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Archive for the ‘knitting’ Category

We’re back….we knit…we celebrate Jean

Posted in Birthday Celebrations, knitting on July 12, 2014| Leave a Comment »

IMG_1061Happy birthday to Jean!! A couple weeks ago the FMKG (Friday Morning Knit Group) was pondering whose birthday was up next. Jean was at this session…but not  a word heard from Jean…I went to the birthday list and shouted out “It’s Jean’s birthday coming up!” Her special day happens between knit work shop sessions….we couldn’t decide this past Friday or the next one….so it’s both. This past Friday was the 1st celebration. Many of us could be there….Kimberly was back from her month in Nantucket….Cameron, Ellen, Patricia, and Rachell were otherwise committed….so some 14 of us gathered to celebrate wonderful Jean. And we knit too! Watch for posting about Debra’s finished baby afghan/blanket.

 

 

 

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Ellen’s Graduation Party

Posted in Events, Friendship, knitting, tagged , , , on June 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

We knit…..and we celebrate much. This past Saturday evening 16 of the 17 of us (1 was traveling) FMKG (Friday Morning Knit Group) came together to celebrate Ellen’s recent accomplishments. She has accomplished much in the last 5 years….she became a nurse….she continued on and just graduated with her Masters in Nursing. This post is all about Ellen……she is an inspiration to us all!……these photos come to us from Karen H.

The Hostess and the Grad
A lesson from Cameron on how to make the best margueritas!
Rachelle and Sarah
Jean and Debra
Carolyn and Jean
Ellen and Patricia
Jean and Karen H
Our wonderful bartenders!
Celebrating Ellen

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The Everchanging Scarf Shawl

Posted in Crafting, knitting, knitting techniques, Knitting Videos, tagged , , , , , on May 13, 2014| Leave a Comment »

IMG_1002This wrap,  knit in Simply Fine yarn from Green Mountain Spinnery,  started out to be the Gillette Wrap. I saw the pattern and wrap at Stitches West 2013….loved the yarn and thought I liked the pattern. But……after casting on the needed 277 stitches and doing the short row shaping and starting the lace section, I realized this was not the design for me. First off, I read the short row W&T (wrap and turn) too literally…..I short rowed but didn’t wrap. I know better! I was past the garter  design and into the lace pattern when I decided that I had to start again. Not only was I fussing about the W&T’s , I now thought the original lace section was too froo froo for me.

There was no way I wanted to cast on 277 stitches again so I “frogged” to within a couple rows of the cast on. As long as I was that far back I could add another design element; thus eyelet was incorporated along the edge. Already I was liking the design better. I kept the short row part the same except I knit the wraps from the W&T’s as I knit across all of them. The results were much better. As long I was changing the pattern I kept dreaming….probably more fair to say obsessing about each “next” section.

I poured over Melissa Leapman’s new book “The Knit Stitch” and chose “Slip Stitch Bands (page 230). Then on to more garter with clear beads added with the crochet hook method. I poured over my books again for the last two sections of this wrap which are the Indian Cross Stitch, Garter, Eyelet and Picot Bind Off Edging. Done…….. with just a little yarn to spare. Now to the blocking board.

The Knit Stitch

Slip Stitch BandThe Picot Edge

 

 

 

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Cheers to Connie

Posted in Birthday Celebrations, Cats, Events, knitting, tagged , , , , , on April 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Connie_BirthdayCards_2014 There was one more birthday celebrated a week ago…..Connie’s. The table was full of knitters and gifts of flowers, jewelry, yarn. Oh….we ate had treats as well. Debra made a chocolate cake……she converted an almost flourless chocolate cake into GF (gluten-free) by substituting a GF flour……the cake, served with whipping cream, was delicious. This was accompanied with cheese and rice crackers brought by Jan. The cheese was so delicious I had to go out and buy some more. There was more….chocolate almonds (Karen H) and, of course, all accompanied with champagne. (I may have missed some food item.)

With all of this going on, we did find time to knit…..there is so much chatter and activity that one is best to work on simpler patterns in workshop.

