Sycamore Cove Knitting

Introducing My New Novel: The Knitting Guild of All Saints

December 7, 2022Cynthia Coe

We are all in one big knitting guild. That is the message of my newest novel, The Knitting Guild of All Saints. Whether you knit well or not, knit a lot or only sporadically, you are part of a community of knitters that all share something in common and are woven together by the practice of knitting.

In my first book in this series, The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, we see community formed around the ministry of knitting and gifting prayer shawls. These prayer shawls are made with love, knitted or crocheted to show someone that a community of believers cares about them, prays about them, and surrounds them in love like a big warm blanket. In this novel, unlikely friendships form, and romances are sparked. People both within and on the margins of the fictional All Saints Church are enfolded in the love and prayers of this community of faith.

In The Knitting Guild of All Saints, the second novel in this series, the community expands far beyond the fictional Episcopal church at the heart of the action. The “Rogue Knitting Guild” formed in the first book takes off as a ministry all its own, with a surprising and highly unlikely new leader. New prayer shawl guilds are formed in churches far way and even poolside in Florida. Familiar characters from Book One find themselves in unlikely new situations. And, of course, an unlikely romance begins between two new characters.

I hope you enjoy my new novel. I try hard to keep the plot going and the characters interesting and even humorous at times. I hope you join my characters in their new journeys, walking in their shoes for just a bit and seeing the world from their perspectives. Isn’t that what reading is all about?

Many blessings! Cindy

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, interrelated stories about knitters and those for whom they knit and love. The sequel to this book, The Knitting Guild of All Saints, has been released! Available in paperback and on Kindle, included in Kindle Unlimited.

How to Knock Out a Handknitted Christmas Gift in Two Days

December 3, 2022Cynthia Coe

It’s early December, and you’re probably feeling the heat of your Christmas knitting deadlines looming. That scarf you’ve promised your favorite niece. The charity drive for handknitted scarves for the homeless. Or your kids who’ll expect an annual handknit scarf. And you’re freaking out.

Friends, you can do this. You can still knock out a half dozen handknit scarves, if necessary. I’m in the same boat, and here’s my recipe for an easy-peasy handknit scarf you can knock out in two days – assuming you have something worthwhile to watch on TV or appropriate Christmas music playing in the background.

First, procure a big skein of size 5 bulky yarn. I’m using Yarnspirations Caron brand “Sprinkle Cakes” yarn, bought at my local big box craft store. You just need one skein per scarf.
Next, get yourself size 11 US (8.0 mm) knitting needles – straight or circular, doesn’t matter.
Cast on 20 stitches, knit one row for a nice border.

You’re going to use a 4×4 basket weave pattern – blocks of 4 stitches, 4 rows high. Four knit stitches, 4 purl stitches, repeat to the end of the row. Flip your work over and continue in reverse. Do this for 4 rows, then switch the knits for purls and visa-versa, to wit:

Row 1: Knit 4, Purl 4, Knit 4, Purl 4, Knit 4
Row 2: Purl 4, knit 4, purl 4, knit 4, purl 4
Row 3: repeat row 1
Row 4: repeat row 2
Row 5: Purl 4, knit 4, purl 4, knit 4, purl 4
Row 6: knit 4, purl 4, knit 4, purl 4, knit 4
Row 7: repeat row 5
Row 8: repeat row 6

Continue in this pattern until you almost run out of yarn. Bind off, weave in loose ends. And voila! You’ve got a long, cozy, generously knit scarf that makes you look like a star!

For added warmth and good wishes, drink one glass of wine or a handful of chocolates while you knit. You’ll feel less stressed. I promise.

You’ve got this! Go forth and finish that Christmas knitting!!!

Advent Blessings for a wonderful holiday, Cindy

P.S. Thanks so much for all your positive response and kind words on the publication of my new book!!!!! Y’all are awesome!!! Love, Cindy

Frantically Knitting for the Holidays? So am I. It’s a Good Thing.

November 23, 2022Cynthia Coe

Do you have unfinished knitting projects on your needles with holiday deadlines looming? Are you chewing up all your TV time in the evening, knocking out those scarves you need to stick a gift tag on by Christmas? Are you picking up the knitting needles during morning coffee breaks, during that ten minutes you’ve got before the next Zoom meeting, or making the most of the school pick-up line to get in a few rows of knitting? Yeah, me too.

