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Deb Robson
I'm a writer, knitter, freelance editor, and independent publisher.
Interests: Dogs (especially herding breeds) and obedience and agility training, although one of our dogs developed arthritis after she earned a CD (obedience title) and we wouldn't let her jump enough to work toward the next level. The next dog just was (and is) not interested in serious training. We now have a new rescue Border collie who has started classes. Cats (who don't believe in training, except of humans and dogs). Also books; hiking; natural and cultural history; rare breeds of sheep; plein air painting; knitting (of course); spinning (yarn, not whatever they do called spinning at athletic facilities); weaving and everything else a person can do with fiber; libraries and bookstores; yarn shops; publishing; collaborative and sustainable work and ways of living. And so on.
Recent Activity
Please visit me at my new online home
Hello, and welcome! Chances are you found this site via some sort of Internet search. I think you'll find a lot of interesting information in the archives here, and you're welcome to look around; however, I no longer update or... Continue reading
Posted May 11, 2017 at The Independent Stitch
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:-D
Hi, Janel!
It's been a long time
It's been a long time since I posted on this blog. I've been healing and growing, while finding a new focus in life. Along the way I began to date, I got engaged, and now I'm married. Who knew that lightning could strike twice in life. I am twice lucky, and twice blessed. I haven't had a l...
Shetland: A new resource for vintage knitting designs
Posted Jul 24, 2015 at The Independent Stitch
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Lithuanian knitting: unusual and approachable continuing traditions
Posted May 25, 2015 at The Independent Stitch
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"Sugar-coating the cruel world of wool!"
Late last year I received an e-mail message that I answered personally, but I haven’t had time for blogging in a while (as some may have noticed), so this inquiry and my response didn’t get shared. This morning on Twitter... Continue reading
Posted Apr 3, 2015 at The Independent Stitch
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Felicity has weighed in, and I’ll let you know something about my compromises in this regard. When I design colors for a garment, I’ll go to the yarn shop with the biggest selection of colors and sit on the floor, putting skeins next to each other and doing my best to visualize what might work for the idea I have in mind. Then I select a skein of each candidate to take home and swatch—and if I’m waffling between some options, I’ll get those alternatives and try them out at home. This isn’t an infinitely acquisitive process, because over time I’ve gotten better at choosing the first (or second) time.
When you’re working with *learning* color, it doesn’t matter a whole heap what yarn you’re using. You can learn a lot regardless. (If you’re designing a garment, of course it does). And I have a few less expensive ways to dabble with color ideas. One involves using either wool embroidery yarn (I’m thinking Paternayan) or cotton embroidery thread (DMC has a great color range). You can get a heap of colors pretty fast and relatively inexpensively, and work with them either in knitting (easier with the wool) or cross-stitch or needlepoint, if you have or can noodle at acquiring those skills.
One thing I might consider doing here is getting the J&S shade card and then matching colors to DMC cottons in the range I’m considering using for a project, then doing preliminary “swatches” in cross-stitch, then getting J&S colors to do “real” swatching. DMC cottons are often on sale at the craft outlets. Paternayan pricing varies, depending on where you buy it, but still can be a good option.
The things to watch out for here are the subtle shifts that will happen in the change from one fiber type to another, and from one stitch-formation process to another. The cotton yarns will be more lustrous (will reflect more light) and there’s a slight color-perception change involved in moving to wool. Also, cross-stitches are exactly square, and knit stitches in most cases are a bit wider than they are tall (although this is less pronounced in color work than it is in some other techniques, and may only be a marginal issue in designing for Fair Isle).
If you set your non-jumperweight yarn samples up right, you can end up with mug mats and other useful small items—even a tiny baglet or some such—in addition to having narrowed down your color choices for swatching for a project.
Above all, have fun with color! The exercises will help you play and do that.
— Deb
A gem of a book: Felicity Ford's KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook
EDITED March 7, 2015 to add: Felicity Ford's KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook is now one of the wonderful books (including Kate Davies' and Elizabeth Lovick's and more) available in the U.S. from Meg Swansen's Schoolhouse Press. I'll link here to the "new books" page where you can curren...
A gem of a book: Felicity Ford's KNITSONIK Stranded Colourwork Sourcebook
Posted Nov 14, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Yarn (and fiber) interlude
Posted Oct 13, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Iceland 7 - Hveravellir, and Þingborg
Posted Oct 1, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Iceland 6 - Winter housing of sheep, one view
Posted Sep 29, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Rebecca, the North Atlantic Sheep Wool Conference always welcomes handcrafters, in large part because it was initiated by a handcrafter.
The breeds that are the topic of the North Atlantic Native Sheep Wool confererence are all comparatively small in populations number (on a global scale this includes even the Icelandic sheep, of which there are quite a few). The economics of their survival depend to some extent on handcraft markets and support. The Australian sheep industry is predominantly industrial, so handcrafters would not be likely to be considered important (or even relevant) to include.
Iceland 5 - Ullarselið
After our visit to Ístex, we drove north to Hvanneyri and the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI), which combines strong research with a mission of teaching. Thanks to Google for the map. Through this year's North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference, I was delighted to be able to me...
You’re welcome, Andrea! More to come in a future post. I especially liked, though, the understated quality of that one wider braid.
Iceland 5 - Ullarselið
After our visit to Ístex, we drove north to Hvanneyri and the Agricultural University of Iceland (AUI), which combines strong research with a mission of teaching. Thanks to Google for the map. Through this year's North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference, I was delighted to be able to me...
Iceland 5 - Ullarselið
Posted Sep 23, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Iceland 4 - Ístex
Posted Sep 19, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Iceland 3 - sheep roundup
Posted Sep 15, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Iceland 2 - miscellany
Posted Sep 14, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Iceland 1 - orientation
Posted Sep 13, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Scottish Highlands 2
Posted Sep 12, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Thanks for your comment, Helene. I’m doubtful about pine cones substituting for teasels, but y’never know until you try. Both Lexie and Peggy are mature dogs, and I’d put Lexie’s hesitation down to a deliberate choice, rather than chickenness. Thanks for the idea about the calendar—if I can think of a way to do that without handing printing, inventory, or shipping, it could be fun. I do need to continue fundraising for the Shetland research. I’m not done, and some of it will involve going back again—which isn’t cheap, even with watching every penny.
Scottish Highlands 1
The time came to leave Shetland. I flew into Aberdeen, rented a car, and met up with Jeni Reid. As I noted in an out-of-sequence post earlier, we went to visit a flock of Valais Blacknose sheep, which were hard to photograph only because they were so friendly. We tore ourselves away and kept...
Scottish Highlands 1
Posted Sep 11, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Rambling around Shetland, 4--sheep
Posted Sep 8, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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On not getting to Fair Isle or Foula
Posted Sep 4, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Rambling around Shetland, 3--flexible planning
Posted Sep 3, 2014 at The Independent Stitch
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Caroline, I did know that Shetland is featured at Rhinebeck this year, and I was working on some ways to get there, but so far they haven’t come into focus.
Rambling around Shetland, 1
During my time in Shetland, I focused on things I could not do elsewhere, because the time was short and precious. But there were also hours when none of the places I needed to access was open, or errands needed to be done (food, post office, map acquisition), and so on. Also my lack of familiar...
Caroline, I agree. And they’re not just any old guitars. They’re good guitars.
Rambling around Shetland, 1
During my time in Shetland, I focused on things I could not do elsewhere, because the time was short and precious. But there were also hours when none of the places I needed to access was open, or errands needed to be done (food, post office, map acquisition), and so on. Also my lack of familiar...
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