Rhinebeck Ho!

I'm psyched to head up to Rhinebeck tomorrow for the Sheep and Wool Festival! It looks like it'll be a rainy weekend - oh, to sip some cocoa and savor that wet wool smell! I'll be heading up as part of a two-bus caravan organized by the inimitable Archie of the Park Slope Knitting Circle. I'll be wandering around with a red pompom hat on and my MoltingYeti Ravelry pin, with a knitted squid somewhere on my person. Say hi if you see me!

Beautiful Mirabilis-es

One of the funnest parts of knit designing is seeing how much fun everyone is having with your patterns. Check out a few of these gorgeous Mirabilis-es!

First up: Oiyi. She was one of my test-knitters back in December. She's an awesome and thorough tester, I absolutely love her work, and her photography is gorgeous! Her post shows the full evolution of the blanket, too.

Images by Oiyi - full post here

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Gold

Next, a bold red Mirabilis by Tawana - Tawana's a member of my Stitch 'n Bitch, and often brings her daughter KJ. KJ is just about the sweetest toddler ever. This was a total thrill for me - it's one of the first times I'd seen one of my designs all knit up in person, and in use as a stroller blanket, too!

Images by Tawana - full post here

Yarn - Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted in Bold Red

And last, here's Vanessa's. Vanessa runs the online yarn shop The Fiber Fix. The Madelinetosh Worsted she used for this blanket is downright dreamy.

Images by Vanessa - Ravelry project page here. Check out her shop here.
Yarn: Madeline Tosh Worsted in Cherry

You can see more Mirabilis-es in progress here on Ravelry:


And the pattern is available here in the Molting Yeti pattern shop:

A Big Hat Book and an Australian Pole Cosy

Autogyro from Knitty (by me)

Hey - re-posting a couple calls for entries here for anyone who's interested.

The brilliant and talented Annie Modesitt is putting together a picture-book of 1000 knitted hats. All knitted hats are welcome, and there are prizes for original designs. Get the skinny here.

Photos by Jake Dobkin in Gothamist

And if the 9th Street Fence outside ps122 or the yarnbombed parking meters of Montague Street in Brooklyn got you all excited, grrl+dog is organizing a massive stitch-up of the columns outside the National Gallery of Australia. Complimentary hand-made bling for all who participate. Find out how to play along here.

Knit the Golden Spiral at PS122 - Stitch 'n Bitch to follow

Want your own spiral to love?

As part of the Yarn Theory exhibit at the PS122 Gallery, I'm hosting a free workshop on knitting the golden spiral. It's the same form used in the piece I made for the show and (if you've been tuned in to my work for a while) the top half of the "Seuss-y" Christmas Tree.

Knit the Golden Spiral with Daniel Yuhas
Saturday, May 9
Noon to 2 p.m.
PS122 Gallery - 150 First Avenue (corner of 1st avenue and 9th Street), NYC

Come learn to knit a three dimensional Golden Spiral. Spirals like these occur all over the place in nature, from the nerves in our eyes to the shape of our galaxy, not to mention seashells. There's all kinds of math going on here - the golden section and Fibonacci numbers and the greek letter phi, but in practice it's a simple, intuitive, and meditative pattern to follow.

Students should have some experience knitting in the round.

Bring your favorite yarn and a set of double-pointed or circular knitting needles a few sizes smaller than the yarn package recommends.

... immediately followed by:

Yarn Theory Stitch 'n Bitch
Saturday, May 9
2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
PS122 Gallery - 150 First Avenue (corner of 1st avenue and 9th Street), NYC

Come check out the show, and meet your fiber-y friends or make new connections. Come as you are, and bring whatever you’re working on to show and tell. Everybody’s also welcome to contribute to the ongoing yarn-bombing of the Ninth Street fence that’s taking place as part of the show. Snacks and coffee graciously provided by PS122.

Sneak Peek - Yarn Theory

Here's a peek at the piece I'm working on for the Yarn Theory show at the PS122 Gallery. I'm thrilled to be showing my work along-side such a talented bunch of artists, crafters, and mathematicians.

Yarn Theory: Knitting, Crochet, Math, and Science

Curated by Martha Lewis

Ted Ashton, Emily Barletta, Sarah-Marie Belcastro, Nancy Cohen, Rita Cohen, and Anschel Schaffer-Cohen, Christine Domanic, Kate Fenker, Amanda Gale, Miyuki Kawamura, Martha Lewis, Margaret Oomen, Gail Rothschild, Daina Taimina, Daniel Yuhas

With Robyn Love's The Knitted Mile
and the 9th Street Fence organized by Karen Eubel.

RECEPTION: April 25, 5 – 7pm
150 First Avenue
(Entrance on 9th Street between First Ave. and Ave. A.)
New York, NY

I hope to see some of you there.

Calling all Yarnbombers - PS122 Needs You!

As part of the upcoming Yarn Theory exhibit at the PS122 Gallery in New York City's East Village, we're inviting knitters and crocheters of all stripes to tag the big old wrought-iron fence that rings the building with knitted or crocheted "knit-fiti". The building has been scaffolding-ed up for years, and it needs people like you to pretty it up. Please join us in festooning PS122 with yarn!

The fence-decorating has already begun... we hope to have a lot more done before the show opens on April 25. All are welcome to participate any time between now and May 17, when the show closes. If you'd like to join the fun, please contact organizer Karen Eubel, keubel(at)hotmail.com, or Daniel Yuhas, daniel.yuhas(at)gmail.com.

Yarn has been graciously donated by Lion Brand for this project - thanks again to Lion for their generous support!

Wouldn't I look prettier in my new fence-cosy?

