Podcast Episode 20: Show notes!

We’ve made it to episode 20?! Whoa. Here’s the show notes for the Fiber & Fox Podcast Episode 20!

*note: Bella’s Custom Crochets is now FIBER & FOX!

Nothing admin-y this week, so lets get right to the good stuff!

DESIGNS/FINISHED OBJECTS:

Anouk Pullover: I did it! I did it! I have a finished pullover design! On my body! And it fits! And I totally spent like 8 minutes gushing about how much I love it and then realized I had put it on inside out. Yup. So this is the episode where I don’t know how to dress myself apparently. Wear your glasses, Bella.

But regardless of how I am wearing it, it looks so good and it’s everything I was hoping to achieve with this design! It’s cozy and casual, but still classy looking. It drapes beautifully and has that “I just threw this on” (literally, inside out) feel. Crochet can be beautiful, drapey and well fittting, ya’ll!! And this color “Ghost Ship” from Treasure Goddess Yarn could not have been more perfect (there will be a discount code for testers & the release too!)

And the best part? I got it finished in time to submit a clip to Kristy Glass Knits for her virtual “Tell me about your rhinebeck sweater” video! (you should be able to check that out on her channel on October 17th!) A testing call coming might even be happening as you are reading/watching this, so jump over to @bellas_custom_crochets on Instagram if you’re interested in applying!

WIPS:

If your new here, my child loves owls. LOVES owls. & This fluffy beast is CROCHET. Yes. Faux fur yarn. Not usually something I enjoy working with (it is literally impossible to see a single thing that you are doing and you just have to stab blindly and hope for the best), but it creates such fun amigurumi. No pattern for this one, cause I literally cannot tell how many stitches are in there, but thankfully it’s very forgiving when you stuff it full of fluff. I need to give her a face and some feet- and maybe bows? I feel like she needs ear tufts with bows. I am so excited to seem my daughter’s reaction to this birthday gift.

I got on a bit of a side rant in this section because both this faux fur yarn and the yarn for the next WIP were recently purchased from Hobby Lobby. I am lucky to have ALL the major US box yarn stores within 15 minutes of me and usually make my rounds to all of them, depending on what I am looking for. I was super disappointed to find out that Hobby Lobby recently released a line of “hand dyed” merino yarns. Wait, disappointed? Yes, at first, I thought this was a great step towards accessibility for folks who might not have the opportunity to purchase indie dyed for whatever reason…but upon further investigation it turns out instead of just having a lower priced yarn of their own making, they actually just tried to replicate popular yarns from indie dyers. As in blatantly STOLE their work and then mass produced it in Turkey and India. That’s a HUGE no, no. Just wanted you guys to be aware of that before you jump at the opportunity for budget friendly merino. It still comes at a cost- the cost of someone else’s hard work. So please, think twice before supporting this and always buy from small, local, indie businesses when you can.

I’m making progress on other birthday Owlish make: my knit colorwork Uglegenseren by Ingvild Bysting. I love the color combo and can’t wait to see this come together! I am not 100% confident in how the final fit will be, but hey, oversized just means she can wear it longer, right? I am kinda a newbie at colorwork knitting but I feel like this is definitely a doable pattern if you’re feeling adventurous! I am pleased to report the English version (originally Norwegian) is very easy to follow! And if you’re newer to colorwork knitting like me this tutorial from Very Pink Knits on catching floats revolutionized my life. Probably should have watched a few more tutorials on provisional cast ons and knitting the stitches together but…hey… I made it work.

The Simple Skyp Socks by Adrienne Ku continue to be stunners. I cannot get over this color (Salted Carmel) from Laine and Lotus (speaking of local, indie dyers, Jen is one of my faves!). These have just been my in-between-design-math-sessions project. It’s always good to have a sock wip on the needles! I’m actually going slow enough on these ones that I am able to use the progress keeper Jen included with the purchase of the yarn at LYS day (vlog here!) back in September!

AQUIRINGS:

Speaking of Laine and Lotus: MINIS. Jen had a shop update and I couldn’t pass these up. I even went “wild” and got a grab bag set (me and surprises? not typically friends.)

I am a little late to the minis craze, yes, I know. But I am LOVING them lately. I used minis in my upcoming Herringtone Marliday Cowl design (keep an eye out for a tester call on that one soon too!), will be working with minis and yarns from Megs and Co Yarn on my next design (a wrap!?) and apparently cause I can’t get enough minis+neckwear, these babies are gonna be a shawl.

The other three are from a new-to-me dyer A Chick That Knitz . I think I found her through an instagram ad for a mini skein sale (there are still some on sale in her shop!) and the colors vibed so well with Jen’s it was perfect! You know I love me those fall-y jewel tones! These will all be paired up together with the remaining skeins from the Anouk Pullover in a triangle shawl coming probably early 2021.

Lastly I just want to profess my love of Knitter’s Pride Knit Blockers. I have the rainbow ones (obviously), but you can get the original neutral beige ones for a bit cheaper too! My one complaint- “knitters” and “knit”- cause these are TOTALLY useful for CROCHET too. I ordered another pack to block my pullover and they were so necessary! If you wet block your finished items (tutorial here!) these are so much more efficient than using sewing or t-pins! You can get beautiful straight lines in so much less time! I keep meaning to do a “my favorite crochet tools” video, but for now, please know that I love and adore these. And also rainbow lightbulb stitch markers. I basically cannot without either of them.

And that’s episode 20! Thanks for sticking with me through 20 episodes! My podcast will be a year old November 8th- we need to come up with something to celebrate!!