: Gwyneth by Leah McGlone (I’m dying to knit this!)
BOTTOM: Fjordland by Dianna Walla (from Pom Pom 7)

I’m sure you’ve all got loads more examples of outstanding crowns, and I hope you’ll share them in the comments.

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ICYMI this week is more (gift-worthy) beanies: Beautifully textured hats.