Wednesday Wonders #7: Jody Hennings AKA KillerPeach

In honor of her recent birthday, I thought I should honor my erstwhile knitting companion, Jody Hennings, this week. Long-time readers will have been hearing about her for years, but we can always learn more, can't we? So, what's so special about dear Jody?

I met Jody pretty soon after my local yarn shop opened up. She was young, funny and a pretty good knitter. I enjoyed hanging out with her. Then she disappeared for quite a few months. When she came back, she was a GREAT knitter. You see, Jody's mind works differently from some of ours. Where people like Suna have lots of hobbies and dabble in some other things, Jody's mind is compelled to learn everything about whatever takes hold of her interest. She could never be someone who knitted simple patterns to pass the time. No way. She was driven to master the most complex construction methods (whoa, can she do short row shaping on a sweater), the most technical uses of knitting stitches (things she did with cables make yesterday's sweater look like a kindergarten project), and the most artistic possible projects (that woman, she can make lace sing).

The nicest thing about Jody's intense drive for learning is that she has an equally intense drive to share what she learned with her friends. When we all three lived in the same town, Jody would regale Cheri and me with technical details on yarn composition, dye, needles, construction of garments…you name it. It was like our own little University of Knitting. She used to share a lot of this stuff on her blog, and I hope she gets back to it some time, because everyone enjoyed the writings of KillerPeach!

Another wonderful thing about Jody is her generosity. She made me the incredible shawl you see at right as a birthday gift (that counted as a gift for like the next ten years) that I will always treasure. Silk and cashmere, in my favorite colors. Ahh. I wish I had a photo that showed it off better. But that's just the start. How can I ever thank her for buying and then spinning the yarn for my wedding shawl (see below)? She had to mail that yarn from the Netherlands, even!

I've been the beneficiary of a couple of Jody's other intense learning experiences. Though I'd been studying tarot cards and how to use them for many years, her knowledge of it quickly surpassed mine as she immersed herself in that topic a couple of years ago. She found decks I'd never have found for myself, and happily shared all her new ideas and thoughts on tarot.

And we can't forget dyeing. She, Tina and I spent a memorable evening dyeing yarn with KoolAid a long time ago…Tina (Chemical Pink) and I have stuck mostly with KoolAid, but not Jody. She bought wonderful professional dyes and spent long hours perfecting deeply shaded and incredibly nuanced semi-solid yarn. I got enough of one sample to make my Garden Path socks. It's the prettiest brown I ever saw. I hope she is able to actually get that business going, because I'd sure be among the biggest customers.

Then there was spinning (at left is my wedding shawl, of yarn she spun). Once she got serious on that one, she didn't produce lumpy masses of strange colors and textures. No way. She purchased only the loveliest of roving, got her own drum carder, and spun on her incredible new wheel some of the most beautiful yarn I ever saw, with glorious flecks of color or shimmer, but nothing gaudy or overly showy. That lets her knit the yarn up into mind boggling lace and garments. Shoot, I haven't even managed to spin a spindle's worth. I need me a new spinning mentor, that's for sure!


I've mentioned it before, but it was very sad for me when she followed her man to another country last year. It's a great adventure and I am hoping it gives her wonderful memories. But I miss having her around to share whatever new enthusiasm is growing within her. When she is on to a new topic, she's a sight to behold! Get out your notebooks and take notes, Dutch people!

Since I don't get to see her any more unless she has a few minutes during a visit with her family, I'm glad to at least get to look at her work often. Whether it's a shawl on my own stair rail, the lovely things she knit as yarn shop samples, that one pair of socks I have from yarn she dyed, or just the fun photos I have on my computer, she's never far from my mind. I am glad for email, Ravelry, and Facebook, which lets us far-flung friends stay in touch and keep learning from each other! Thank you, Jody, for bringing so much friendship, fun and knowledge to my life. Knit on!

