A Verb for Keeping Warm — A Verb for Keeping Warm

Stitch Exchange: Simpatico Wrap Knitting Pattern

Posted by Kristine Vejar on July 31, 2016 1 Comment

There is a common theme in my life. I fall in love with a skein of yarn that is one of many things: soft, shiny, a color I find irresistible, and / or from a special farm. I want this yarn to come home with me. And I want to knit this yarn and to wear it (immediately). Though, let's be honest, I am also a little brain-dead at night from working all day. I want to knit something simple - I want the focus to be on the yarn as I knit, not so much on the pattern. I want something that's not going to take a ton of time, because I want to get to the wearing part of the knitting experience. I want to feel that gorgeous skein of yarn around my neck. Taking all of this into account, I designed a new wrap, shawl, bandana thing-y!

Announcing Verb's newest knitting pattern; the Simpatico Wrap. It's a large swathe of fabric (depending on the size you choose to knit) that can effortlessly wrap around your neck and shoulders. The Simpatico Wrap is the perfect vehicle to use a wide range of yarns - anything from a lace weight to DK weight - from silk to wool to linen. Use two different yarns to create contrast with color, texture, fiber type, etc. Use two colors of the same yarn, two yarns of the same color - or both!

The Simpatico Wrap is knit on the bias, creating a fabric which elegantly drapes around your neck and shoulders. Knitting fabric on the bias is easy and adds a little oomph to the knitting process. While we want this knit to be easy, we don't want it to be boring. Plus, you start with one stitch and end with two stitches, so casting on and binding off are easy.

Though this pattern is simple, there is a twist. Once you have knit through your first skein of yarn (or until your desired width), you switch to your second skein of yarn and start purling. So, when you go to wear your new Simpatico, when you fold the square in half to wrap it around your neck, not only do you have an extra-thick luxurious fabric, both ends peeking out will be the knit-side of the fabric. Tres chic!

We have a brand new yarn, named Dress Circle. It is made of US wool and silk and milled in Maine. This is our 5th US made yarn! The Simpatico Wrap gave us the perfect opportunity to get this yarn on the needles. Sarah chose to go with more contrast, and chose Dress Circle in Indigo Blue Sky paired with Floating (alpaca, silk, cashmere) in Quartz.

For this pinky-peach version of the Simpatico, I used Verb's Even Tinier Annapurna in Early Girl and Floating in Petroglyph. I really liked knitting with the Early Girl as there are little pops of color as I knit. That said, I typically like to wear solid, subdued colors, so I chose Floating in Petroglyph to pair with Early Girl. Another reason I really like this pattern is because I can get a little wild with a variegated yarn but keep it calm by pairing it with a solid.

Sometimes, I like to wear my Square Wrap casually tossed and knotted around my neck. Other times, when it is a bit chillier out, I pull the ends in close to my neck and secure with one of my favorite pins - like the one shown below - from Fog Linen.

We have created a selection of kits including yarn - including all of the yarn shown in the above examples. Click here to see the beautiful array of yarn and colors!

And go here to add this pattern to your queue on Ravelry.

SIMPATICO WRAP

Sizes
Small (Medium, Large)

Finished Measurements
31"x 31" (35"x35", 40"x40")

Yarn

Small (lavender): Yarn A - Alchemy Yarns Silken Straw (100% silk; 236 yards / 40g), Fieldstone or color of your choice, 1 skein, & Yarn B - Alchemy Yarns Lust (70% wool, 30% silk; 288 yards / 53 g), Fieldstone or color of your choice, 1 skein

Medium (blue/silver): Yarn A - A Verb for Keeping Warm Dress Circle (70% US Merino, 30% mulberry silk; 490 yards / 100 g), Indigo Blue Sky or color of your choice, 1 sk, & Yarn B - A Verb for Keeping Warm Floating (70% superfine alpaca, 20% silk, 10% cashmere; 437 yards / 100 g), Quartz or color of your choice, 1 skein

Large (peach): Yarn A - A Verb for Keeping Warm Floating (70% superfine alpaca, 20% silk, 10% cashmere; 437 yards / 100 g), Petroglyph or color of your choice, 1 skein, & Yarn B - A Verb for Keeping Warm Even Tinier Annapurna (80% superwash Merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon; 565 yards / 4 oz), Early Girl or color of your choice, 1 skein

Needles
One US 8 (5.0 mm) 24in or 32in circular needle

Gauge
16 stitches and 28 rows / 4" in stockinette stitch (blocked)

Notions
tapestry needle

Abbreviations
KFB - Knit front and back of stitch
K – Knit
P – Purl
M1R - Make 1 right
M1L - Make 1 left
K2TOG - Knit 2 together
SSK - Slip slip knit

PRO TIP: If you are using two different yarns, be sure to cast on with the yarn with the least amount of yardage so you don't run out!

