Me modeling my first sari with the styling help of the seamstresses who made my sari blouse.

I just got back from a month-long trip to India.  It was my second trip.  I am fascinated by this country with its hundreds of languages and cultures, its crazy dichotomies of wealth and poverty, and its over-powering smells, tastes and sounds.  Other travellers have described India as "a feast for the senses", and I think almost any traveller who has visited India would agree.  

Beyond this feast for the senses, India is a treasure chest for any fan of fiber.  (And really not just textile lovers: it is a fascinating place for any crafter or DIYer - since just about everything there is hand made or cobbled together with what's available.) Whether you knit, crochet or sew (especially if you sew), there are amazing things to see and buy at excellent prices.  

The most obvious textile purchase is a sari: 9 yards of sumptuous fabric.  I bought a few saris in India with the intention of wearing them there, then using the fabric for sewing projects when I returned.  

Shopping for a sari isn't as straightforward as running to the mall and picking one up. It's a 2 step process of purchasing the sari fabric, purchasing the blouse fabric, then going to a tailor or seamstress who can whip up a blouse for you without a pattern - typically in the same day!

Here are some photos of this western girl's first sari-shopping experience:

The most traditional place to purchase a sari is in a small, privately-owned sari shop. The saris are sorted by regional style and fiber content. These were my salesmen at the front of the store where the finest saris were kept.  Many saris are hand-loomed, and one of the most interesting things for a westerner like me is seeing that almost no two saris are exactly alike!  Sari shopping is a very service-oriented process - you don't just browse through the stock alone, you rely on the salesman to fetch the saris he thinks you will like and he unfurls them for you to inspect.

A more recent development are these large stores where you can browse the racks of saris yourself.  These types of stores are not very common - I only saw one on my most recent trip there and I saw 100s of the little stores. This photo shows the less expensive saris in the store. Notice how many salespeople are available to assist you!

Upstairs in the sari emporium are the finer party saris.

Some saris come with an additional yard of fabric so that you have enough to make a sari blouse. In case the sari does not come with blouse fabric, then you need to shop for blouse fabric in a color that coordinates with the sari fabric. Many blouse fabrics have an edging design that can be used at the sleeves and lower hem of the blouse.  Most of the mid-range fabrics I was looking at cost less than $1/yard!

The array of fabrics is mind-boggling and I had to practice a lot of self-control to stop myself from shopping for saris for more than one afternoon.  One day I will schedule a textile shopping trip to India and give myself a week, an appropriate budget, and the right luggage allowance for carrying it all back. But not this time.

Here I am getting fitted for my sari blouse.  She took about 10 different measurements and without a pattern she whipped up four sari blouses for me within four hours!  It cost about $1 for her to make each blouse.

The travel season is upon us. Many of us travel in December to visit family, or to take a winter vacation to far-off places. And as knitters and crocheters, many of us would like to take our projects along because the airplane really is one of the best places imaginable for knitting and crocheting.

But here's the thing: You can't take your needles and hooks on every aircraft if you are flying internationally. While flying with hooks and needles in the USA is no problem, keep in mind that TSA rules don't extend past the USA. As many knitters and crocheters who travel internationally have learned - not every country thinks it's okay to bring hooks and needles on the aircraft. I've had my share of hooks and needles confiscations (Mexico in recent years has been terrible for me...) and it's an incredibly frustrating and nonsensical experience. It can be expensive too!

What's most frustrating for me are the international layovers: many times you have to go through security AGAIN when you transfer planes. I was on a flight once from SFO to Singapore with a transfer in Tokyo and I had all my knitting needles confiscated during that Japanese transit.  While you might be able to research all the regulations of your destination countries and the countries you are transiting through, that research is far from easy and many times the regulations just aren't published online. What's more, if you are rerouted due to delays, weather or mechanical problems, you may find yourself routed through a country you didn't even anticipate.

So what is a poor knitter or crocheter to do? There's no way that I'm leaving my knit or crochet work at home - especially for an extended trip. I'm a light traveller and typically bring carry-on luggage only, which leaves me no option to check in my hooks and needles. Plus, being able to knit or crochet on a long flight is an absolute must for me - what else is there to do?! That's some quality stitching time!