My church plans to give twenty homeless teenagers handknit scarves for Christmas. We’ve got twelve scarves turned in and ready to go. But there’s another eight to go. And so I engage in near frantic knitting to help my fellow church knitters make up the difference. Having a homeless teenager show up to a Christmas party and NOT get a handknit scarf like everybody else is not an option. I’ve got two skeins of super bulky yarn headed for my mailbox, so I’m thinking size 13 or 15 needles and knock out a couple of scarves in 48 hours. Fingers crossed!

This hurried style of knitting is not my favorite thing to do. I’m more of a meditative knitter. But when the call goes out for a good cause, it’s what we do. Yes, we knit for ourselves. Most of us knit for the sense of peace and calm we get when we sit down to knit and unwind, away from the stresses of the world. We knit for a sense of accomplishment, for creative expression, or maybe just to have something constructive to do.

But our best knitting is for others. We knit to welcome a new baby. We knit to comfort a ninety-year-old woman in a nursing home. We knit to show a husband or son or daughter our love for them with a sweater or pair of socks. We knit to show a homeless teenager that someone out there cares that they stay a little warmer this winter.

So we knit, maybe frantically, maybe powering through our “not-most-enjoyable” knitting sessions. We knit to give. We knit to show our love. It’s a good thing.

Holiday Blessings for Your Knitting Projects of Love, Cindy

Are Knitting Books Now Obsolete?

June 10, 2022Cynthia Coe

As a writer and lifelong bookworm, I love finding a new knitting book, newly published and on display in the bookstore. But lately, I’m finding myself less and less enthusiastic about newly published collections of knitting patterns, even if they are beautifully designed hardbacks with full color illustrations and photos. Nice to look at, but…?

As some of you know, I often have the special treat of reviewing brand new books digitally, well before they hit the market. In reviewing new knitting books, I’m seeing a trend that makes my eyes glaze over. Many – if not all – of these new knitting books assume I’ve never picked up a pair of knitting needles in my life. These books offer voluminous tips on how to get started, what tools I need, how to choose yarn, and even how to make the most basic of stitches. Lord knows I’ve covered that territory umpteen times before.

So when I eagerly pick up a new knitting book, I inevitably skip large chunks of introductory material and skip straight to the new patterns. The patterns are usually fine; but do I want to buy an entire book just for a few patterns?

In the meantime, a plethora of interesting and innovative patterns are now available on multiple platforms for just a few bucks a piece. Why buy a book of info you don’t need, when you can buy only what you want for much less?

And as for instructions on how to knit, it’s all about video these days. I rarely figure out a new stitch from two-dimensional illustrations on paper. But show me a quick video, and I’ve got it under my belt in no time.

I’m going to make a pronouncement (because it’s my blog and I can): Knitting instruction books are obsolete. If you want to learn how to knit, do a search and find a video. If you want a pattern, check out Ravelry, Etsy, or who knows what other platforms are out there in cyberspace.

I love books, but time and innovation move forward.

Happy Knitting! Cindy

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, a collection of interrelated short stories about knitters and those they meet through knitting and sharing prayer shawls.

As an Amazon Associate and Author, I provide links to products (including books I have written) and earn a very small fee if you click on the links and buy something. There is no additional charge to you!

Knitting in a Time of Mass Upheaval: Remembering Madame Defarge

March 8, 2022Cynthia Coe

One of my favorite books is A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens. In this novel, set during the turmoil of the French Revolution, my favorite scenes are those of Madame Defarge, sitting and knitting while all hell breaks out around her. Yes, she’s one of the villains, and yes she’s knitting the names of those on the revolutionaries’ death list into her work. But the whole idea of sitting and knitting in the midst of chaos has always spoken to me.

Here we are again. For those of us of a certain age, we’ve seen this film. We know this plot: evil dictator reigns down terror on innocent population. This time, we see it in real time on TV. Things will change and change quickly in coming days. So it’s time for self care (again). It’s time to just sit still and knit.

Knitting allows you to put worry aside, focus simply on the movement of your hands, and truly live in the moment. All you need to think about, just for a few moments, is whether you need to be knitting or purling at this specific second of your life. You might get a sweater or scarf out of it, but what it really gets you is a state of peace and calm amongst the madness of a world in turmoil.

Maybe you, like Madame Defarge, are knitting while you watch major world events unfold around you. Maybe, like Madame Defarge, you’re keeping score and thinking where you’d like to put one of those knitting needles. Or maybe you’re just knitting for a few minutes to find a little bit of peace, trying to get through the day without freaking out.

In any case, do take up those knitting needles and take a few minutes to breathe. Take a few minutes to calm down.

With prayers for peace, Cindy

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, a collection of interrelated short stories about knitters and those they meet through knitting and sharing prayer shawls.