Directions

With yarn A, cast on 1.

Row 1: KFB. (2 st)
Row 2: KFB, KFB. (4 st)
Row 3: K1, P until 1 stitch remains, K1.
Row 4: K1, M1R, K until 1 stitch remains, M1L, K1.

Repeat Rows 3 & 4 until your desired size or are about to run out of yarn. (The three sizes measured approximately 38.5"(44.5", 50") along the diagonal).

End with Row 4 (an increase row).

Break yarn A.

Switch to yarn B:

Row 1: K1, K2TOG, K until 3 st remain, SSK, K1.
Row 2: K1, P until 1 stitch remains, K1.

Repeat Rows 1 & 2 until 4 st remain.

Row 3: K2TOG, SSK. (2 st)

Bind-off knit-wise.

Weave in ends and block to designated measurements, using blocking wires if desired. Tips on blocking without blocking wires: Lay your Square Wrap flat on your blocking surface. Fold in half diagonally, along where Yarn A changes to Yarn B. Starting at the cast-on and bind-off points, gently pull the fabric apart to create a right angle (rather than an elongated point). Continue to gently pull along the both sides of the triangle until you reach the fold. Repeat as necessary. Unfold shawl and smooth out any uneven sides.

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Post your photo to Instagram and add #verbsimpatico so we can see your progress and completed wrap!

Happy Knitting!

-- Kristine

-- Kristine SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

Posted by Kristine Vejar on July 10, 2016 0 Comments

For the month of July, the focus of The Modern Natural Dyer Work-Along is The Field and Forest Dress. This is one of my favorite projects in the book! I always enjoy sewing a new dress, and this pattern is particularly easy to make and fun to wear. Plus, it is zero-waste, which means you use every scrap of fabric, so nothing goes to waste!

I love creating patterns which are basic and create a canvas to modify, so you can really make it your own through choice of fabric, dye, length, and other modifications, like adding pockets! The dress would be beautiful made from a variety of fabrics. Everything from a cotton lawn (imagine this in Liberty), to linen, to even light-weight wool blends. Also, it can be shortened, to make a shirt, or lengthened, for a floor length dress.

The first step in making this project is to sew the dress. Then, comes the dyeing process: scouring, mordanting, dyeing, and washing.

One of my favorite collections we've made in the studio is the one featured in the photo on p.89 - which features a row of Field and Forest Dresses all dyed with materials fairly easy to find across North America; walnut, yarrow, osage, eucalyptus, and oak galls. This project discusses the amounts of these materials you will need to make a variety of shades. I love seeing the range of color which can be made from the local forest. A great companion book to The Modern Natural Dyer, which features many plants foraged from across the United States, is Harvesting Color, by friend and local dyer Rebecca Burgess.

Have you made the Field and Forest dress? If so, ping me on Instagram and make sure to hashtag your photo with #themodernnaturaldyerworkalong - so we can keep up with your progress!

Thanks for reading!

-- Kristine

Posted by AVFKW Staff on June 15, 2016 3 Comments

The most-anticipated moment with shibori and indigo dyeing is the moment you remove the object creating your resist (binding, stitching, clamps, etc), and reveal the design underneath! With indigo dyeing this is especially fun, with the strong contrast between your dark blue and white underneath.

On Tuesday, Lis and I dipped our pieces in the indigo vat. The night before, I finished stitching the fishbone pattern onto my completed Tendril Tank (above), and Lis's fabric was stitched and pulled tight. We soaked our pieces in hot water to thoroughly wet them, so that the indigo could easily permeate the fabric. Then we re-calibrated the AVFKW indigo vat and started dyeing!

I dipped my piece a total of 5 times; Lis dipped her fabric 3 times. It was a beautiful day in Oakland, with a bright, warm sun. We alternated dips between our two pieces to allow them to fully oxidize.

