Mary Jane Mucklestone

Hand Knitting Blog & Knitting Patterns

Knitting

Knitlandia: A Book and A Giveaway

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Knitlandia

I’ve been looking forward to the release of Clara Parkes new book Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees The World. I’m a big fan of both travel and knitting, so two of my favorite things all in one darling book. The cover is so cute, I’m dying to read it in public, better yet read it and knit in public. And in this case, read it and knit in public while emitting knowing guffaws, chuckles and full on coffee-out-the-nose bursts of laughter. Such a good storyteller is our Clara.

Hagrimskirkja

I was especially anticipating Clara’s descriptions of her Icelandic adventure because I love Iceland, been there a bunch of times, and several years ago Gudrun Johnston and I took part in a similar trip also hosted by the inimitable fireball Ragnheiður Eiríksdóttir. Clara nails it -she gets it absolutely perfect, the strange, not strangeness of Iceland.

IcelandHorses - 1

Knitlandia is the best sort of travelogue, Clara makes you feel like you’re right there with her – the sights, sounds and smells of the place. Having cappuccino at a cafe that provides nail polish too, visiting the Lopi factory, shopping for yarn in the supermarket, riding Icelandic horses, told with lots of informative background information slipped in, all spoken with her comfortable entertaining voice which makes you feel like she’s your best friend, and she’s only telling these stories to you.

My favorite part was the sheep round-up and dinner afterwards – but you’ll just have to get the book!

knitlandia_iceland6

One great thing about Iceland from a knitter’s point of view, that Clara noticed, is the prevalence of Lopapeysas – the typical Icelandic sweaters – which are everywhere. Here’s a slideshow of some I snapped during that 2012 trip to Iceland…they are the glimmering inspiration that sparked my Stopover sweater!

You’ve got a chance to win a copy of Knitlandia – lucky!!!!

Just leave a comment telling us something you like about Iceland.

The giveaway is open to U.S. and Canadian entries only. (I’m so sorry all of you in the rest of the world! Not my choice) The giveaway closes Sunday March 6th at midnight (EST) and I will announce the randomly chosen winner on Monday March 8th. The winner will contact me and I’ll forward your information to ABRAMS Books.

Give it a go! Write a novel…because WE LOVE ICELAND and WE LOVE CLARA!

Goats - 1

Keep following the Knitlandia blog tour:
Feb 22 Knit and Tonic
Feb 24 My Sister’s Knitter
Feb 26 ME!!!
Feb 29 Knit Circus
March 2 Yarniacs
March 4 Leethal
March 7 Tin Can Knits
March 17 Marly Bird (Yarn Thing Podcast)

Iceland - 1 (1)

Scandinavian Week

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MJMuckleston_ScandiCowl

Hey! Come join me at the John C. Campbell Folk School March 20 -26 in Brasstown North Carolina, during their annual Scandinavian Week!

I’ve wanted to attend since I was in high school, so it is a real honor to be teaching.

In our week long workshop we’ll explore choosing and altering pattern motifs to suit this cowl project and many of your future projects. Plus everything else I can manage to cram in!!! This happens in an incredible rural location in the hills. The school was established in 1925 in part to keep alive the folk traditions of Appalachia, inspired by the rural folkehojskoles in Denmark.

There are totally amazing classes besides mine, lure your if non-knitting friend or partner to come along – pottery, jewelry making, music, printmaking, sewing, weaving, basketry, woodcarving, woodturning, rosemaling and what I want to take – blacksmithing – all with a Scandinavian theme!

Hope to see you there!

Ps…for a gallery of finished Stopovers from the Mason Dixon Knitting #BangOutASweater KAL on instagram
search for #Bangfinisher

Stopover – New Sizes

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StopoverKAL

You asked for it and you got it! Stopover has been expanded! We have sizes from XS – 5XL!!!!

Woo Hoo!

Now you’ve got no excuse not to join the Mason-Dixon Knitting, #BangOutASweaterKAL starting on Monday…don’t fret if your yarn does not come at the crack of the starting gun…there’s plenty of conversations happening on their blog and Ravelry group to inform, enlighten and entertain!

