Author Archives: downcellarstudio@gmail.com

Episode 239: Party People!

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Thank you for tuning in to Episode 239 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week’s segments included:

  • Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • Brainstorming
  • Knitting in Passing
  • KAL News
  • Events
  • Contest, News & Notes
  • On a Happy Note
  • Quote of the Week

Thank you to this episode’s sponsors:

Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Recollection Blanket

  • Pattern: Recollection by Deanne Ramsay ($6 crochet pattern available on Ravelry & Etsy– written in both US & UK Crochet terms)
  • Yarn: Various full skeins and 20+ gram fingering weight yarn stash.
  • Hook: J (6.0 mm)
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • Cast on with US K. It was still a little too tight but it works. Body done in a US J (6.0 mm)
  • Blanket is 56 inches wide (not including the fringe). 
  • 6,576 meters for Stash Dash

Baker Street Socks

  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry)
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Baker Street Colorway
  • My Ravelry Project 
  • 278.6 meters for Stash Dash

Hat for Dad

  • Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood ($4 knitting pattern available on Ravelry & on the Brooklyn Tweed website)
  • Yarn: Fingering held double. Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in the Wellies Heather Colorway (black) & YarnBaker Fingering Weight Yarn in the Blazer colorway (blue)
  • Needles: US 5 (4.5 mm) and US 7 (3.75 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • 225.6 meters for Stash Dash.

On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Solstice Socks

  • Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Solstice Colorway
  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry)
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • Ravelry Project Page

Mermazing Socks

  • Yarn: Hypnotic Yarn Plush Sock in the Mermazing Colorway (April 2022 Subscription Box)
  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry)
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • Check out my Unboxing Video Here

The Shift

  • Pattern: The Shift by Andrea Mowry ($7 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry & her website)
  • Yarn: 3 Skeins of my Handspun
  • Needles: US 3 (3.25 mm)
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • Swatched- US 5, US 4 and finally US 3
  • LOVE working with my handspun.

Cloudy + Rainbows Spinning Project

  • Fiber: 4oz braid of BFL from Frabjous Fibers in the Rainy Day Rainbows Colorway
  • Description- long stretches of light gray punctuated with shorter blips of rainbow colors
  • Twist direction: singles = Z plied = S
    • This means when I’m spinning, my wheel is spinning clockwise and when plying my wheel is moving counter-clockwise.
  • Plans: will likely ply with another braid. 

Brainstorming

  • I should start 2 crochet stockings that I need to have done by Thanksgiving.
  • Planning another Shift Cowl for me! 
  • Yarn recycling. Do you know of any options besides mailing scraps to Hedgehog Fibres? 

Knitting in Passing

Package from Sarah!

Knitting will Millie, Megg and Hattie over the weekend. 

KAL News

Pigskin Party’22: Official Hashtag is #DCSPigskinParty22

  • Pigskin Landing Page on the Down Cellar Studio Website.
  • Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group
  • Link to the Official Rules
  • Player Registration- Google Form
  • Check out our amazing Sponsors! Click here for the Google doc with their websites and Instagram profiles. 
    • Check out the list of available Coupons from our amazing sponsors- Ravelry Link
    • Check out the Pigskin Exclusive Items in this Ravelry Thread

Tip from Sarah- Imagined Landscapes- on Watching or Ignoring Team Threads:

  • You can set Ravelry Threads to watch or ignore.
    • Watching a thread means it will pop up to the highest point under the stickied threads if there‘s a new post.
    • Ignoring a thread means you never see it again – I use it to clear up teams I‘m not on so there‘s less visual clutter for my PSP.
  • Check out this page on Ravelry for instructions on how to Ignore a Thread.

Fist Bumps & Fives Challenge– check out this link for details.
Complete this challenge anytime between 9/20-9/30 and enter on the Points Tally Form to earn 100 bonus points. You’ll need a link to your Ravelry or Instagram Post for validation. Enter for points between 9/23-9/30.