Yarn Theory

I'm thrilled to let you know that I'll have work appearing in a show at the PS122 Gallery this April-May! I'm making something new just for the show and it's coming out gorgeous!

Yarn Theory
April 25-May17, 2009
PS122 Gallery
150 First Avenue, New York, NY 10009 (map)
Opening Reception Saturday, April 25 from 5 to 7
Gallery Hours: Thursday through Sunday, Noon to 6pm

Yarn Theory highlights the vibrant and deep interrelationship between the sciences, mathematics, crocheting and knitting. From mathematicians looking for clear and visual ways to model their theorem to home-knitters and artists looking to create unique sculptural objects, the world of contemporary yarn work is rife with cross-pollination between the disciplines. The explosion in the popularity of knitting and crochet has yielded an interest in using the medium to go far beyond sweaters, socks, and wearable items into the worlds of geometry, biology, natural sciences, and to push the medium’s sculptural boundaries.

Highlighting the work of some of today’s most interesting practitioners, Yarn Theory juxtaposes installations and art objects made with a scientific or mathematical basis as a starting point, and with mathematical models and items made explicitly to explain or clarify abstract concepts, which end up being compelling aesthetic forms unto themselves. Because of their incremental structure, the crafted shapes often mimic growth systems found in nature. Such correlations are being explored by today’s needle workers, many of whom are also scientists and mathematicians professionally.

The exhibit will include workshops, knitting sessions, yarnbombing, special talks, and even a musical performance! Stay tuned here or to the PS122 Blog for details as they emerge.

Participating artists:

Ted Ashton
Emily Barletta
Sarah-Marie Belcastro
Nancy Cohen, Rita Cohen and Anschel Schaffer-Cohen
Lisa Daehlin
Kate Fenker
Miyuki Kawamura
Martha Lewis
Robyn Love
Margaret Oomen
Gail Rothschild
Daina Taimina
Daniel Yuhas

Want me to teach you to knit? Come to the Hot Pink Party!

I'm doing some teaching for charity next month - The Glamour Gals Foundation, an organization that works to foster relationships between teen girls and elderly women living in senior homes, is having a Hot Pink Party! For a $25-$35 donation you get yarn, needles, and a beginning knitting or crochet lesson - a seriously sweet deal. I'm not sure why, but you've gotta be 21 or older for this event.

It'll be Friday, April 24 from 6:15 to 8:30 at 15 Central Park West in NYC. Register here. Sign up soon if you're interested - tickets are going fast!

Oh, and here's some pink to inspire you:

Pillbugs for the Popcorn School

Hey folks - if you've been itching to get your hands on a MoltingYeti original and you live anywhere near Flatbush, Brooklyn, here's your chance! I'm donating one of my sample Doodlebugs (aka pillbug, roly-poly, woodlouse, armadillidiidae or the only known terrestrial crustacean) to the silent auction at my godson Silas's pre-school.

The party promises to be tons of fun too - There will be yummy food and dancing, lots of dessert, and auction items galore, all for one of the coolest pre-schools ever.

Next Saturday, January 31 @ 7:00
The basement of the Dutch Reformed Church
Kenmore Terrace and East 21st Street
(near the intersection of Flatbush and Church)
Brooklyn, NY
$15 cover includes dinner & dancing - all proceeds go to the Popcorn School.
It's a benefit for kids, but this party is for grown-ups.

Hope to see some of you there!

Knitting, Graffiti, No Pants, and... Oatmeal?

What a strange world it is ...

At our last Stitch 'n' Bitch, Barbara and Renee shared the most hilarious stories of running into pants-less people on public transportation over the weekend. Renee's description of interceding with a cop who was hassling a pants-less fellow was particularly awesome. Something like: "She said 'hey, put some pants on' and he said no and she said 'so why don't you go where you're going, and then take off your pants?' And I said 'hey look he's got a constitutional right not to wear pants! It's his free expression and it's not like he's exposing himself or anything!' And then she moved along to someone else and tried to get them to put their pants on." Why all this public pantslessness? It was, of course, No Pants Day.

Of course? If, like me, you missed out on the fun, here's a ravelry thread and here's a youtube video:

Note the pantsless subway knitter about a minute in!

After we'd pretty much said all we could about No Pants Day, the conversation turned to the knitting-as-performance-art that's going on right now at the Time Warner Center (the big shiny shopping mall at Columbus Circle). A bunch of knitters are covering parts of the mall with knit-fiti a la Knitta or Denise Litchfield (pictured below from a Sydney Morning Herald article my friend Jemima just sent me).

The reason for tagging the mall with knitting: Jamba Juice. It'll be Jamba Juice sponsored knit-fiti in Jamba Juice colors, as a big celebration of ... oatmeal. Knitting ... graffiti ... as performance art ... for the man? It's all going on today until 9:00. Check it out if you can.

Economies of Scale

I'm totally psyched to let you all know that my friend (and co-leader of the Flatbush Stitch 'n Bitch) Marci Senders has some work appearing in Economies Of Scale - a Juried exhibition of Miniature Works in Fiber by members of the Textile Study Group.

The show runs from January 7 to January 31 at the Phoenix Gallery
210 Eleventh Avenue at 25th Street, Suite 902
Hours: Tues-Sat, 11:30-6

There's an opening Reception this Thursday, January 8 at 6:00. Hope to see some of you there.

Congratulations, Marci!

Secondary Colors

I pulled my (orange) knitting out of my (green) knitting bag at lunch today, and found a purple pepper Iviva had given me inside along with the blanket I'm working on. Such beautiful colors together! I just ate the pepper for dinner - thanks again!