Issue 31, launching Study Group, testing the wonky spiral pattern, and prepping for festival workshops

new year busyness

hey everybody,

This Wednesday, February 5th, is launch day for the Freeform Study Group, when subscribers to the group will start receiving email prompts for things to try in their freeform crochet practice. Check out the first prompt and read more about the group to see if it's a good fit for you. If it is, you can upgrade your subscription to include the Study Group emails using the button below.

Last month in my studio, it was all about writing Study Group prompts, writing class materials, and working on a new freeform-ish guide for wonky freeform spirals. The new guide starts with a stich-by-stitch pattern for a wonky spiral, intended to be a jumping off place for students, something to refer for structure when they start freeforming it. Writing it was a learning experience.

I think there’s a reason there aren’t a whole lot of “freeform” patterns out there; writing out the random assortment of stitches and directions needed for a pattern to reproduce a piece of improvised crocheting is extremely fussy. But, the guide needed it to demonstrate how the irregular wonkiness works, to show how the sausage gets made. After getting the pattern all typed up, I needed to know if it made sense to anyone other than me, and pattern testing was going to be the best way to find out.

Back in December, I put out a call in this newsletter for wonky spiral testers, and I was delighted to have lots of crocheters sign on. Testing started, pattern issues were identified, ideas were shared, conversations were had, and editing/correcting commenced. This has been my first experience with pattern testers, and these women were simply fantastic. My pattern is better many times over because of their insights. And seeing the spiral photos has been a real treat.

Here are nine of these spiral samples for your viewing pleasure, with more to come in the next post. Sending a huge shout-out of thanks and gratitude to Tina, Julianne, Cathyann, Lisa, Jenny, Linda, Zann, Sue, and Juli today for their lovely work!

wonky spirals from the crochet testers group

january knitting and crochet

With all this planning and writing, I’ve needed my knitting and crocheting time to be less intensive and more like comfort work. Since my other projects are at “think about it” stages, I started a new shawl. And then one more, and then yet another.

First (see photos below), it’s Linen Soup from Dawn Barker. This pattern is written for stash remnants of fingering weight wools, and I’m there for it. Next is the Idylluna Shawl by Kelly McClure. Check out the pattern page photos to see the neck opening, it’s a very cool design. I’m adding in some stitch patterns, just couldn’t resist. Third, it’s another River Run shawl from the delightful Christy Furber. There’s lots of textural variety in my yarns, even more variety still with extra stitch patterns. I’d make a lot more progress if I’d started only one of these shawls, but I regret nothing.

Linen Soup, Idylluna, and River Run

choose your own adventure

Next month I’m teaching a class at the Carolina Fiber Fest about knitting variations of my Vacation Favorite asymmetrical shawl pattern. Students will choose which stitch patterns they’d like to use and where to place them in their shawls. Some of these stitch patterns may look familiar from my current shawl projects above…

I love everything about making these shawls, from choosing the yarns to experimenting with the stitch patterns. If you’re a knitter in the Raleigh-Durham area, check out the Choose Your Adventure class and others from the extensive workshop schedule.

artists for inspiration

I was drawn to Sanna Rahola’s textile art when I saw a photo from her studio on Instagram. At first glance, the pieces looked like modern weavings, but I soon realized that they’re actually felted wool. This photo is a close up of her piece called Yellow Spring.

Rohala and Douglas Drdul, a woodworker, create unusual wall pieces as a team. They originally began working together when Drdul started making wooden frames for Rahola’s work, but now they collaborate on unique pieces that combine wool and wood as equal elements.

something other things you might like

What I’m reading: Demon Copperhead, still

What I’m listening to: the Bridges Of Madison County and Lyle Lovett

What I’m cooking: recipes from my neglected cookbooks! A friend and I came up with a recipe challenge a few months ago. We each choose one of the cookbooks in our own libraries to focus on for a while, and, ideally, we make one or two recipes from it each week. I’m better at buying cookbooks than I am at actually cooking from them, so this experiment has been the perfect nudge to use what I have.

That’s it for today, thanks for reading!

Lisa

PS: The official start date for the 100 Day Project is February 23, 2025. I’m still thinking.