Virtual Kick Off Weekend-click here for the schedule

Events

  • Stash Dash (Hosted by The Knit Girllls) ended August 31st
  • My final tally- 27,546 m 
    • Compare to previous years
      • My best year ever! Beat 2020’s total by 71 meters)
        • 2021- 16,696. 
        • 2020-27,475
        • 2019- 16,355
        • Funny how I bounce between 16k one year and 27 another!  
    • 32 projects
      • 12 crochet. 14 knit, 6 skeins handspun
      • Crochet- 20,679 meters
      • Knit- 3,819 m
      • Spinning- 3,046 m
    • Types of Projects
      • 11 pairs socks
      • 6 skeins handspun
      • 5 Blankets (18, 524 m)
      • 4 cozies
      • 2 Tops (1 crop, 1 tunic bathing suit cover up)
      • 1 hat, 1 tie, 1 shawl, 1 toy, 

Jasmin ended this year with 10,838 Meters. I beat her by 16,707 meters!!!

  • Jen’s Stash Dash Spreadsheet Tracker- Google Doc
  • Jasmin’s Stash Dash Spreadsheet Tracker- Google Doc

Cape & South Shore Yarn Haul- Thursday 9/29 through Sunday 10/2. Check out their Event Website for details. Facebook Page available here. Pro Shop Sponsor Anne Beady will be at Salt Yarn Studio on Thursday 9/29 with her beautiful bags & design samples!

Greater Boston Yarn Crawl– is also being held Thursday 9/29 through Sunday 10/2

EarthTonesGirl Falling Leaves Sock KAL runs 9/15 through 11/15 Check out this Instagram Post for details.

Contest, News & Notes

On a Happy Note

  • A quick visit from Laura in from NYC.
  • Dan and I did a big cellar clean-out over Labor Day weekend. 
  • We enjoyed a big pool day (Oisin and Eme practiced their diving, Hattie practiced her swimming with Auntie Di) over Labor Day Weekend. We followed that with a clam bake, a belated birthday celebration for Oisin who turned 14 in June (while still in Ireland). 
  • Oisín working with Dan in the yard again this fall. They uncovered an impromptu pumpkin patch that sprung up next to our deck!
  • We had our first fire of the fall. Pizza and beer after the boys were done working. Hattie (age 4) asked “are you gonna knit with me?”  I asked if she was going to knit with ME! And she did. 
  • We enjoyed our last pool day and family trip to Hornstra for ice cream! 

Quote of the Week

At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough.–TONI MORRISON


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Episode 238: Finishing & Fall Fun Prep

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Thank you for tuning in to Episode 238 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week’s segments included:

  • Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • Brainstorming
  • From the Armchair
  • Crafty Adventures
  • Knitting in Passing
  • KAL News
  • Events
  • On a Happy Note
  • Quote of the Week

Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Uneek Christmas Socks

  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry)
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • Yarn: Uneek Sock Yarn. Colorway 25- Xmas Limited Edition. 2 cakes 220 yards/200 meters each. 
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • 289.4 meters

Tweed Tie

  • Pattern: Tweed Tie by Jem Weston- 4 GBP (around $5 US) 
  • Needles: US 2. (2.75) for body, US 3 (3.25 mm) for cast-on
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in the Flagstone Heather colorway.
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • Omitting all increases//decreases to keep the bottom at the end of the tie flat not pointed. 
  • Finished tie is over 60 inches long. 
  • 126.6 meters 

3 skeins in my Candombe Project- check out my Ravelry Project Page

  • 2 skeins of 2ply yarn. Wool of the Andes Unspun Roving. Colorway: Delft Heather (100 grams) 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. & Malabrigo in the Candombe Colorway
    • 2 ply-60 inch loop. 242 wraps.12,762 inches or 410 yards. 324 meters. Stash Dash- 324 x3= 972 meters
    • 2 ply-59 inch loop. 81 wraps4,779 inches or 133 yards. 121 meters. Stash Dash= 121 x 3= 363 meters
  • 1 skein of a 3 ply. those 2 singles plus 1 other random tan colored singles. 
    • 60 inch loop 38 wraps.2,280 inches or 63 yards. 57 meters Stash Dash= 57 x4= 228 meters

Stash Dash Meters for this project: 1563 meters. All measurements taken after washing skeins

1 skein of yarn in Greens & Blues

  • Blues: Included singles from  Kingdom Fleece & Fiber Works 100% Tunis Pete’s Fleece
  • Greens: Malabrigo Nube Roving 
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • 3 ply yarn 62 wraps around knitty noddy. 28 inches wide (or 56 inches around) after washing. 3,472 inches total or 96 yards or 88 meters
  • 88×4 for Stash Dash = 352 meters

