Knitknotes

Camp Stitches New York was held June 26-30, 2008 at the White Eagle Conference Center, just outside Syracuse, NY.  I taught Japanese Knitting Techniques to 12 enthusiastic students. 

I love teaching this workshop.  Every culture has something to offer to the avid knitter, and the beautiful finishing that achieved through using Japanese versions of provisional cast ons, a unique version of tubular cast on, 3-needle bind-off, picking up stitches, hidden edge stitches, Japanese buttonholes (3 types), tubular bind off  will improve the look of your knitting whether you’re into texture, cables, lace or color knitting.  

 Hi to Audrey, Jane, Valerie, Alexandra, Irene, Cheryl, Carla, Ann, Ginger, Pearl, Margaret and Sue.  You were delightful students to spend the weekend with.  We were so into Japanese culture this weekend, we created a new form of the traditional Japanese poetry – knitting haiku.  Here’s are some samples written by Irene and Pearl:

Needles like willows
Sway, colors, gentle breezes
Off flows warmth, comfort.

Knitting, like walking,
Gets you where you want to go,
Even with short rows.

Just returned from sunny and hot!!! Columbus, OH, where I spent 3 fun days teaching at the 2^nd annual Knitters Connection event, hosted by local yarn store Knitters’ Mercantile.  Jan and her team of event organizers, led by Fran, did a wonderful job of providing classes, events, and yarn market for a growing fan base of local knitters. 

I taught 5 classes:  Better Bobbles, Joy of Steeks, Japanese Knitting Techniques (1 day), Collar Obedience Training, and Shadow Knitting.  It was lovely to meet enthusiastic groups of knitters and to visit again with returning students.  Special “hi” to knitting buddies Judy (the Marvel), Arlene, Beth, Pam, Jackie, Joy and Denise. 

My wristwatch died on the flight to Columbus, so I was “time-challenged”.  Thank you to the many thoughtful students who became my watchers – telling me when to start, when to break midway, and when we were 5 minutes from class ending!  Knitters are the nicest folks!

I spent the weekend of April 19-21, 2008, with the knitting guild in Ottawa, Canada. The last of the winter snow melted while we experienced temperatures of 26 C (about 82 F). April can be capricious in Canada!

The Ottawa Guild requested 6 workshops: Top Ten Knit Tips; Getting Edgy Slipstitch Trims & Edgings; Hello Domino!; Changing the Numbers; Dorset Buttons; and Advanced Mitering. On Monday evening I presented a talk on “Stash Reduction” for the whole guild. Thank you Meagan, Colleen and Linda for modelling the samples so elegantly. Thanks also to Yvonne and Carol for assisting me during the presentation.

Heather Ablett took some wonderful photos of our Dorset Buttons. It was great fun to see how different yarns create totally different looking buttons. Thank you, Heather.

Special “hi” to Guild president, Nancy, plus Elizabeth, Anne, Lyse, Laurie, Peggy, Gen, Sheila, Shaela, and all the welcoming knitters in Ottawa. Thank you, Lynne, for organizing the event so well.

It was raining in Santa Clara, CA for most of the Stitches West weekend.  For Stitches participants, between visiting the Market, greeting friends, and attending classes – who noticed the rain?

I taught 6 classes over 3-1/2 days which kept me busy.  I did, however, manage to do quite a bit of damage in the Market – close to 170 vendors, all with beautiful items for knitting! 

Special hi to Stephanie and Anne from Great Balls of Yarn, West Palm Beach, Florida.  They are co-workers with my knitting buddy, Rochelle.  Hi also to Jennifer, Linda, Norita, Regina, Dorothy and Betsey.  Thank you to Gaye Robinson for modeling my Shadow Shawl design with such panache!

The Tidewater Knitting Guild, located in Virginia Beach, VA, invited me to teach 4 classes for them on the Feb. 9^th -10^th weekend. An enthusiastic, charming group of knitters warmly welcomed me while we delved into Slim Stash Reduction Plan, Strip Knitting, Shawl We Dance?, and Advanced Mitering.

Thank you to Maureen Cahill, who organized the event and was my hostess during the weekend. Hi to Linda, guild president, and to Alison, Lisa, Debbie, Joanne, Wanda, Jackie and Bobbie. Hi also to Judy, who showed me her beautiful Ribbons cardigan. She did a lovely job of knitting my design and won 2^nd prize at the State Fair recently. Lastly, special hi to Cheryl for wearing her special colorful knitting. I hope you enjoyed your visit to Stitches West.

The Tidewater Guild knitters very kindly sent me some photos from the weekend. Here they are:

The Downtown Knit Collective in Toronto, Canada held a workshop weekend on Jan. 26-27.  Eleven teachers gathered to teach 18 classes to an enthusiastic group of knitters.  I taught 3 classes: Fine Finishing on Saturday; Hooked on Crochet and Easy Crochet Embellishment & Edgings on Sunday.