More on Jody

She's KillerPeach on Ravelry
And you might enjoy the archives of Killer Peach, the Blog

My Obsession

Trekking XXL 101
Originally uploaded by sunasak

The interim count on my stash is 99 yarns on Ravelry. Of course, that is not all I own--I am still working on photographing the rest. But so far i can tell what my obsession truly is: Trekking XXL sock yarn. I have, ahem, 14 balls of this stuff in the stash so far. And I know I have resisted others mightily in yarn stores across this continent. (I am less successful on other continents: you may recall, I did buy about half of my 14 skeins in a recent orgy of Trekking caused by some limited edition yarns sold by Astrid's Dutch Obsession.) I think I will stop visiting that site, even though the Europricing is Euro-enticing.

But this IS lovely yarn. I love the way the colors change in some of the colorways, but all are marvelous. And it feels good, even if it IS mass produced. My (knitted) hat's off to the Zitrons, whoever or whatever they are.

Kudos of the same type are deserved by the designers who do Opal and sign the ball bands, but I sure wish they had better ball band glue--one of my Opals has lost its band! Maybe someone on Ravelry will ID it for me.

Holiday gift ideas for Suna: sock yarn! What a surprise. I have to say it's preferable to the endless parade of frog items my mother got, or all the owls Lee says HIS mother got. At least I could use the sock yarn, some day.

I got to see more of Jody's Krazy yarn yesterday. MMMM, color-y. You, too, will love them, once they start selling!

Summer of Socks 2007

Summer 2007 Socks
Originally uploaded by sunasak

Yes, August is almost over and I am declaring Suna's Summer of Socks 2007 over. (I didn't realize it was going to be a summer of socks, but it was.)

This picture has at least one image of every pair of socks I made this summer, with a couple repeated. I made ten pairs in all, starting in mid-June, which is not like some of the pros, but pretty good for someone with a full-time job who can't knit on the commute! I have three days of August left to finish the second Kaylee sock, which actually should occur tonight.

I will be trying to finish the sample of Jody's Color My Yarn Krazy laceweight by Friday so I can block it and take it to the LYS on Saturday. That should be possible--I doubled it last night and also worked on the sock AND did a rehearsal! Don't forget you can read more about her luminous semi-solids project and sign up for a mailing list about her new yarns, which will do until she gets a website set up (see yesterday's post for instructions).

Once those items are off the list, I will finish the pentagon project, which is growing steadily but with 250 stitches around, simply will take a while to finish. Then I PROMISE to finish the surplice top. Um, and start those Christmas socks. I found a pattern on Knitty.com that will liven up Lee's Dad's worsted weight in solid navy, which is a relief.

Happy Back to School week in much of the US!

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Preview of Fun to Come

Dyeing Sample Lace
Originally uploaded by sunasak

I have a friend (OK, it's Jody, who commented below, who is like one of my bestest friends, otherwise I'd not be plugging her madly) who is starting a business dyeing yarn. This is someone with an amazing sense of color and the scientific knowledge to do some really amazing things with the yarns. She's starting out with some semi-solids and made dozens and dozens of samples in colors that are so pretty it takes my breath away. I have NO idea how I could choose a favorite, or if I were a LYS owner, how I'd pick the ones to sell! Right now there is something for everyone in the selection and THEN some. I keep imagining the mitered square bedspread to end all bedspreads made out of all these little samples. OK, so that won't actually happen; she needs them!

We all had a blast at the LYS on Saturday looking at the samples, touching them, rearranging them, oohing and aahing. My friend obviously put a lot of work into making recipes and documenting them, and making all those samples! Whoa! Some of the colors were shades I had never seen in yarn for sale. Oh, drooooooool. Look at all those blues and purples.