After our dipping was completed, we gave each piece a quick rinse, then carefully began cutting our knots and removing each thread.

Lis's fabric turned out beautiful! Since part of it is solid blue, this means only part of her tank will have her stitch pattern, the rest will be solid blue. And since the Tendril is cut on the bias, her stitching pattern will also be on the bias.

My Tendril Tank is complete, and I love it! Since I used a cotton fabric that is a little heavier than the linen in the Fishbone Dress project, the gathering of the fabric between the stitching lines created an additional resist. I did my best to allow as much dye as possible into this area, but I love the additional patterning that it created.

I'm looking forward to seeing what YOU create with indigo this month! Please feel free to leave us a comment with a link to photos of your work, or use the hashtag #themodernnaturaldyerworkalong on Instagram.

Indigo tips:

+ Make sure the dye reaches all parts of your fabric - i.e. in between the rows of stitching on your Fishbone Dress.
+ Make sure to allow the indigo on your fabric to fully oxidize in between dips. It can be helpful to dye multiple pieces, one after another, to space out the dips. Grab a friend to join you!
+ Just like with other dyes, your fabric will be several shades lighter after drying, so be sure to keep that in mind as you dip your fabric.
+ Watch Kristine's Creativebug video on dyeing with indigo to learn more.
+ Embrace the variation and natural beauty of your dyed piece!

-- Sarah

Posted by AVFKW Staff on June 08, 2016 1 Comment

Happy summer everyone!

As you may know, Kristine and Adrienne recently visited New Hampshire and are currently exploring the beautiful country of Iceland, experiencing the deep-rooted wool culture there, as well as the gorgeous natural landscape. You can follow along on Instagram!

Meanwhile at Verb we are continuing on with The Modern Natural Dyer Work-Along, and June brings us to the first indigo project of the year!

Indigo dyeing is one of those processes that gets your attention. As you remove your piece from the indigo vat, a shimmering transformation takes place, from bright green to blue. This transformation grabs ahold of people and never lets go. There are natural dyers around the world that have devoted their entire life to working with indigo. Whole books have been written on the color blue and its history. It is an endeavor that easily encompasses a lifetime, as there are endless nuances, techniques, recipes, styles, and applications of indigo dyeing.

In The Modern Natural Dyer, Kristine has presented several projects to introduce you to indigo dyeing. The Blue Skies Tote and Indigo Wedge Cardigan teach you how to indigo dye on cellulose fibers and protein fibers, respectively. Further projects explore overdyeing with indigo, after dyeing with other natural dyes, as well as a variety of surface design techniques that work very well with indigo. June's project, the Fishbone Dress, is one of these - it explores indigo dyeing on a linen tunic that has been stitched to create a resist pattern.

You can use our sewing pattern, The Tendril Dress, to make your linen tunic for the Fishbone Dress. (If you have purchased a Phase 2 Kit, you have a copy of the pattern and enough linen to sew one for yourself!) We love the Tendril pattern - it's a simple dress cut on the bias which makes it easy to sew and wear. After sewing, follow Kristine's directions to stitch and gather the fabric in your dress. Once you learn the motions of this variation on a whipstitch, your gathering will go quickly. Then it's on to the best part - creating your indigo vat and dyeing your dress!

For the Work-Along, Lis and I will both be working on shortened versions of the Tendril Dress - we're calling them Tendril Tanks. We're each following a different pathway with our project and are excited to see the similarities and differences. I will be following the procedure laid out in the The Modern Natural Dyer: first I will sew my Tendril Tank, then I will stitch, gather, and indigo dye it. Lis will reverse this process: she will stitch, gather, and indigo dye her fabric, then lay out her pattern and sew her tunic.

Lis has been practicing her stitch techniques all week and has settled on a unique grid pattern covering the middle of her fabric, which is a medium-weight white linen. Her stitching lines follow the weft and warp of the fabric, which means when she cuts out her pattern on the bias, these lines will be on the diagonal.

I am sewing my Tendril Tank out of our white, light-weight organic cotton chambray, grown in the Capay Valley (where the sheep that grow wool for our yarn Pioneer live) by Sally Fox. I am so excited to be working with this fabric for the first time and I can't wait to wear my top with my Pioneer sweaters. I will be using the same stitch pattern as in the book - but I will make sure to end my stitching early enough to leave a solid band of blue around the bottom of my tank.