Scrappy Hexagon Blanket

  • Pattern: Basic Crochet Hexagon Pattern & Tips from Make Do and Crew Website & YouTube Tutorial
  • Hook: F (3.75 mm)
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Hawthorne Marl Sock Lab in the Grey White Marl Colorway, Patons Kroy in the Gentry Colorway + fingering weight scraps
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • Mapped out gradation plan in Excel.
  • 21 rows total. 12 or 13 hexis depending on the column. 
  • SCing them together with 2 strands like I am for the hexagons themselves. A great way to use up very small scraps because I only ever seam 3 sides together. 
  • Working my way from the dark side to the light side when I pulled some hexis out of the bag where I was storing them- and pulled out a huge piece which I had forgotten I’d seamed together. It was the far right column and part of the top row of the light side! At least I realized it when I did, and only had to rip back a small bit of what I had already done. 
    • I used safety pins and paper with notes to indicate which hexi was the start/end of each column. Worked like a charm and I didn’t have any other issues after that. 
  • Border- 1 round SC, 4 rounds HDC around. 
    • switch light to dark gray to match blanket.
  • Size (before washing) 45 in wide by 66 inches long
  • 1976 grams total- almost 20 skeins of yarn! 
    • Marled= 400 grams
    • Patons= 450 grams
    • 1126 grams of everything else
    • 7,176 meters

On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Recollection Blanket

  • Pattern: Recollection by Deanne Ramsay ($6 crochet pattern available on Ravelry & Etsy– written in both US & UK Crochet terms)
  • Yarn: Various full skeins and 20+ gram fingering weight yarn stash.
  • Hook: J (6.0 mm)
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • Cast on with US K. It was still a little too tight but it works. Body done in a US J (6.0 mm)
  • MC- 3 strands of gray
  • Blanket is 56 inches wide (not including the fringe). 

Baker Street Socks

  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry)
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Baker Street colorway with Stroll Tonal in Navy for cuffs, heels & toe
  • My Ravelry Project 

Hat for Dad

  • Pattern: Turn a Square by Jared Flood ($4 knitting pattern available on Ravelry & on the Brooklyn Tweed website)
  • Yarn: Fingering held double. Knit Picks Stroll Tweed in the Wellies Heather Colorway (black) & YarnBaker Fingering Weight Yarn in the Blazer colorway (blue)
  • Needles: US 5 (4.5 mm) and US 7 (3.75 mm)
  • My Ravelry Project Page

Brainstorming

  • Rhinebeck sweaters. Wave of Change Jacket by Denise Bayron to match the one I made Mom for Christmas 2020. Check out the Ravelry Project Page for her sweater. 
  • Use up some handspun for us to wear. Thinking of The Shift (Cowl) by Andrea Mowry (available on Ravelry & on the Drea Renee Knits Website for $7 US)

From the Armchair

Here’s to Us by Elin Hilderbrand. Bookshop Affiliate Link. Amazon Affiliate Link.

Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Crafty Adventures

  • Decorations and costumes for Megg’s Gatsby party. 
  • Bought nearly all of it second hand. Gold and silver candles, candle holders, vases and glasses. 
    • Got pink feather fan looking things on Clearance at Michaels along with what looks like sparkly crystal pink gravel. Put on silver and gold chargers under/around candles. 
  • Spray painted feathers and sticks. Put in a large silver vase and added pearls strung through for centerpiece. 

Knitting in Passing

This week, I shared a story about a man I encountered on the train who talked about his family’s history with fiber arts and the sewing he did in the Army.

KAL News

#DCSPigskinParty22

  • Pigskin Landing Page on the Down Cellar Studio Website.
  • Start Here Thread in the Ravelry Group
  • Link to the Official Rules
  • Player Registration- Google Form
  • Check out our amazing Sponsors! Click here for the Google doc with their websites and Instagram profiles. (COMING SOON)
    • Check out the list of available Coupons from our amazing sponsors- Ravelry Link
    • Check out the Pigskin Exclusive Items in this Ravelry Thread

Sponsors Signed up (so far)
Pro Shop:

  • agirlandherwool
  • Anne Beady Designs
  • JDStudios480
  • Imagined Landscapes
  • Charming Ewe
  • Adoreknit
  • Knit Style Yarns
  • Knitters Brewing Company
  • Jennifer Lassonde Designs

Snack Shack

  • Sunsoakedyarns
  • Shanalines Designs
  • KnittenKristen Designs
  • Maple Roots Creative
  • MollyHatChick 
  • Christen Clement Designs
  • Fitness by Mara 
  • Desert Vista Dyeworks
  • Mcknits

Virtual kick off events Friday through Sunday 9/23- 9/25. Stay tuned for details!

