Your life is already artful—waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art. ~ Toni Morrison
March 2026 The Luna Sweater pattern is now available! This design was inspired by a snippet of poetry: “Even in all its phases the moon is still whole.” Six colors of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift evoke the night sky; the phases of the moon march across a field of deepest blues along with some of their names. Please click on the link for more details!
Travel News
Jillian Moreno and I are leading a Scotland, Shetland, & Orkney tour in September 2026. It is sold out, but you are welcome to add your name to the “I sure hope someone drops out” list by writing our travel coordinator Jean.
Jillian and I are also deep into planning a trip to southern England — Cornwall and Devon — in September 2027. I will add links here when the itinerary is settled, but I warn you: we have a list of people ready to sign up sight unseen! If you are eager to join us, contact Jean to get on the waiting list so you will be notified first (no obligation!).
Thoughts on travel and creativity
Travel like this is, for most of us, a real luxury and for much of my life out of range for my budget. But I love visiting places I’ve never been, or revisiting places that called me back, seeing the different ways humans find to create societies. It can never hurt to know that the way I live is not the only right way to live!
But if you can’t afford to travel, you can travel deeply in place—pausing to really study and appreciate where we are is transformative. I read that, if we were to take a one-yard piece of string, tie it in a loop, and place it on the ground we could spend a lifetime examining what we find inside that circle!!!
I recommend Conscious Creativity by Philippa Stanton if you’d like some prompts. Wonder — a willingness to be amazed — will take us places a plane ride never can.
love,
Janine ❤️
News and Not-Quite-News but perhaps of interest…..
My book, The Joy of Color: Fair Isle Knitting Your Way, is out of print! Calculating the cost of printing, tariffs, shipping, storage, and mailing made me realize that it was time to make the hard decision. But I will be exploring ways to make it available in other formats!
Are you new to Fair Isle knitting? Let me recommend my two patterns geared to beginners: Dryas Octopetala, a slouchy hat with a goofy name (pictured here), and the Beginner’s Fair Isle Cap, a small, close-filling cap. Both these patterns include motifs that build in complexity, giving you a chance to build your confidence in carrying two colors at a time.
My approach to Fair Isle knitting is modern and very personal; my goal is to share my deep appreciation for this type of knitting and to help you develop the confidence to plunge into this world of color and pattern.
My Substack newsletter is where you will get the most current information about teaching and travel and new patterns, so please sign up if you haven’t already! Honestly, now that I no longer teach, I’ve become quite slack about sending this newsletter but who knows what 2026 will bring? All the old newsletters are there, though, if you’d like to wander through my thoughts.
WHAT IS A FERAL KNITTER?