We have many resources for you this week!

Sewing classes & tips:

+ To modify your Tendril Dress into a tank, Tasa recommends shortening the pattern by measuring 12" up (or more or less as you prefer) from the hemline, then drawing your new hem in the same curve as the original.
+ Our new class, The Tendril Tank, is full - but email us to be put on the notification list for the next time we offer it!

Indigo dyeing classes & tips:

+ Kristine is teaching Indigo + Shibori I at Verb on June 19th! There are a few spots left - grab one while it's available. Students will learn a variety of bound and stitch resist patterns and spend the afternoon dipping their pieces into the indigo vat.
+ We're excited to announce that today Creativebug is releasing a brand new video, Natural Indigo Dyeing. In it, Kristine teaches you how to create an indigo vat and several resist design techniques. This is great if you aren't local - or if you want to be able to refer back to her techniques at a later date.
+ Want to try indigo dyeing on your own? Pick up all the supplies you need from the shop or order them online.
+ Make sure to review all steps in the indigo dyeing process. Remember, you don't need to mordant - but you definitely want to scour! In The Modern Natural Dyer, see pages 131-137 for information on making and dyeing with your indigo vat, including tips on recalibration and avoiding crocking. The Fishbone Dress project starts on page 177.

We'll be back again next week with the results of our indigo dyeing. In the meantime, we'd love to see your progress! Use the hashtag #themodernnaturaldyerworkalong so we can follow your work!

-- Sarah

Posted by Kristine Vejar on May 04, 2016 1 Comment

Walk into your own front yard, wander through your garden, and at your fingertips there very well could be dye plants growing.

May's Modern Natural Dyer Work-Along project is the Flowers at My Fingertips Sewing Kit. Through this project, we explore how the garden is a source of dye plants, and how to take those flowers and leaves and print with them on fabric. This process is also referred to as eco-printing and in my mind was first popularized by artist and natural dyer, India Flint. Not all flowers are created the same in the eye's of the dyer, there are certainly some whose color and print are longer-lasting than others, and we cover those in The Modern Natural Dyer. That said, I have seen some really amazing, unexpected results from plants I wouldn't have typically deemed as "dye plants". Perhaps it is the fact that the flower is so intently pushed into the surface of the fabric.

Once the fabric has been printed, it is cut and sewn into a traveling sewing kit.

This is what it looks like folded; all of your tools ready for a journey. I don't know about you but there is rarely a time I don't have a sewing or knitting project in tow.

Here are a few tips when approaching this project:

+ Always mordant your fabric for the most long-lasting and saturated color.
+ I used wool flannel for my sewing kit, though, feel free to use other medium weight fabrics, like white cotton denim, and simply follow the directions for scouring and mordanting cellulose-based goods.
+ Turn to The Modern Natural Dyer's 20-page spread of dye plants to find those which will make great dye - and for ideas of what to plant in your garden this Spring!
+ Experiment with plants in your yard, you only have to scour and mordant once, you can keep dye many times on that piece of fabric - in case you would like to add more layers, or a flower fades.
+ Though I made this kit with the sewer in mind, it could easily be adapted for knitting tools.

To help you with sourcing the materials for this project, at Verb, we have made a kit. This is a great project for you to do with kids! It includes the scour, mordant, fabric, thread, and branch which you use in the dyeing process.

If you are in the area, I am teaching a class on eco-printing called Mapping Color. Join me in making your own eco-printed fabric! And if you are interested in growing your very own dye garden, join Adrienne for her class, Growing and Gathering Dye Plants.

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Stitch Exchange: Simpatico Wrap Knitting Pattern

Posted by Kristine Vejar on July 31, 2016 1 Comment

The Modern Natural Dyer Work-Along: The Field and Forest Dress

Posted by Kristine Vejar on July 10, 2016 0 Comments

The Modern Natural Dyer Work-Along: Indigo Reveal

Posted by AVFKW Staff on June 15, 2016 3 Comments

The Modern Natural Dyer Work-Along: Pathways to the Fishbone Tank

Posted by AVFKW Staff on June 08, 2016 1 Comment

The Modern Natural Dyer Work-Along: Flowers at My Fingertips Sewing Kit

Posted by Kristine Vejar on May 04, 2016 1 Comment

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