Welcome to our 3 new Commissioners this season!

  • Heather (zoomdogknits)
  • Emily- (ElsaandEm)
  • Alicia (almariecraft)

Teams will be announced 9/5
Tailgate Talk Challenge– runs 9/9-9/23. Stay tuned for details

Events

  • Stash Dash (Hosted by The Knit Girllls) will be hosted on Discord again and will be from May 27th-end of August.
    • Discord link: knit girllls discord
    • Current standings with Jasmin
      • Jen: 20,465 meters (Jen’s Stash Dash Spreadsheet Tracker- Google Doc.)
      • Jasmin: 10,838 meters (Jasmin’s Stash Dash Spreadsheet Tracker- Google Doc)

On a Happy Note

  • Mom’s August scans look good despite having to come off her gene therapy medicine because of severe and painful issues with the skin and nails on her hands. 
  • Dinner with my parents, brother and grandmother for her 87th birthday!
  • Visiting Dan’s friend Perry’s for his 81st Birthday. We found a local bakery that makes delicious pies. Great find.
  • Pool Days!
  • Queen Cover Band at South Shore Music Circus, after which my brother stayed over. He, Dan and I stayed up late talking. 
  • Mid-week trip out to Northampton with Kris & Megg for the Indigo Girls concert! We bought matching tank tops & wore them hiking the next morning. Every person we saw commented on them and asked if we were in some kind of club! 
  • Megg’s Gatsby Party!
  • Hiking in Wompatuck w/ Megg now that she’s back from Ireland.
  • Shopping at Ollie’s with Mom, Trish and Theresa. It’s very similar to Building 19 which is an old-school New England favorite for bargain shopping.
  • Watching Aila dance in the Cabaret show and Hattie (age 4) cheering her on (and having to stop her from dancing too much in the audience). I also got to see Eme for the first time since they got back from Ireland. 
  • Mom’s eBay New England Seller’s Meet Up Group met for the first time since Covid this week! Had fun catching up with her crew. Check out their Facebook group here.

Quote of the Week

Yet occasionally we discover in the folds of an old handkerchief a shell or insignificant stone that had once embodied our happiest of afternoons.

–PATTI SMITH


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Episode 237: Paddling, Packing & Prizes

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Thank you for tuning in to Episode 237 of the Down Cellar Studio Podcast. This week’s segments included:

  • Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins
  • From the Armchair
  • In my Travels
  • KAL News
  • Events
  • On a Happy Note
  • Quote of the Week

Off the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Shawl Design 

  • I finished up the sample for a new shawl design using a 150g skein of fingering weight from  agirlandherwool in the On the Boardwalk. I lost at yarn chicken andended up finding another similar colorway in leftovers bin. I think it was Queen City Pigskin Colorway- the Huddle is Real. 
  • The finished shawl weighs 160 grams
  • 676.8 meters for Stash Dash

Tiles for Miles Blanket

  • Pattern: Tiles for Miles Crochet Baby Blanket by Yarnspirations. Free crochet pattern available on the Yarnspirations website
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted. Mint for MC. Many colors of greens, blues and grays for Contrast Colors.
  • Hook: I (5.5 mm)
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • 586 grams
  • 1172.0 meters for Stash Dash

Scrappy Europe Socks

  • Pattern: OMG Heel Socks by Megan Williams
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in the Double Dog Dare Colorway, Paton’s Kroy FX in the Geranium Colors Colorway and other fingering weight leftovers. 
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm) 
  • Leftovers from Megg’s Socks that I knit and left in Ireland in May and Marta’s socks that I knit in Scotland and Spain and leftt behind for Marta. 
  • Cate’s Clasp Weft join- check out this video on my YouTube Channel for the tutorial.
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • 60 grams. 238.8 meters for Stash Dash

On the Needles, Hook or Bobbins

Spinning

  • Malabrigo Nube Roving.113g combed top Merino wool. Colorway: 870 Candombe. 1 bobbin full.
  • Wool of the Andes Unspun Roving. Colorway: Delft Heather (100 grams) 100% Peruvian Highland Wool. 

