Flexture

Posted on March 10, 2021 by gobsmackedyarn

Have you seen Flexture? It’s a gorgeous new(ish) design by Kim McBrien Evans, from the book Custom Shawls for the Curious and Creative Knitter. The book is written by the unbeatable duo of Kate Atherley— the math nerd and technique maven– and Kim McBrien Evans, who loves to creatively break all the rules. As with so many of Kim’s designs, Flexture is an unusual but very wearable shape that provides plenty of room to play with colour.

A white woman with grey hair sits draped in Flexture, a shawl knit sideways in an orange-to-blue gobsmacked gradient, striped with angled and stair-stepped lines of dark blue, pale blue, yellow, and red in Murky Depths yarn. — Flexture shawl, by Kim McBrien Evans. Photo c. Abrams.

Flexture uses a gobsmacked merino/ silk DK double, which is a long gradient that plays out over two 100g cakes of yarn, plus Triton MCN DK from Murky Depths Dyeworks for the contrast colours.

This weekend, I’ll have about a half dozen doubles of merino/ silk DK and Silky Yak DK in an online update. I’d love for you to find the perfect gobsmacked double for Flexture, and to pick out just the right colours from Murky Depths to go with it. If that’s not in the cards, though, Kate and Kim also talk about why they chose gobsmacked and Murky Depths for this particular shawl, plus what to consider if you want to substitute a different yarn. In fact, this thoughtful discussion of yarn characteristics is part of all of the patterns in their book, making it possible to plan your own unique version of every shawl.

Two yarn cakes rest on the title page of the Flexture pattern, which includes pattern information on Yarn, Needles, Notions, Gauge, and Why This Yarn? — A Silky Yak DK double from gobsmacked would work beautifully for Flexture– and Kate and Kim’s detailed yarn discussion give you the information that you need to understand why. (More notes on yarn substitution are hiding in this picture under the yarn itself.)

When I daydream of colour combos, I think about the folds of the earth, the ribbons of water that braid their way to the sea, the strands of algae that float in the currents, the bands of clouds that spread across the sunrise sky… Or, maybe you find beauty in the colours that spread across an oil slick, or the streaks from tail-lights that skitter across damp pavement at night. Whatever your muse, I hope that you find inspiration and knitterly joy in Flexture!

Four cakes of yarn rest on the book Custom Shawls, open to a a page showing a model wearing Flexture. The yarn is two gradients: teal to acid greens and slate grey to reddish tan. — Some colourful DK doubles, ready to spark inspiration for Flexture!

Online update: Saturday 13 March at 3pm Eastern Standard Time (Toronto/ New York). New to my online updates? Get an overview of the process here.

Do you need a copy of Custom Shawls of your own? Order from indigodragonfly (here) or your local bookstore (indiebound)!

The cover of the book Custom Shawls, by Kate Atherley and Kim McBrien Evans

November update

Posted on November 14, 2020 by gobsmackedyarn

Thanks for a great update! I’ll start sending out invoices Saturday evening and will have packages out on Monday.

Welcome to the November update! If you see some yarn you’d like to claim, email me at gobsmackedyarn@gmail.com. An update can get pretty wild on my end, but I promise I’ll respond to your email to let you know if you got your choices. I’ll send out PayPal invoices about an hour after the update starts, once things start to quiet down a bit; please note that invoices are due upon receipt (with a little leeway for different time zones and schedules).

Reminders: Colours vary from device to device; I always include a written description of how I see the colour, but please do ask if you’re uncertain about a particular cake or set. Also note that package delivery is likely to be slow due to the pandemic. Unfortunately I can’t guarantee delivery times.

**Four Quarter**: **Top**: ~~935 Bulbs~~; **Bottom left:** ~~Earthship~~; **Bottom right:** ~~Bagtown~~

**Four Quarter: Left:** ~~Sing It Out~~; **Right:** ~~Friendly Buttons~~

**Four Quarter: Top:** ~~Build It Up Better~~; **Bottom left:** ~~Chaos Tidying~~; **Bottom right:** ~~Underwater~~

**Four Quarter: Left:** ~~Sempervivum~~; **Right**: ~~Staycation~~

**Four Quarter: Top:** ~~The Last Blush of Blueberry Bush~~; **Bottom left:** ~~Citation Style~~; **Bottom right:** ~~Which Pond?~~

**Four Quarter: Top left:** ~~Sidewalk Solidarity~~; **Top right**: ~~Nova’s Yard~~; **Bottom left:** ~~Bridge to Nowhere~~; **Bottom right:** ~~Parrot Party~~

**Four Quarter: Top:** ~~Aliens in the Quarry~~; **Bottom left:** ~~Seasonal Tarts~~; **Bottom right:** ~~Two Cat Cuddle~~ (cake has a 12″ long section of damaged ply that I consider a flaw; price $40)

**Four Quarter: Top:** ~~Mount Chesterfield, Elevation 2m~~; **Bottom left:** ~~Looping Around~~; **Bottom right:** ~~Sunday Drive~~

**Four Quarter: Top:** ~~Five Golden Doors~~; **Bottom left:** ~~Impending Snugs~~; **Bottom right:** ~~Ephemera~~

**Gobsmidgeon** (50g of Four Quarter, $22): ~~The Big Idea~~

**merino/ silk fingering:** ~~Been Waitin’~~

**merino/ silk fingering double** (one long gradient, dyed across two 100g cakes): ~~Go Plant Your Flowers~~

**merino/ silk fingering double** (one long gradient, dyed across two 100g cakes): ~~Opalescent~~

**Cabra giant:** ~~Walk in Walker Woods~~

**Cabra giant: Top:** ~~Sofa-Yarn Stash~~; **Bottom left:** ~~Dog in Duvet~~; **Bottom Right:** ~~Three Good Ideas~~

**Snarkle** (two matching 50g gradients of sparkle sock, wound in opposite directions to better show colours, $45): ~~That Inner Voice~~

picnic, lightning

Posted on October 28, 2020 by gobsmackedyarn

It’s been a rough several months, hasn’t it?