Knitting and Praying for the Russian Soul

March 2, 2022Cynthia Coe

I’ve spent a lot of time knitting and fretting and praying over situations in Russia, and here we are again.

For me, the act of knitting is oddly intertwined with Russian culture and its wildly volatile social fabric. My favorite story about knitting – and prayer – involves a Russian woman who went to her priest, feeling spiritually out of whack. The priest told her to sit in front of an icon for an hour a day and just silently knit. She did that, and soon enough, she was spiritually right as rain. I’ve followed that advice many times in the last twenty or so years, knitting and silently, wordlessly praying.

For a time, I knitted and prayed for my soon-to-be-adopted son, a tiny, malnourished little boy abandoned by his birth parents and left in the custody of an orphanage on the Arctic Coast of Russia. While I waited for a date to leave on what would become the most momentous trip of my life, I knitted. I made hats and scarves for the children in this orphanage, one after the other, soaking up my stress and my hopes and my worries. Then, while I waited to leave on my second trip to bring my son home, I knitted again, this time making adult sized scarves for the orphanage staff, the kind souls caring for my son. I knitted and prayed that all would go well, that we would be able to bring home our little son without all the hassles and things-that-could-wrong.

I had reason to knit and pray a lot during those trips. The government of Russia is not friendly to strangers. My husband and I were under constant surveillance while we were there. Moments after we checked into a hotel, the CNN broadcast froze on the TV screen (the better to hear you with, my dears). When we met our adoption facilitators, men suddenly appeared out of nowhere to intently listen in, finding out where we were going and where we were staying. The hotel in Moscow had a Red Army watching and listening post in the lobby. The hotel maid felt free to come in and check on us without knocking, without asking.

On the way out to the airport to leave, we were stopped and asked for papers at 4:30 in the morning. After my husband and our new baby and I passed passport control at the airport, my ten-year-old children were held back as the officer took her sweet time checking data base after data base, making sure they weren’t Russian adoptees leaving illegally on American passports. Hundreds of people were held up behind us as we stood on the other side of the border, waiting and hoping our children would soon step over the border after us. I have never been so relieved as the moment the door to that big Lufthansa jet slammed shut and the plane pulled away from the gate, taking us to the safety of the West.

But that wasn’t the end. When we visited a toy store in Times Square in New York, a man appeared out of the blue, snapped my son’s photo, then disappeared just as quickly. A friend and I were very obviously followed in the Washington, D.C. area. Several times in the last 17 years, I have felt under surveillance and followed here in Knoxville.

But in juxtaposition to this harassment by the Russian government, I also have stories of pure Russian kindness and humanity. My adoption facilitators took wonderful care of us and gave my son gifts out of their own pockets. One of them asked me to explain the concept of Christian baptism as we stood on a street corner in St. Petersburg. She listened intently and earnestly.

On the tarmac in Arkhangelsk, an Aeroflot flight attendant saw me holding a baby in the cold wind, at the back of the line, and whisked me up to the front and up the steps to the plane to keep him warm. As I stepped off the airport bus onto an icy tarmac in Moscow, a number of arms suddenly reached out to steady me, to make sure I didn’t slip and fall while holding my precious new baby against my chest.

This is the Russian soul I now pray for as I sit and knit through the terror of the Ukrainian invasion. I pray for the Mother Russia who loves her babies and children and doesn’t want them to even get cold. I pray for the kind of Russian people who work in the orphanages at low pay and terrible hours and do the best they can with little resources. I pray for the boys aging out of the orphanages in Russia and sent straight into the Red Army, because that’s what happens to the little boys who don’t get adopted and are turned out with no job skills.

I pray for the extraordinarily brave Russian people taking to the streets to protest their government’s completely unwarranted invasion of a neighboring country. Things do not go well for those who speak out against the Russian government. I pray for the Russia that could be, the Russia that just wants to live in peace and have enough money for food.

As I sit and knit today, I pray that the evil yoke of oppression will soon be lifted, both from the shoulders of Russia and of Ukraine. I pray for the good that is in Russia to prevail.

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, a collection of interrelated short stories about knitters and those they meet through knitting and sharing prayer shawls.

DIY Knitting Design – When You Can’t Find a Pattern That’s Just Right

February 10, 2022Cynthia Coe

You may have heard that knitted vests are all the rage these days. I’ve seen quite a number of knitted vests and armless tunics featured in fashion magazines, though I haven’t really seen many in the stores yet.

Honestly, I haven’t worn a knitted vest since around 1987. Would I wear one again? I just might. If I could find a pattern I liked….

