Month: April 2021

Wuxing and Workshops

The Wuxing: 5 Elements collection has been at 2 out of 5 patterns since October of 2020, when Honey Locust came out. Since then, I have struggled with the Metal-themed hat (now called Spinneret) and could not release Pluvium (the water-themed hat) until Spinneret was released (due to the progression of the elements). Both hats are finally released and have been added to the collection. If you have already bought Wuxing: 5 Elements on Ravelry, you should have received a notification when the patterns were added. If you have not, the patterns will all be available for you whenever you decide to take the plunge.

By the way, if you’re interested in getting this collection as well as any upcoming patterns I release for free, join my Patreon! Higher tiers also get access to a growing library of double-knitting videos that go well beyond the basics, and more.

There is one more hat to do, and I expect it to take rather less time to design and knit than the Spinneret. The Wood-themed hat will be done in three-color off-the-grid double-knitting, a combination of techniques not yet attempted but very much anticipated. I have already begun the planning and am liking the direction things are going so far. I hope to have it completed and released before the Fall. When all five patterns are released, I plan to combine them all into a single eBook which will have detailed photo instructions for all of the techniques involved. If there is sufficient interest, I may do a limited print run of the collection as well.

Also, better photos will be forthcoming in the final eBook, if not sooner. Due to the pandemic, I have had to use Philip (and his post-fire successor, also named Philip) to model the most recent hats.

In other news

I have scheduled a couple of BuildingBlox workshops for May, as well as a couple of intro workshops for the May VKL. I also have two workshops coming up this coming weekend, so if either of those interest you, please sign up soon. For all of my upcoming appearances, please visit my Calendar. Without further ado, here are the workshops coming up in the next 30 days:

If you are interested in taking my BuildingBlox workshops on a regular basis, here’s another plug for my Patreon. For only a little more than the minimum fee on my workshops’ sliding scale, my Extreme-tier patrons get access to one of my workshops per month for free (subject to availability), along with many other perks.

New Podcast episode and more

Hello and thank you for your patience with me as I worked out some technical limitations on my podcast. In the end, I had to step back and not let the attempt to fix the technical troubles delay me, but find a way to move forward despite them.

So without further ado, here’s Fallingblog Podcast #3. In it, I talk about my workshops (and the difference between taking a workshop with me at one of the big shows vs through my BuildingBlox series), two new/newish patterns and the first look at the completed Spinneret pattern (the Metal hat from my Wuxing: 5 Elements collection), a pattern focus on the Heartbound Again hat and headband, and a how-to on double-knit single decreases.

For those curious about Spinneret and Pluvium (the water hat, completed months ago but unable to be released because it was out of sequence), I have test knitters finishing with it and shortly thereafter I’ll be releasing both patterns simultaneously. Then all that’s left is to finish the Wood hat, the last in the collection. As always, with this collection, you can buy into it whenever you want, and when the new patterns are released, they’ll be added to your Ravelry library.

In other news, I wanted to update you on some of the workshops I mentioned last time, but now with counts of how many spots are left. The only one in danger of cancellation is currently the VKL Multi-color session.

Stitches At Home:
Fri, Apr 9, 2-4pm: Intro to Double-knitting (8 spots left)
Sat, Apr 10, 2-4pm: Double-knitting Off The Grid (15 spots left)
Sun, Apr 11, 2-4pm: Two-pattern Double-knitting (11 spots left)

Virtual Knitting Live (cannot link to individual workshops):
Thu, Apr 15, 2-4pm: Intro to Double-knitting (7 spots left)
Thu, Apr 15, 7-9pm: Multi-color Double-knitting (25 spots left — may be cancelled)
Fri, Apr 16, 2-4pm: Texture in Double-knitting (20 spots left)
Sun, Apr 18, 7-9pm: Intro to Double-knitting (22 spots left)

BuildingBlox Virtual Workshops:
Sat, Apr 17, 10-5pm: Double-knitting Entrelac (10 spots left)
Sat, Apr 24, 1-4pm: Marling with Double-knitting (16 spots left)
Sun, Apr 25, 2-5pm: Intro to Double-knitting (19 spots left)

I am also teaching at FiberWorld 2021, but registration for that opens on May 15th.

If you’re itching for in-person workshops, I am still expecting to be teaching at Red Alder (Tacoma, WA) in February of 2022, but I have also received an overture from another event in September of this year which is trying to go in-person. More updates on those as I have them.