Happy Birthday Connie…..her birthday is  actually April 20.

 

 

The delicious cheese!
Ollie celebrated on Sheri’s car!

 

 

 

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More Celebrations

Posted in Birthday Celebrations, Crafting, knitting, tagged , , , on April 8, 2014| Leave a Comment »

I was more than a beat or two off this past Friday…..blame it on a bad sleep night….I didn’t whip out the camera to capture the celebration of the birthday girls at Friday knitting. So…envision Cameron, Karen H, and Janie surrounded by gifts of flowers, jewelry, unique knitting gifts, cards, champagne and a table full of knitting friends. Wait…there were strawberries and chocolate-covered macaroons (gluten-free no less and  you wouldn’t have known if not mentioned). The Friday Birthday Girls….photos from the photo gallery!

Janie in her lovely shrug
Cameron – Baby Blanket
Karen – Beautiful in her Alaca Stole

More birthdays…..in our Saturday knitting group Katie was the “Birthday Queen.

Katie
Margo, Katie, Carole

And there were a couple  one more a few weeks ago……Karen K and Rachelle from Friday group.

We celebrate, we knit, we craft
Karen…the birthday girl!

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Barbara Scott’s Memorial

Posted in Friendship, knitting, tagged , , , on March 28, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Barbara Scott

Barbara Scott

It was just a month ago that we remembered Barbara Scott  …. she passed away on Feb 24. She and her husband Bob have been life long friends with Jean (of our knitting circle) and her husband Bob…..friends since college. I have “followed” Barbara through Jean. The memorial service was last Saturday…..I asked Jean how it went. Jean described a loving ceremony and celebration of Barbara’s life. With Jean’s permission…..

“It was a very touching service.  Church had to bring in extra chairs for the overflow crowd.  The minister, a woman knitter who had become a personal friend of Barbara’s, gave a lovely “sermon” entitled “A Stitch in Time” in which she referred to the strands that make up the fabric of our lives and spoke glowingly of Barbara’s love of knitting and teaching and sharing.  There was a nice reception afterwards at the church and her family had changed clothes so that everyone (husband, son, daughter-in-law, two grandchildren) was wearing a sweater knit by Barbara.  The walls were hung with her knit sweaters!

We then went back to the house and were able to visit with the family and old friends.  I’ve saved the program to give to you on Friday.  I keep thinking back to Saturday.  It really was a touching tribute to her active life.  Besides knitting, she was very active in her church, in water exercise programs, PEO, a prayer group, was class secretary for the class of 1958 at Cal, etc. etc.  The last musical selection played at her service was “Hail to California” and those of us who knew the words were able to sing!”

Indeed a lovely tribute to Barbara’s life.

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Merle’s Version of the Presto Change Baby Sweater

Posted in knitting, tagged , , , on March 24, 2014| Leave a Comment »

The latest Presto Chango baby sweater has “appeared” in the FMKG (Friday Morning Knitting Group). Merle just completed this lovely baby sweater, with the addition of the buttons! The sweater, designed by Valerie Wallis, was featured in April 2007 as a contest winner on Jimmy Beans Wool site.  Wouldn’t it be fun to make it with two or three “bib” panels with different designs. It would be a great way to learn new stitch patterns.

I know at least two others in our group knit this sweater awhile back…..Jan and Sarah! I was just reminded that this is Merle’s second Presto Chango.  Did anyone else in our group knit this?

 

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My version of the Honey Cowl

Posted in knitting, tagged , , , on March 18, 2014| 1 Comment »

It was a few weeks ago that I began talking about the Honey Cowl. Kimberly and PJ recently finished theirs….Laurel started hers and I started mine just a few weeks ago….a few days after a major finger injury (kind of like being pregnant with which child to remember dates). I decided to  knit my Honey Cowl version in Gold Dust yarn from Greenwood Fiberworks. As so often happens I make modifications to the patterns I choose to knit. In this case, I knew that I did not want a tight wrap around my neck (thank you PJ for reminding me that I don’t like anything close up on my neck…can’t believe I almost forgot). I also knew that I wanted a double wrap cowl. With that in mind, I cast on 320 stitches of that wonderful Gold Dust fingering weight yarn….think PJ cast on in the high 200’s…maybe 280 for her fingering weight yarn. I also knew that I wanted to use the Long Tail Cast-On as it has a ridge edge that most closely matches the P2tog Cast-Off that I wanted to use for  its greater flexibility of ease…..not taut a Cast-Off or chain look for me (or anyone) by golly! My other modification was the width….the pattern called for 11 inches before Cast-Off and I worked 7 inches.