Stopover

Size XS (S, M, L, XL, XXL, 3XL, 4XL, 5XL)

Finished Bust

32 (37, 40½, 44¼, 48, 51¾, 55½, 60¼, 64) in.
81.5 (94, 103, 112.5, 122, 131.5, 140.5, 153, 162.5) cm.
Plus!!!We have a fancy new sizing table and schematic included.

Stopover – Bang It Out – Mason-Dixon Style!

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Stopover Fun! filmed by Kathy Cadigan on the island of Unst, Shetland. 
Acting silly and leaping like a gazelle in Stopover.

 

Bang out a sweater in no time – that’s the plan.  Mason-Dixon Knitting is having a Knit-A-Long!  Yes Ma’am!

Kay figured out that you really can knit Stopover FAST!!!

Mason-Dixon is the Headquarters…so go there immediatly!! 

I would love to join in but I have a heap of other obligations…so although I have a basket full of Lettlopi that is beckoning and tempting me I must not succumb…though I really really want to….we shall see how strong my willpower is…In any case I’ll be pretend playing along and available the whole time for hand-holding and consultation…although Stopover is so simple you probably won’t need any.

Today I’ll tell you a little history!

JeniStopoverStopover_Purple1
 Left: Photographer Jeni Reid's Stopover for Wovember.
Right: Designer Kirsten Kapur's Long Weekend Stopover

When I decided to make the first Stopover I was headed to Shetland 5 days later, (see video above) and I remembered I should be wearing something I made in the pictures…It had to be light, because of packing and traveling, plus it was summer. An Icelandic Lopapeysa was the obvious choice – the yarn is light and lofty and weighs next to nothing! My mom bought one in Reykjavik way back in the 70s – and it was light as a feather! She wore this sweater to death, and it held up great, only needing a little mending at the cuffs after about 5 years, and if it weren’t for the dreaded moth problem at her house it would still be going strong. Almost the same sweater can be found in the Handkknitting Association of Iceland shops today, but at the usual denser regular Lopi  weight and gauge.

KikiStopoverLoriStopover
 Left: Kiki's Don't Stop (East Road Knits on Ravelry).
 Right Lori's Embellished Stopover (loritimesfive on Instagram)

I’m a gal that does not stick to the ball band suggestions. Yarn companies are in the business of selling yarn, so they want you to use as much as you can, smaller needles means you use more yarn. I make things based on what I want. I wanted to reproduce that super light fabric, so I used Lettlopi – what they call an aran weight – at the regular – bulky – Lopi gauge. Because of the qualities of Icelandic wool, it fluffs up and fills in the spaces, so the resulting fabric is full of air, and does not droop or sag like might happen with other yarns. I am sure there are other yarns that might substitute well, I remember a mohair blend when I worked at a yarn shop that I used the same trick with, knitting it at a way looser gauge than the ball band said…I’m a renegade from way back!

Light to pack and fast to knit, my rules. I got my Stopover  designed and finished before takeoff!

The KAL officially starts next Monday, February 1.

Ready steady GO!
Get thyself to Mason-Dixon Knitting!!!

PS: We had a KAL over on my Ravelry group last fall. You can check out some fabulous color combinations in the Finished Objects thread!

Winner!

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Bowie

Thank you for your courage, beauty and brilliance Mr.Bowie.

On this morning of ending, Susan, wins a free pass for an event held in David Bowie’s adopted home. A 3 day pass to The Vogue Knitting Marketplace in Times Square is yours Susan. Contact me with your email info and I’ll pass it on to the organizers who will arrange it all for you. Congratulations.

Thanks for playing along everyone, and sharing your New York Moments. Go in and read them all. I have to say Susan’s was the sweetest:
It has to be when we took the kids to the American Museum of Natural History and my then-four year old son took off running and yelling “Dum-Dum, Dum-Dum!” as soon as he spotted the Easter Island head replica. He was a little thing, running from one end of the gallery to the other with unbridled excitement at seeing something he recognized from Night at the Museum. Even the museum docent smiled and laughed.

