One Salt Sea Archives - Tinking Turtle

Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival Recap!

October 1, 2014 by Jennifer Raymond

Another newsletter went out yesterday, if you didn’t see it, you can check it out here.

Last weekend I was at SVFF, and had an amazing time interacting with students, and finding a couple of new-to-me vendors.

Being a little closer to the introvert side of things than the extrovert side of things, after teaching for 3 days straight, I spent Monday and Tuesday happily working on my computer and not interacting with anyone. I answered only the most pressing emails, and was unable to even contemplate a blog post.

This isn’t unusual – I normally need an hour or two after teaching for a day to “recover.” This was just a more extreme example.

I thought I’d share some highlights from the weekend, in the form of a pictorial essay:

Mr. Turtle in a tree, looking smug.

Heading into SVFF – we managed to completely blow past the sign and had to turn around. I was completely hopping in my seat I was so excited!

Being in the mountains, the leaves were starting to change, even though they haven’t in Ashland. The contrast of the leaves against the sky was just stunning.

Teaching duct tape dress forms! Always a tricky part – getting the seam of your dress form to match up!

Bethany, the chairman, hooked me up with an SVFF t-shirt. Even though it was cool in the morning (and I had on my long-sleeve shirt and a shawl), by midday I was cooking, and eyeing the short-sleeved shirts. Bethany noticed and got me one. I’ve already washed it once so I could wear it again today.

Teaching Hairpin Crochet! Keep an eye on those two red hairpin lace strips – they’ll show up again!

The hairpin strips all connected! A little tiny piece of One Salt Sea.

I had a short hour after my second class on Saturday ended to check out the festival. I had to stop by and admire Dragonfly Fiber’s Booth and say hello. My eye was drawn to the shawl hanging up. It’s Faberge by Laura Aylor, and simply gorgeous.

On Sunday I was teaching an all-day class called Heels, Heels and More Heels! It was a terrible amount of fun to geek out about something I love. In the morning I was so cold – I had a turtleneck on under my dress, and a shawl overtop it. Recognize the shawl? It’s the Silva Shawl!

On Sunday at lunch I got a surprise – my student from my hairpin lace class was back – with far more than two strips connected! She wanted to share two helpful pieces of advice about One Salt Sea. First, she found it easier to connect the strips if she left her guideline in until after they were connected on both sides. It also helped when she didn’t stretch the strips out until after they were connected. I thought it was good advice, so I’m passing it along!

I loved the class space at SVFF. The class tents were set away from everything else, and I didn’t have to compete when speaking with anything else! Every once and a while we could hear some whistling from the sheep-herding demo that went on slightly nearby us. I was disappointed I didn’t get to see it, but Mr. Turtle took pictures – this was my favorite!

I’m looking forward to heading back to SVFF next year. It was a lovely event, and very well run. Did you go?

Tuesday Mash: Classes, Reading, and Halloween Ideas

September 3, 2014 by Jennifer Raymond

First, a reminder I’m teaching a variety of classes this weekend in and around DC. If you’ve been missing my smiling face, this is a good opportunity to get your Tinking Turtle Fix! A quick rundown, excerpted from my newsletter:

Darn Those Knits is happening at Fibre Space on Saturday the 6th.

While this class is wonderful for teaching you the practical skills of learning how to repair your handknits, it also has a great side benefit: you’ll have a greater understanding of know knit and purl stitches interact. You’ll go home with a better understanding of the Duplicate Stitch, and even learn a great way to “hack” doing the Kitchener stitch. This class isn’t only about repairing things, it’s also about understanding your knitting.

Crazy Simple Lace: Hairpin Crochet is one of my favorite classes to teach for a couple of reasons. I don’t get to teach crochet classes as often as I do knitting. I love how fast this scarf works up, which makes it a great gift for the holidays (which are fast approaching!). And if you’ve never worked hairpin lace before, you’ll be shocked at how versatile it is.

This class is also happening at Fibre Space on the 6th, and would be a great way to spend your Saturday afternoon!

Colorwork Backwards, Forwards and Sideways is my inaugural class I’ll be teaching at the Knitting Boutique. I’m so excited to teach this killer class! This class features a fun pattern (exclusive to the class) to demonstrate how to do jogless stripes, work with stranded knitting, and how to use slipped stitches in stunning results!