There’s a poem called Picnic, Lightning that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. It’s a classic Billy Collins poem (i.e., dark yet oddly charming) that was inspired by a line by Nabokov, in which the narrator explains his mother’s death with just two words: picnic, lightning.

I reckon that my last eight months are best summarized in similar fashion: pandemic, migraine. Both experiences are new to me, both have sucked up my time and creative energies, and both have, unfortunately, become my new normal.

The good news is that I’m adapting and figuring out new ways forward. I’m getting back in the dye pots, catching up on my dye queue, and have scheduled the next online update: Saturday 14 November at 3pm Eastern Standard Time. I’ll post more details about what will be included in that update as the time draws near; in the meantime, I hope that you’re finding some creative joy, whether through yarn and colour or in some other way.

Working in the dyepots! (Yes, I wear an indoor hat; I get cold easily.)

An open letter to Ravelry

Posted on June 29, 2020 by gobsmackedyarn

Dear Ravelry folks,
I’m writing with a deep sense of sadness and dismay. I’m one of the people who was adversely affected by the rollout of the new Ravelry: I developed nausea and a headache within the first 15 minutes that I spent on the new site.

I don’t have a history of any visual or neurological disabilities or migraines, so I had a hard time accepting that what was happening to me was real. I tried again the next day, with similar effects. Since then, I’ve been sensitive to screen time, unable to watch video or to scroll on a website without feeling queasy or getting a headache. I assume that this is a long-lasting or recurring migraine, based on my partner’s description of her own migraines. (Ironically, she can use new Ravelry without problem, despite her migraine history.)

It’s been 13 days now. Will you stop and imagine that for a minute? A few days of trying to use your new site, dutifully reporting bugs and providing feedback and then, in the face of continued nausea and headaches, realising that I have no choice except to avoid screens as much as possible and hope that I’ll begin to feel better. As you can imagine, that’s pretty life-changing; it’s made it difficult for me to do my day job (now entirely remote, given the pandemic) and disrupted my daily routines and sense of connection with people beyond my own four walls.

Still, I was confident that I’d feel better with time, that you’d address the problem, and that I would be able to return to Ravelry.

Your most recent front-page post really knocked me for a loop, though. Instead of reassuring me that you’ll find the problem and fix it, I’m hearing “we think most people are fine with new Rav.” I’m hearing “our tools say it’s fine, so that’s what we choose to listen to.” I’m hearing “your experience doesn’t matter to us.”

I’m hearing “you don’t matter.”

It’s surprising how hard it is to write that about Ravelry.

You’ve built a community that has been my online home. I’ve logged in almost every single morning for years. I’ve stretched myself as a knitter. I’ve felt a sense of connection with people around the globe and have met some incredible friends. It’s no exaggeration to say that Ravelry has changed my life: through connections I made online, I learned how to dye yarn, got a job with a yarn dyer, and eventually started my own yarn dyeing business part time. I met my love, the woman who will become my wife. We openly celebrated our queer love in a visible way, and were met with joy and celebration from our fellow Ravellers.

The changes in Ravelry can’t destroy what I’ve already gained. My yarn business will thrive through my existing customers and word of mouth, my partner can moderate my Ravelry group, and most importantly, my love is still here at my side.

But, oh, my heart aches. It aches for the community, the conversations, the new patterns and knitterly tips and support and sense of connection. It hurts to feel excluded, to have my experience discounted, to be facing a future where I can’t use Ravelry and where I might have difficulty doing anything online. That sounds melodramatic, even to me, but in light of your failure to act, it’s also sounding increasingly likely.

Ravelry was unique, a place that felt personal and quirky and welcoming.

It isn’t any more. I mourn that loss.

Marit

Marit Munson, gobsmacked yarn

June update

Posted on June 15, 2020 by gobsmackedyarn

Thanks, all, for another great update! I’m working on invoices now and will get packages ready to go into the mail on Tuesday. Edit: I’ve had a slight delay in packing, so yarn is going out in Wednesday’s mail.

Welcome to the June update, Pride edition! If you see some yarn you’d like to claim, email me at gobsmackedyarn@gmail.com. An update can get pretty wild on my end, but I promise I’ll respond to your email to let you know if you got your choices. I’ll send out PayPal invoices about an hour after the update starts, once things start to quiet down a bit; please note that invoices are due upon receipt (with a little leeway for different time zones and schedules).

Reminders: Colours vary from device to device; I always include a written description of how I see the colour, but please do ask if you’re uncertain about a particular cake or set. Also note that package delivery is likely to be slow due to measures that postal services are taking against the pandemic. If you’d like to have your yarn sent with tracking, please ask me for a quote for the additional cost.

Feet on the Floor & Emerging from Midnight & Knock Loud

Four Quarter: Top: ~~Keep Your Feet on the Floor~~; Bottom left: ~~Emerging From Midnight~~; Bottom right: ~~Knock Loud~~

Four Quarter: Left: ~~Why I Don’t Keep a Giraffe in the House~~ (This cake has a few spots of dark green that I consider flaws, so it is discounted to $40 Cdn); Right: ~~The New Normal~~