With plenty of yarn at my disposal (my yarn cabinet overflows), I have many yarn options available. The problem? I can’t find a pattern that works. I searched high and low on Ravelry for a free pattern. But everything on offer featured complicated details, the dreaded short rows, or intricate stitching that would ruin my eyesight. The few I liked called for fingerling yarn (too small) or bulky (too large). I just couldn’t find that Goldilocks “just right” pattern.

As I’ve found many times in my knitting life, sometimes it’s just easier to make up your own pattern that works for you. In fact, unless you have EXACTLY the yarn called for in a pattern – which is rare – you might save yourself a lot of time searching through the multitude of patterns on the web by scribbling out your own design.

It’s not that hard to come up with your own design. Here’s my process:

Identify a favorite sweater that fits just right. It can be store bought and manufactured.
Measure it. Write down the width and the length of the body, along with the dimensions of the arms and the neck.
Knit a swatch and determine the gauge. How many stitches to an inch? Multiply the dimensions of the favorite sweater by your gauge, subtracting stitches for neckline, armpits, and so forth. If you’re off, forgive yourself and carry on.
Use your favorite stitches to give your garment some zing. I usually do this as I go.

Do you need pages-long instructions and umpteen books to do DIY Knit Design? Nope. What I find most helpful are bare bones charts for top-down sweaters (telling me how many stitches to increase on top and how many stitches to put on a lifeline for the arms) and a comprehensive stitch dictionary. Here are my current go-to sources:

One-Piece Knits: Essential Designs in Multiple Sizes and Gauges for Sweaters Knit Top Down, Side Over, and Back to Front by Margaret Hubert
Knit Stitch Dictionary: 250 Essential Stitches by Debbie Tomkies
The Knitting Architect by Sion Elalouf (This is an old resource from 1982 that explains this process. It’s still available, it appears. You might be able to get a used copy – worth it!)

As a knitter, you have skills. You have the ability to make precisely what you want. Go for it!

Blessings on your DIY Designs, Cindy

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, a collection of interrelated short stories about knitters and those they meet through knitting and sharing prayer shawls.

How Do You Knit Socks?

February 4, 2022Cynthia Coe

When I knitted my first socks two years ago, the entire process of making socks was a mystery. What’s a gusset? What’s a heel turn or a heel flap, and are those two different things? What’s this Kitchener stitch everyone talks about with reverence and awe but can never seem to remember?

My first pair of socks found me, as I signed up for a subscription service that sent a sock kit as the new subscriber freebie. I had pondered trying to knit a pair of socks for some time, but even as an experienced knitter, I couldn’t figure out how in the world the process worked. But I gamely got myself an outrageously small set of circular needles and dove in.

This first pattern I tackled featured an “afterthought” heel. You make the body of the sock and go back and knit the heel afterwards. This process includes putting in a lifeline and the terrifying act of pulling the lifeline out on this project you’ve toiled over for a week, trying to get the thing back on your toothpick sized needles. I survived the experience, presented my husband with the cozy wool socks he had asked for years ago, but pondered whether I would have the nerve to knit another pair.

A month later, I gathered myself and tried another sock pattern. This time, mercifully, there were no afterthought heels or any other high wire acts involving life lines. As I got to the heel flap (whatever that was), I slavishly followed the instructions through a mystifying process of slip stitches, picked up stitches around a tiny rectangle, and a series of decreases that somehow looked like an increasingly larger triangle. But finally, I successfully rounded the corner of the heel and ended up with a piece of knitting that actually looked like the embryo of a sock. I even mastered the Kitchener stitch and sewed up the toe neat and pretty.

Was this steep learning curve worth the effort? Oh yes. Hand-knitted socks are a luxury on par with hot chocolate made with real cream and topped with high-end marshmallows. On a cold day, nothing compares.

I admit I have not tried any more afterthought heels. Life seems too short to deal with lifelines when you don’t have to. But who knows what the future holds? Live dangerously once in a while. I do like the color contrasts you get when you make the heel a different color, so I might give it another go one of these days.

Want to learn to make socks?

This is my go to resource for sock knitting – a classic, in my opinion: Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. It includes everything you need to know about knitting socks. Invaluable is an extensive stitch dictionary for adding pizzaz to your socks. You can make them as plain or fancy as you want.

Want to try a new method? A new book with a new and innovative method is coming out soon, Knit 2 Socks in 1 by Safiyyah Talley. I’ve gotten a pre-publication peek at this book. You basically make one long tube, then make a cuff, a toe, and afterthought heels later.