It is always fun to teach for the DKC.  Since I belong to this guild I know many of the workshop participants.  Special “hi” to Maura, Patty, and Barb who were with me for all 3 classes.  It was lovely to see Mary Lou, Mary Pat, Cherilyn, and Rhoda again.

Thank you to Marilyn for showing me her wonderful yarn scarf on Sunday.   She bought it (or as my knitting buddy, Cherilyn, says: “had the good taste to purchase”…) in Nova Scotia.  About 2 dozen, two-yard lengths of various fancy yarns were wrapped approximately every 6″ with invisible thread to make an absolutely stunning scarf.  What a great idea for using up those odds and ends of special yarns!

On the evening of Tuesday, November 6^th, I traveled to Dundas, ON to do a presentation on Stash Reduction for the Around the Bay Knitting Guild. It was lovely to be asked to return to visit this guild of 25-30 enthusiastic knitters.

While showing a variety of my designs, I talked about how to apportion yarn to make sure you have enough for a project, strategies for when you think you might not have enough yarn, and various ways to combine yarn weights, textures and colors.

Thanks to Samantha Rogers for organizing my visit and to Kristen Glasbergen for driving me to and from the GO train station. Kristen showed the guild members her current project – a multicolored Fair Isle sweater of Kauni yarn that is simply beautiful. This is a fun yarn to use for Fair Isle knitting as the changing colors keep your interest piqued for the entire project.

Japanese Knitting Techniques workshop at The Needle Arts Book Shop.
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007

Marsha White, owner of The Needle Arts Book Shop in Toronto, ON, Canada, www.needleartsbookshop.com, hosted a lovely day of Japanese Knitting Techniques yesterday. Twenty enthusiastic, talented knitters joined me for a full day of exploring Japanese short rows, a unique version of a 3-needle bind-off plus several decorative variations, how to pick up stitches discreetly, how to make cardigan front bands square at the top and bottom edges, a short row buttonhole, tubular bind-offs and cast ons, and using a crochet hook as a “third needle”. These techniques may be Japanese in origin, but they may be applied to any knitting project to provide a fabulous finish.

Thanks to Marsha and Louise for providing such a wonderful classroom environment. It was so nice to teach in my home town. Hi to Mannon, Robin, the Glorias (1 & 2), Dorothy Siemens (www.fiddlesticksknitting.com), and my knitting buddy Cherilyn. Thank you, Carol, for showing us your beautiful cabled sweater which you knit from a Japanese pattern.

I recently collaborated with Marsha on a free downloadable .pdf file on “How To Read Japanese Knitting Patterns”.  You can download it at www.japaneseknittingbooks.com

Stitches East, Oct. 11-14, 2007.  The sun was shining for Stitches East.  The weather was just brisk enough for wearing sweaters.  Mind you, I didn’t spend much time outside as I taught a full slate of 6 workshops.  It was great to meet new knitters and to greet old friends again.  Rochelle, you look great – glad to hear you’re working a Great Balls of Yarn in Florida.  Hi to Mary Lou, Afton, Anne, Toby, Roselle, Jean and Nina.  Special hi to Heather, from Surrey, England who took 2 workshops, Collar Obedience Training and Short Row Savvy.  It was delightful meeting you.

The Market was full of happy people, shopping up a storm.  I bought two beautiful skeins of handpainted yarn from Ellen’s ½ Pint Farm, www.ellenshalfpintfarm.com.  The first is a silk/alpaca blend laceweight; the second is pure silk.  Both yarns are in Ellen’s gorgeous colorways.  I’m supposed to be working on samples for a new workshop, Advanced Collars, which will debut at Stitches West in February.  But these yarns are so beautiful and they keep calling me to come play with them!

Cruising the aisles of the Market is a great opportunity to connect with other knitters.  It was so nice to see Patti and Ila – both had travelled from CA to be at Stitches.  Chatting with Lissa and Daniella was wonderful.  Daniella, I really enjoyed hearing about your Blueberry Jam sweater.  Please send me a photo when you’re finished.

Priscilla and Sally, two close knitting buddies, sat with Margaret Fisher and I for dinner and the student fashion show on Saturday evening.  It was fun to spend time with them and hear about their knitting adventures in Indianapolis.  One of the highlights of the fashion show was the “Crabby Knitters” who had participated in the Baltimore Marathon that morning.  They sported crab hats and mittens with which they pinched the air in a very crabby way!

I paid a return visit to the York Region Knitting Guild on Oct. 2^nd to give a trunk show of my new designs.  The guild has grown considerably since I last visited it in May 2005 and can now boast 2 designers, Elizabeth Fallone and Deb Gemmell (Cabin Fever), as members.  It was lovely to connect again with Ann, Joan, Nancy, Jennifer, Monica and and the other enthusiastic guild members.  Thank you to Sandra for organizing the event.  The ‘show and tell’ portion of the evening was great fun to see.  The guild has a lovely idea to help members complete UFO’s (unfinished objects).  When you bring a completed UFO to the guild meeting, your name is entered for a special draw held at the end of the year.  It certainly seems to be an incentive because 2 knitters showed finished UFO items!