Studio Snapshots | Braids and Diamonds

A behind the scenes peek at what's happening in our knitting and weaving studio.

On my needles

I'm playing with a variation of the Latvian braid for my next sock design. This pattern is reminiscent of a weave structure known as point twill. As I swatch, before I get too far into the math, I'm considering whether to have the diamonds closely packed (like at the center of the swatch), or stacked in slightly spaced columns (like the sides of the swatch).

In my kitchen

I love baking bread and was recently given a recipe for Pulla, a braided, Finnish sweet bread. It seemed like the perfect mid-morning snack for our monthly Sock Knit + Study Group. It was delicious fresh and made a wonderful French toast (or is it Finnish toast) a few days later.

On the loom

Feeling blue isn't always a bad thing. I've been weaving strips of upcycled blue and white bed sheets into a pair of rag rugs. This one has wide, bold stripes. It will be available for purchase in our Handwoven Rug Shop in a few weeks along with a number of other colorful rugs.

If you're a knitter, you're likely familiar with the term "yarn chicken". It's when you are trying to finish a project without running out of yarn. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. As I was finishing up my second blue rug, I was trying to use up every inch of my blue diamond fabric. I was left with a single 40-inch long strip, so we'll call that a win.