Uneek Christmas Socks

  • Pattern: OMG Heel by Megan Williams ($5 Knitting Pattern available on Ravelry)
  • Needles: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
  • Yarn: Uneek Sock Yarn. Colorway 25- Xmas Limited Edition. 2 cakes 220 yards/200 meters each. 
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • 1st sock done. 2nd is beyond the heel

Tweed Tie

  • Pattern: Tweed Tie by Jem Weston- 4 GBP (around $5 US) 
  • Needles: US 2. (2.75) for body, US 3 (3.25 mm) for cast-on
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in the Flagstone Heather colorway.
  • My Ravelry Project Page
  • Omitting all increases//decreases to keep the bottom at the end of the tie flat not pointed. 
  • Modification: for the last stitch of each row, I am slipping purlwise with the yarn in front for a neater edge.

Recollection Blanket

  • Pattern: Recollection by Deanne Ramsay ($6 crochet pattern available on Ravelry & Etsy– written in both US & UK Crochet terms)
  • Yarn: Various full skeins and 20+ gram fingering weight yarn stash.
  • Hook: J (6.0 mm)
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • Cast on with US K. It was still a little too tight but it works. Body done in a US J (6.0 mm)
  • Holding all yarn triple. Clusters of treble crochet.

Scrappy Hexagon Blanket

  • Pattern: Basic Crochet Hexagon Pattern & Tips from Make Do and Crew Website & YouTube Tutorial
  • Hook: F (3.75 mm)
  • Yarn: Knit Picks Hawthorne Marl Sock Lab in the Grey White Marl Colorway, Patons Kroy in the Gentry Colorway + fingering weight scraps
  • Ravelry Project Page
  • Planned for 20 columns total. 11 or 13 hexis depending on the column. 
  • SCing them together with 2 strands like I am for the hexagons themselves. A great way to use up very small scraps because I only ever seam 3 sides together. 

From the Armchair

Note: Some links are listed as Amazon Affiliate Links. If you click those, please know that I am an Amazon Associate and I earn money from qualifying purchases.

In My Travels

  • Camping at On the Saco Campground in Fryeburg ME
  •  2 days paddling. 9 miles each day
  • Thurs night went to Saco River Brewing then to the restaurant next door.
  • Living my best life sleeping my hammock tent.
  • Trash collecting. 

KAL News

#SplashPadParty22

  • Link to the 2022 Splash Pad Party Rules.docx
  • Participant Sign Up- Google Form
  • Check out our amazing Sponsors! Click here for the Google doc with their websites and Instagram profiles.
    • Check out the list of available Coupons from our amazing sponsors: Ravelry link
    • Check out the Splash Pad Exclusive Items here
  • Enter your FOs using this Splash Pad Summer Celebration Form to be eligible for prizes (not a Ravelry link).
  • View all the Entries and the Leaderboard here -> Splash Pad Party Player Stats
  • Need help with an entry submission? -> Splash Pad Support Request Form
  • Questions- check out this Ravelry Thread or email Jen.

Stats:

  • 155 players entered
  • 1022 projects finished & entered
    • 424 used around 50g
    • 357 used around 100g
    • 189 projects used around 200g!
    • 52 used around 150g
  • 10 Pro Shop Sponsors
  • 17 Snack Shack Sponsors
  • 2,268 Sponsor Products used in the creation of the 1022 FOs
  • 33 Participation Prizes
  • 30 Final Prizes

Thank you to Wendy and Jen!!!!!
Tune in to hear if you’re one of our end of the summer winners! I will email all winners within a week of this recording.

Events

On a Happy Note

  • My friend Laura visited during the first weekend in August. Celebrated her birthday. She, Mom and I saw The Neil Diamond Musical; A Beautiful Noise in Boston.
  • Second hand shopping. I bought a beautiful cedar entertainment center.
  • Dan, Laura, Aila and I all had sleepovers at Mom & Dad’s. Pool time, ice cream and penny drop. 
  • The Rowans are home from Ireland!
  • Tuesday August 9 we celebrated Mom & Hattie’s half birthdays at the beach.
  • Camping!
  • Sunday- pooltime and dinner with Mom, Dad and my brother, Jeff.

Quote of the Week

For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock.–JAMES BALDWIN

Thank you for tuning in!
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