I decided to work my sample in traditional fall colors, since cool weather is right around the corner. And this quick cowl simply flies by!

I’ve been gobbling up Seanan McGuire’s The Winter Long, which is the 8th book in her Toby Daye Series. I’ve talked about how much I enjoy Seanan’s writing; so much so that the scarf I’m using to teach this weekend, One Salt Sea, is a nod to one of her books. A mix of urban fantasy, folklore and mystery, I’ve been waiting the last year to read this book. While the genre might not be everyone’s cup of tea, I love the book for the strong plotted elements. Like the Harry Potter series, or even the Outlander series, there are strong threads seeded in the first book that come to fruit in this book. It’s amazing to behold.

Now that I’ve read the book, I’m thinking I might just have to get the books on tape and marathon the entire series, just so I can take my time and appreciate what McGuire has been building for the last few years.

I’ve also been listening to a lot of other things on audio. I’ve talked before about my love of RadioLab, but I’ve also been marathoning Welcome to Night Vale. Night Vale is a fake radio show highlighting a rather strange town out in the middle of a desert. Both strange and hopeful, frightening and contemplative, it’s not the sort of thing I’d normally enjoy, and yet I do.

I’m actually thinking that I want to decorate my house as a tribute to Night Vale for Halloween. As if I don’t have enough to keep me busy.

What’ve you been up to?

Inspirations and Influences: Time Traveler

August 4, 2014 by Jennifer Raymond

Photocredit: Sockupied

I’ve got a new pattern that released this last week, and you might have caught a glimpse of it as I hinted at it’s existence. Time Traveler is a pattern based off of my love of historical knitting and crochet patterns, and I couldn’t be happier to have it released into the general public. Let me tell you, for all the sock’s simplicity, it took me forever to figure out how to get the lace to wrap around the ankle without breaking the stitch pattern anywhere. Absolute ages. But it all works now: and I’ve done all the hard thinking for you!

Let me let you in on a little secret: every once and a while I like to pay homage to my favorite authors with my patterns. One Salt Sea is a homage to Seanan McGuire’s book by the same name (which in turn is a homage to Shakespeare, but I digress). Time Traveler is a tip of the hat to Diana Gabaldon, whose Outlander series features a time traveling heroine. I have a few other patterns whose design sub names followed that name-scheme, but many of the names don’t make it to publication. I have to admit, when I named Time Traveler nearly a year and a half ago, I didn’t know that the Outlander Series would be in the process of being made into a TV series.

Photocredit: Sockupied

There’s so much I love about how these socks turned out: the picot hem, which I love (and would like to use more!), the way the lace seamlessly travels into the rest of the sock (which, dear readers, you don’t know how hard that was!), and the deep plummy color of the yarn. I love the way the heels are worked, the way the toe expansion forms – quite simply, I adore the socks so much. The Hazel Knits yarn is a really good choice for this pattern: you need a sturdier sock yarn in order for the lace to block out and show well. Something that is softer (but more fuzzy) doesn’t quite show how the increases and decreases interplay to make the lace what it is.

Later in the week I’ll be talking about historical patterns, and a little bit about the not-so-easy process of reading them and mining them for ideas.

Until then, enjoy!

Photocredit: Sockupied

New Pattern: One Salt Sea

October 30, 2013 by Jennifer Raymond

by Jennifer Raymond

Published in: Tinking Turtle Designs
Craft: Crochet
Category: Neck / Torso → Scarf
Published: October 2013
Yarns suggested: Three Irish Girls Glenhaven CashMerino Sock
Yarn weight: Fingering / 4 ply (14 wpi) Information on yarn weights
Hook size: 3.75 mm (F)
Yardage: 200 – 300 yards (183 – 274 m)
Sizes available: 14″ x 68″, blocked. May be worked longer.

This pattern is available for $5.00 USD

One Salt Sea is a great first hairpin lace project. Each strip that makes the scarf is short and sweet – no marathon strips to join together! If you’ve never done hairpin lace crochet before, don’t worry – this pattern walks you through the whole thing.

This scarf works up quickly – even in sock yarn! Work the strips and join as you go, or wait until the end to join them. It’s a great introduction to hairpin crochet.

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