Lucky for me, she made two samples of one color (this is, believe it or not, yellow base dye with black), so I could knit up a sample for our LYS, which is in the photograph. It came out a lovely olive green. I am enthralled with how the slight color variations make it shimmer without detracting from the lace pattern. The base yarn is a wonderful wool-silk blend that will be familiar to any lace knitter. It sure takes to dye well!! Do click the image of the sample to see it enlarged. It's so pretty, even in perhaps not the most exciting color on earth. (Hmm, it is the color of the earth, in my mind.)

I am enjoying using my new Addi lace needles on this sample, too. This is a size 4; a "normal" knitter would get this effect with about a size 6 US needle. The pattern is one repeat of a motif used in an item in a book I had laying around, but I am sure it is in one of the Walker books or a Harmony Guide--called "arrowhead lace." I think this would actually make a nice narrow scarf to wear as an accent with a button down shirt or turtleneck. Maybe when my friend makes more, I'll do that.

If you are interested in being notified when this yarn goes up for sale (I think she will have an Etsy store or something like that at first), you can send an email message to ColorMyYarnKrazy-subscribe AT yahoogroups DOT com (replacing the AT and DOT appropriately). It will be an announcement kind of list, not a mailbox-filling spammy kind. I think there will be laceweight and sock yarn at first. And eventually there will be hand painted sock yarn. However, these semi-solids are so lovely they'd keep me occupied for a while. I can't wait to see what she comes up with in the future!

Birthday Shawl Beauty

Birthday Shawl Border
Originally uploaded by sunasak.

Important note! I did not knit this shawl! The lovely and talented Jody (Killerpeach) did it as a birthday gift to me (birthday was in March, but we haven't seen each other much lately). Whoa, what a gift! I have a picture of it spread out, and a close up on my Flickr pages. The yarn is a slightly vareigated silk/wool blend that is light and warm (so I can take it in to work and wear when I get cold--it matches my cubicle decor better than my purple and green mohair one).

The pattern is Sivia Harding's Shetland Garden Faroese shawl. It has some nice shaping that makes it hang very well (when not serving as a headscarf). I want to make one of these shawls, too--maybe someone else wil have to be the lucky recipient!

Today we had a really fun day, Jody and I. Jody met me her LYS (the one in south Austin) and looked and looked. While waiting on Jody, the sales staff there were very helpful and I think among three of us, we finally figured out how to do the corner on the Cherry Leaf shawl (yay). They all agreed they are very unclear directions, though, which made me feel better. It's not that I am slow or anything!

I purchased some yummy yarn. I tried not to. But...well...there was stuff they don't have up in Cedar Park...

First is some pale blue (skydrop) Voile de la Mer yarn from Tilli Tomas, a silk and seacell blend. Face it, I just wanted some seacell. I'll make the little dragon scale wristlets in the knitting pattern a day calendar out of them, probably knitting two strands together, because I got the thinner yarn. It really doesn't smell very ocean-y. But it is shiny and soft.

Next we have some Koigu KPPPM sock yarn. Can you believe it, I never bought any before??? They said they had finally gotten in some new colors, and they were flying out. For some reason I didn't get purple (which was very nice), Instead I got some very dark blues and turquoises.

And last in the yarn dept. is Graceful Lace from Yarn Place. It's a laceweight (duh) with very long color changes, 100% wool. The colors are muted greens to purples, violet...very hard to describe, because the colors are subtle and grayed, not vibrant. It's one of those yarns that if the label didn't say so, you would not believe the skeins are the same colorway. I think it would look really interesting on a round shawl, and I want to make some round ones.

(It won't be the next one, though, because I want to make the snowdrop shawl in Lace Style out of some yarn I hope gets dyed this weekend by Ray).

THEN, Jody talked me into buying some roving. Because she thought I should learn to spin. Well, it was pretty inexpensive, so I got some. And we went to her house (after margaritas), and she set me up with a drop spindle. I was predictably awkward at it, but was getting the hang of it by the time I went home. I came back with a borrowed spindle and an instruction book. We'll see how I do!

Must go play with my toys now...