So I unapologetically smuggle my needles and hooks on board. And not only do I have no qualms about it, I have no problems sharing my tips so that you can be an effective knit or crochet outlaw too.  Here is what I do:

1.  I only bring the tools I absolutely need and I separate them out in my bag so that even if some are found, chances are high that I can get other ones on board.  I also bring redundant tools if I am mid-project. So for example, if I am working a project with #8 needles, I will bring 2 sets of needles and I will stash them in different spots.

2.  If I am bringing knitting, I bring interchangeable needles like those from a Denise set.  Plastic, bamboo or wood needles are preferable to metal, but I have had success with my metal needles too.  I bring them disassembled with the cords packed separately from the needles.  If I am mid-project, I will detach the needles from the cord and put stoppers on the cord to secure my work.  I never leave the needles attached so that the Xray technician can clearly read "knitting project".

3.  I camoflauge my needle tips among pens and pencils.  I've packed a pencil case and thrown the needles in with them.  Although now my preferred approach is to make a few rubber-banded bundles containing pens, pencils, and needles and I stash these little bundles in separate locations in my bag.

4.  I throw my crochet hooks in with my toothbrush and toothpaste. Somehow the hooks seem dental to me. 

5.  I use an old dental floss container to hold stitch markers, and more importantly, act as a yarn cutter.

Do you have any international travel tips?  Do you have some confiscation horror stories or tips on which countries are the strictest about confiscating hooks and needles?  Let me know in the comments!

Knitted Lace with Inline Broomstick Lace using Lucci Hemp Lace

I've been having fun playing around with ways to mix knitting with Broomstick Lace. Since Broomstick Lace is a crochet technique that is done with a knitting needle anyways, it seems completely natural to knit a few rows, then use the crochet hook and the knitting needle for a few rows - the effects are gorgeous and it is fun to watch what happens as the two different kinds of laces merge into one another.

Knitted Lace with Inline Broomstick Lace using Lucci Bamboo Lace

The photos above show some of my experimentations working rows of knitting with a smaller needle, then switching to knit a row with a bigger needle. I've then worked the loops off the larger needle using a crochet hook and the Broomstick Lace technique.  Once the crochet row is complete, I've switched back to the smaller needles and continued in a knitting pattern.  I call this way of working "Inline" because there is no binding off the knitting before switching to Broomstick. In my experiments, I've found this way of combining the techniques is lovely for lacey fabrics.

Knitting with bordered Broomstick Lace as show in my new Velutinous Cap & Wristlets (Knit) design

I found that when I desired the transition between the knitting and the Broomstick Lace pattern to be more defined, binding off before a Broomstick Lace insertion provided a much more effective result.  But not just any bind off will work if you need to preserve the stretchiness and quality of the fabric.  I call this kind of transition between the two techniques a "Bordered" transition, and since no cutting of the yarn is required for the bind off, the bind off stitches really should just be considered a set of special stitches that create an attractive transition - it is not necessary to completely tie of and restart.

If you are a knitter and intersted in exploring mixing crochet into your work - do consider Broomstick Lace as it will feel like a very natural progression for you.  Even if you have only picked up a crochet hook to edge before - as long as you know the basics of how to single crochet and chain - you've got all the pre-requisites you need to tackle my new Craftsy class Beyond Basic Broomstick Lace or follow along in my new tutorial pattern Velutinous Cap & Wristlets.  And of course, there are my free, online tutorials on this website for Broomstick Lace.

If you are inspired enough to experiment with mixing techniques yourself, please do share. I'd love to see what you come up with.

A: Brown
B: Creme Tan
C: Light Tan
D: Grey

Last month I wrote a post describing how I use photos for color inspiration in my projects and I described the easy technique I use to convert photos to yarn color selections. So many people are afraid of color - and using photos to select color in this way really is a bit like "training wheels" for one's color confidence.

We are offering a new yarn on the website (Lucci Cotton Tape) that I am enamoured with right now - one of the great things about it is that it comes in so many colors.

I teach how to make this really versatile Multi-Garment in my Craftsy Tunisian Crochet class - and this yarn is perfect for it. When I was exploring how this yarn worked up in Tunisian, I got the idea to show my students examples of all kinds of palettes using this new yarn using the color selection techniques that I introduce in the class.

