Skein Lane – IN THE LOOP

Jasper Button crafted by Kevin

Recently some of you have heard me mention Kevin…..our paths crossed some 20 years ago when he was one of my first knitting students at Albany Adult School. He is the knitter who “taught” me how to help left-handed continental style knitters. He was able to mirror image…we struck a deal….I would knit the technique…he would mirror image and then I would help him problem solve. His first project was one on small needles – size 3 or so if I remember correctly. It was a sweater for himself and there was cable and color work involved. He still has that wonderfully crafted sweater.

Just recently I learned that he crafted buttons for his sweater with the wonderful combination of the colors that he used in the knitted garment….. he just gifted me with one of those buttons….I was more than a little touched. The details on this button are that it is Bloodstone Jasper. He purchased a rough hunk of it from Ed’s Gems in Oregon. You can also find Ed’s Gems on Facebook.)He slabbed it, marked it, cut out a circle, drilled it and polished it. A button was born! Whoops…crafted!

This last week he told me what sold him on being in my knitting classes. He was struggling over a technique and we talked back and forth a bit….he reminded me that I said, “Just do it!” He did it!

We have stayed in touch over the years…Kevin would pop into Skein Lane to “check in”…and now we “check in” through Facebook and Skein Lane knitting workshops/classes.  He’s just completed his first top-down sweater in the Skein Lane Studio workshop….and of course he put his unique sense of color design to work in the sweater for his young son. You’ll be seeing this work in the next post.

Thank you Kevin!