Shannon’s took me right back to The Plaza:
Once I went with my parents to the Plaza Hotel for tea. We had tea and a few sandwiches and the bill was over a hundred dollars! My dad said, “We’re never coming back to the Palm Court!”

And Beth, I can smell the chestnuts!:
I lived in Manhattan when I was a child for 4 years. So many memories, but Saturday trips to the museum of Natural History and eating roasted chestnuts is on the top of the list.

Sheila and Leah were there at the time I was living there:
I lived in NYC in the scary early ’80s. Loved wandering the aisles of the Strand Bookstore. Would love to win and live my NY dream again!

Visiting NYC at the end of the 80s as a young university student … staying with a friend in HIS friend’s drafty, under-construction apartment up by Columbia. It had holes in the bathroom walls, a mattress on the floor, and a boombox with only one tape: Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home. I ate more $1 slices of pizza than I thought possible and gave away every last bit of change to the folks who walked between the cars of the subway begging for it. We skated in Central Park and walked up and down Broadway, for miles, fueled by pizza and youth. It was magical.

The NYC I remember well.

And special thanks Kim for making me laugh out loud with my favorite…a NY moment that is … perfect! Am I crazy for loving this about the city too?

So many NY moments over many years! Some heartwarming, some awful, some hilarious. This one is hilarious but also awful: I was on the subway platform and guy#1 walks over to guy#2 and says” hey do you know what time it is?” Guy#2 doesn’t even look at guy#1. He just says “FUCK OFF!”

One of my favorite New York Moments? I was lucky enough to see David Bowie on Broadway when he was starring in The Elephant Man. Amazing amazing amazing.

I hope to see you in NY! Grab me and say “Hi”. I’ll be in a stupor probably but don’t let that stop you.

Let’s do it up! After all, “New York’s a go go, and everything tastes right”!

Rock on – sparkle and shine!
oxo
Peace
Love
David Bowie

Vogue Knitting NYC 2016 – Win!!!

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VKNY
Photos: Empire State Building by Martha Nishida, Fair Isle Sampler Hat by Chris Hartlove, Fair Isle Vest by Carrie Bostick Hoge, Stopover by Kathy Cadigan, all others by me!

You’ve got a chance to win a 3 day Marketplace Pass for Vogue Knitting Live NYC. Just leave a comment below, telling us your favorite New York moment! You’ve got until 10am Eastern Time, on Monday morning January 11. I’ll randomly pick a winner. You’ll then send me your email and I’ll send the pass and the details. The lucky winner is responsible for getting themselves to the event.

VKLive really know how to put on a great show. The lobby is full of knitted art and the Marketplace itself is a wonder, full of amazing vendors. You won’t want to miss it if you happen to be in town. Check out the information here.

Although many of my classes are sold out, there are still some spots open in

Making it Up: Designing Fair Isle Hats – Friday the 15th from 9-12

This is a design class, for folks with some experience with fair isle knitting. Hats are a great way to begin designing with Fair Isle Motifs. I’ll provide a basic hat pattern which you can customize in endless ways. You might sketch some ideas that you have and I’ll help you figure out how to make them work. But don’t be afraid to come in with no idea at all. We’ll work fast and furiously and although you won’t finish a hat, you’ll leave with the skills to finish your very own fair isle design.

3 Essential Methods for Shaping in Fair Isle – Sunday the 17th from 9-12

Hmmm…today that title seems like what we have to do when on the island of Fair Isle…but we’ll be in NYC learning some tried and true ways to shape our stranded colorwork garments.
We’re going to work on a swatch to experiment with three main ways and discuss other ideas and options. Again, we’ll be knitting a lot…which is the fun of it all right?

Fair Isle Socks – Sunday the 17th 2-5

Ok, I’m partial to Fair Isle socks, and I’ve got a clever way to make knitting them easy. We’re going to make some darling wee socks to test out the system, and you’ll leave with the skills to make your own adult pair. I love this class. Well I guess I just love handknit socks!

Read more about my classes and all the others offered here.

Now….share with us your favorite New York Moment.