What should I knit at my next conference?

As I continue on my journey getting to Wow! I look forward to seeing good friends and new friends whenever I travel to conferences.  I like the energy of gathered thinkers and gamechangers who are passionate about the arts in our lives.

OK, so I’m registered, I booked my hotel, I know what sessions I am going to, who I want to see.

I just don’t know what I want to knit.

Daughter of an Engineer

You would have liked my father.  He had a thing about camping in Maine, Chopin mazurkas and figuring stuff out, like pigtail bridges and cooling systems for nuclear power plants, usually on the back of envelopes in blue ink.  But what he loved best was coming up with an unusual solution to a problem:  “Why, we can hang those plants up with some fishing hooks!”  or  “Those file cabinets will make terrific dressers!”

Function, not form.  I silently pinky swore to myself that I would never live an unexpected, undesigned or unWow! life.

DNA,  more powerful than my pinky promise, coupled with a stack of DIY magazines  overcame me in a yarn shop.  Without a second glance at the pretty cottons and cashmeres, my eyes found a delicate blend of wool and steel and I fell in love.   “This will look fei cheong (Cantonese for totally) fabelhaft (German for fabulous) knit up like a loose neck sculpture thing!”

You could get a little crazy like I did and string a few clear crystal beads before you start knitting and space them here and there, to look like morning dew suspended in a spider web.

Beads on steel wool.  I am my father’s daughter.

How to make it

Here’s what you do if you want to create a stunning scarf that can stand on its own:

Get some of this steel wool stuff

Get some beautiful glass or crystal beads

Get a pair of  #5 knitting needles

Directions:

1. String 30 beads on the wool before knitting.
2. Cast on 28 stitches.
3. Knit one row, purl one row.
4. Knit in a bead here and there.  Think of what a spider web looks like in the morning.
5. Repeat until desired length.
6. Bind off loosely.  Weave in ends.
7. Expect second looks

Can’t wait to get started?

Grab your needles and get more Wow!

If you want style notes and more for people who change the world, please check out:

Getting to Wow! to feel good, do good and look good

Nonprofit Knitwear for all things knit and nonprofit

Style Notes from

Hoong Yee

me, your artspy