I am very happy with the results!

Knitting Tip: For the Long Tail Cast-On,  I did not want to estimate/guess how much yarn to have for the long tail….320 stitches is a lot to cast on knowing you might just run short. Even with the rule of 3x’s the expected length of the cast on, it would be risky at best. So….my long tail came from the center of the ball and my working stitch yarn came from the outer side of the ball of yarn. Join the two yarns with a slip knot and then begin the long-tail cast on….one yarn over the thumb and one over the index finger.

Another Knitting Tip: In order for the  ridge of the P2tog cast off to blend into finished edge properly, I turned my work around and cast off going back from I just knit. It created the need for a little extra tidy work at the last couple stitche…but worth the effort.

Almost done!
It’s done!
The length of the Cowl
I know..it was a wild hair day!

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We knit, we craft, we celebrate!!!

Posted in Birthday Celebrations, knitting, tagged , , , , , on March 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »

It’s been more than a week since we celebrated yet another birthday in FMKG – our  Friday Morning Knitting Group.This time it was Karen K…we also celebrated new craft ideas as well as sharing our Stitches West experiences. Several of us swore, including me, that we would simply window shop…but I believe but all but one of the Stitches attendees came home with at least one more project to knit. I felt really successful because I only came home with one of the four projects that I coveted. How many would I have really coveted if I wasn’t working in MaggiKnits booth? I only spent about an hour on the market floor over 3 1/2 days. Ohhhh…..I did come home with another knit book – “The Knit Stitch Pattern Handbook” by Melissa Leapman. One can never have enough books….right? I will share more about my projects and this wonderful knit book in another post. Now it’s back to FMKG.

Karen…the birthday girl!
Cameron – the “universal” bag
Jan in her new woven jacket
Another view of Jan’s Jacket
We celebrate…we knit!!
Kimberly is all knitted up!
Bonnie has been crafting
Oh…so sweet!

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RIP Barbara Scott

Posted in Friendship, knitting, tagged , , , , , on February 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

BarbaraScottAward[1]It is with great sadness that I share that our knitting friend Jean let me know that her dear life-long friend Barbara, master knitter, passed away this past Monday. Her bright, enthusiastic spirit stayed strong  during the last few months of major illness. You may recall that I’ve mentioned Barbara a few times here on this blog. You can read more about her on this blog post celebrating her years with Knitters Guild of America (TKGA).

Jean shared this from Barbara’s husband, Bob.  He  said, ” I am pretty sure there are a large number of knitters in heaven who needed help and will be greeting her with open arms.”  He could be right!

Barbara will be missed by many. She touched many lives.

Debby from TKGA has graciously shared these lovely photos of Barbara as well as some lovely thoughts and news about a Memoriam.

“It is sad to think that she is gone. She was an invaluable supporter of The Knitting Guild Association, one of our first members and always involved in ways to help other knitters perfect their skills. TKGA recognized Barbara at our Conference in 2007 and awarded her an Honorary Lifetime membership at that time. That is what you see in one of the photos I’ve attached. The other photo is from the TKGA 25th Anniversary in 2010 when she was introduced again for her long-time involvement in the organization. Cast On magazine is carrying a Memoriam in our upcoming Summer issue. Her name has also been added to the TKGA Memorial Remembrance Page online where contributions are already being made in her name to benefit knitting education – something that was dear to her heart.

I have known Barbara for a long time, having worked with her on many projects for TKGA, and I will miss her!”

TKGADinnerBScott_Jul_06_077[1]

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