Will I try afterthought heels and the dreaded lifelines again? Maybe. The beauty of trying and succeeding something challenging is that you gain both mastery and a new sense of confidence in your work. Worth it? Oh yes.

Blessing to those trying new knitting techniques! Cindy

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, a collection of interrelated short stories about knitters and those they meet through knitting and sharing prayer shawls.

Knitted Socks – The New Luxury Accessories?

February 3, 2022February 3, 2022Cynthia Coe

I’m always amused by what the New York City media discovers as new, hip, and exciting – pleasures the rest of have experienced for years. I’ve rolled my eyes in the recent past as the New York media has discovered Krispy Kreme doughnuts, heirloom tomatoes, the joys of shopping at Target, and the saintliness and cultural significance of Dolly Parton.

So I shouldn’t have been a bit surprised when I opened the weekend edition of a major New York publication this past Saturday to see that “fancy socks” are the new fashion hot ticket. The subtitle of the article of the publication’s fashion page speaks of “fashion hosiery” as the next best thing which will – gasp – even rival your fab “five-figure handbag.” (What universe does this writer live in?)

I sighed, gazing at the lovely ankle socks featured on the newsprint in front of me. Those bright green socks on the end, I thought, look like a pair I knitted just a couple of months ago. I had no idea I was so hip, so fashion forward.

Despite my eye rolls, I have to agree with the assessment of socks as high luxury. I knitted my first socks about two years ago. Socks are not easy, they take a while to knit, and do a number on your eyesight. But I decided right then and there that handknitted, custom made socks were the most luxurious things I had ever put on my body. As I slipped on my first pair of all-wool, handknit socks, I audibly groaned in pleasure. And they fit perfectly…because they were made to measure for my very own feet.

But we knitters knew this all along, didn’t we? Bold, bright colors – we’ve already got that yarn in our stashes. Sparkles and intricate patterns – heck, we use those design elements as a matter of course.

We’re just glad the New York media is finally getting a clue.

*Update! I tried to publish this blog post twice, but I found it “trashed” and blocked on my social media platforms. Hmmm…some really large publisher doesn’t like anything even close to criticism???

Happy Sock Knitting, Cindy

P. S. There’s a new sock knitting book coming out soon, Knit 2 Socks in 1, by Safiyyah Talley. Publication date is March 1.

This method of knitting socks is an interesting concept is you’re a fairly accomplished knitter and want to try something new and different. The concept is to knit one long tube with some safety lines, then put a toe, a cuff, and “afterthought” heels onto your set of socks later. Highly recommended for hand knitted sock aficionados who grow weary of “second sock syndrome.”

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, a collection of interrelated short stories about knitters and those they meet through knitting and sharing prayer shawls.

The Beautiful Simplicity of One Knitting Project At A Time

January 24, 2022Cynthia Coe

I’ve often had as many as four or five knitting projects going at a time. I’ve had my “main” knitting project (usually a sweater) and my “travel” knitting project (something simple and mindless – usually a dishcloth or place mat I can work on in the school pick-up line). I might have another project or two that involve lots of counting or an intricate pattern that requires complete silence and absence of all distraction, something you can’t work on while maintaining any social skills at all.

But lately, I’ve discovered the beautiful simplicity of only having one knitting project going at a time. Maybe it’s the revived pandemic scares. Maybe it’s the implosion of the schools (again). Maybe I’m just figuring out that focusing on one thing at a time is crucial to my emotional well-being during this stressful time.

Whatever the reason, I’ve quite enjoyed working on one knitting project, rather than have several knitting projects scattered all over the house and in my car. I seem to enjoy knitting more when I don’t feel like I’m struggling to get one project moving along, with six others in an unfinished state. And – duh! – I get projects finished much, much faster when I direct all my efforts towards one project. This gives me a sense of accomplishment, seeing a completed sweater, shawl, or cowl I can immediately wear and enjoy, and on a regular basis of every week or so.

We’ve all seen the memes online, ridiculing ourselves for having way too many knitting projects (or WIPs – works-in-progress). Maybe it’s time to listen to ourselves and realize that more is not always more. For every WIP that’s left languishing in a work basket, there are unfulfilled aspirations and a sense of giving up. You don’t need that, not when you have enough stress in other areas of your life.

Enjoy your knitting. Enjoy that one project you chose and for which you have high hopes. Feel good in a few short days or weeks about what a great job you did on that one sweater you worked on to the exclusion of all other crafting projects.

Appreciate the simplicity and quiet time of meditative crafting that knitting gives you.

Blessings, Cindy

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, a collection of interrelated short stories about knitters and those they meet through knitting and sharing prayer shawls.