So a month has gone by, and the swatches for each palette are done! Here they are, presented next to their original photo inspiration.

If you use my technique to translate photos to yarn colorway selections, here are a couple things to keep in mind:

• It's hard to select 3 or 4 colors out of the millions that exist in a photo!  Choose the colors that represent why the photo works for YOU.  If 10 people were to make palettes from the same photo, chances are they would create 10 very different palettes. There is no wrong or right here as long as you are able to effectively able to use this technique to choose color combinations you like!
• Take a look at the "base colors" in the photo as well as the "highlight colors" that really make the photo pop for you.  If you are choosing a contrast yarn that will be used sparingly in the project, you would choose one of those highlight colors for that yarn, and select base colors for the main colors in the garment.

I've posted each of the completed palettes here with a listing of the colors used in each  swatch.  Now that you see the colors realized into a fabric - are you surprised by the results?  Did you like some palettes better before they were worked into a fabric? Conversely, are you surprised by how much you like some fabrics because you really didn't like the photo or the palette when you first saw it last month?

A: Chocolate
B: Tawny Olive
C: Tan
D: creme de menthe

A: Black
B: Rust
C: Bright Fuschia
 D:Gold

A: Chocolate 
B: Bright Fuschia
C: Fuschia Red
D: Orange

A: Navy
B: Bright Fuschia
C: Beet Red
D: Iced Pink

A: Black
B: French Blue
C: Gallant Red
D: Sand Daffodil

A: Brown
B: Emerald
C: Gold
D: Creme de Menthe

A: Cobalt
B: Wedgewood
C: Orange
D: Sand Daffodil

A: Chocolate
B: Lilac
C: Orange
D: Sand Daffodil

A: Chocolate
B: French Blue
C: Fuschia Red
D: Purple

You know how patterns direct you to make a swatch before you begin your project?  Do you actually do it?  If you said "yes", here's another question for you: do you wash and block your swatch before you validate your gauge?

I'm not a purist, and if you are doing something like a blanket, a scarf, or even some unstructured wearable like a poncho - then close-enough is good-enough when it comes to gauge.  But if you are making a fitted wearable, then gauge is CRITICAL and it will make or break your project.  Think about it for a minute:  At some point you will need to wash whatever you make and washing the fabric and drying it is going to change your gauge.  Also: Please just block your projects when you finish them.  It takes them from looking all crumply and "home-made" to something spectacular that others will assume you purchased in an expensive store.  And blocking also changes your gauge.  Thus: wash and block your swatches for a fitted wearable.

For those who know me or have taken my classes, then you know I'm a big believer in cheats and shortcuts and I love to share them.  So here's my cheat for washing and blocking your swatch:  fill up a mason jar (or any jar) with water and laundry soap, shake it up, massage your swatch slightly and let it soak for a while. (Take my new Craftsy class for an entire lesson on tips & tricks for swatching for a fitted wearable.)  I LOVE Eucalan for my projects because you don't have to rinse it out and it smells good.  That's right: you let it soak for 15 minutes or more and rinsing is optional. Rinsing is always the most tedious part of handwashing and using Eucalan helps you avoid the hassle.

Did I say that Eucalan smells good?  It comes in a number of really lovely fragrances, including Eucalyptus and Lavender.  And now it comes in a very heady sensual jasmine scent called Wrapture from designer Kristin Omdahl. I'm designing a set of free washcloths to be available very soon from the Stitch Diva site, and I have washed and blocked them in Wrapture using my Mason Jar trick.  Imagine what a wonderfully-scented Christmas gift they will make:  Fast, beautifully-scented hand-knitted gifts with minimal effort.

If this blog post didn't inspire you to start washing your swatches, maybe a free vial of Wrapture deliciousness will inspire you. I'm giving away a free 100mL bottle of Wrapture. For a chance to win, just comment on this blog post or the Facebook post for this giveaway. Bonus points for commentors who talk about their take on swatching and washing.

Winner selected on Tuesday 11/13.  Good luck!  If you don't win, don't despair, you can buy Eucalan online.