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Posts Tagged ‘knitting’

A wedding in our midst

Posted in knitting, tagged family, friendship, knitting, Shrug, Wedding on September 24, 2013| 3 Comments »

The Finished Shrug

This message was posted on Facebook by longtime Skein Lane customer and friend Alice Varga. Her daughter was married this past weekend.

“O, yesterday was truly the best day ever with Kristina Kenney and Jason Holt getting married. There was just so much love in that room! It was incredible and a fantastic way for them to begin their journey through life with such a wonderful commitment with family and friends to share their joy! Their ceremony and vows were beautiful!”

Alice and I met a couple times this past summer to consult over the sweater/shrug design she and her daughter chose for Alice to knit for this happy event.

The Wedding Dress

The Pattern

The Written Word Pattern

Gauge Swatch

The body is done

Almost Finished

Almost Finished Close-up

The Finished Shrug

Alice and I met on August 24....she came to me with pattern, vision, and measurements.  With the following information....the knitting journey began.

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Bust = 44.5 
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Lower edge = 40 
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Armhole to waist = 6 
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Stitch pattern = 12 + 1 
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Gauge = 5 
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CO 108 +1 
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It’s Thursday – let’s knit! Find out what else we did!

Posted in Events, knitting, tagged John Muir, knitting, Muir Mansion, Yosemite on September 19, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Well….we did knit for a bit. Tonight was scattered…many of us were traveling or had other commitments. One of us, Marsha, had a commitment to hear Robert Hanna, the great, great grandson of John Muir, speak at REI. Along with my knitting I joined Marsha for the presentation. I knit but only until the lights went out…I was on a design row and I couldn’t proceed without the lights. The truth of the matter is that the speaker and his presentation were so great that he captivated his audience of 50 people or so for an hour and a half. We “traveled” through John Muir’s biographical timeline. It was meaningful from a historical perspective as well learning more about his love of Yosemite and the outdoors. I was one of those who did not know about his very creative mind for invention in his early years. And John Muir walked many miles in his youth. Did you know that he walked through Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and Canada on one walk? Another one of his walks took him from Wisconsin to Florida traveling though country that been wounded by the Civil War. When he arrived in San Francisco in 1868 he was over come with the density of population and immediately asked for directions to Yosemite. Along the way – he walked – he worked at ranches.

As a family historian of my family, I so enjoyed the family history style presentation…..photos through the generations and the life works of John Muir. I can hardly believe I’ve lived all these years in the Bay Area and have not seen the historic Muir Mansion in Martinez. Guess what I will be doing soon?

Many thanks to Marsha for mentioning her plans for the evening. Now I need to make those needles click. I realized a couple of days ago how long my purple poncho/shawl has been on the needles!

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A Historical Photo Shoot of Singer Castle

Posted in knitting, tagged crafts, knitting, Sewing, Singer on September 15, 2013| 4 Comments »

Mom’s 1954 Singer

My hometown friend Don Churches just posted photos of the Singer Castle. Be sure to check out this album for an “armchair” historical tour . Who knew there was such a castle? I think my Singer (Mom’s 1954 Singer) looks like it’s part of this collection. Have to say Mom’s singer has performed for us all of these years….it was the machine I used when I first learned to sew….and still use from time to time.

Who still sews? Anybody want to share some of their accomplishments? We knit, we sew, we craft, we bead, we make glass…and that’s just a sampling of the creative talent that abounds.

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We have glass artists in our midst!

Posted in Jewelry, knitting, tagged Bullseye Glass Co, Infused Glass, jewelry, knitting on September 4, 2013| 1 Comment »

A few weeks ago Jan and Rachelle both brought their latest creations to share…….infused glass work.

: Rachell showing her works!

: Beautiful infused glass

Just a few minutes later Jan arrived with her beautifully crafted infused glass jewelry….bracelet and necklace. We were all in awe.

: Jan – Glass Jewelry

: The bracelet

: The details of the bracelet

Jan introduced us to her glass creativity abilities last August when she showed one of her first pieces made in her class at Bulleyes Glass Co. She has made several since….I fear my camera didn’t capture many….darn it! The last of today’s show and tell belongs to Rachelle. I saw this while helping pack moving boxes. It was a recent creation!

: Jan’s early work!

: The lastest from Rachell!

They knit too!

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Fridays Celebrations

Posted in Friendship, knitting, tagged friendship, knitting on August 31, 2013| Leave a Comment »

I am working backwards on catching up with posts…this morning’s post was about today’s celebration. Now let’s talk about Friday’s celebration.

First….it was Debra’s birthday! Champagne was poured as Debra gave us gifts…remember I just said it was her birthday…..she gifted us with bracelets that she brought home from trip to Peru…Debra did I get the country right? It was great to see Debra and toast her birthday. I love my bracelet! We all quickly dived into the bracelets to pick the colors that we love.

A second toast (more champagne) was to Sheri….she is embarking upon a new business. Plans are underway and as soon the name is “nailed down” we will do a shout out here.

Other things to celebrate….Patricia returned from her trip to Africa. We were so animated on so many topics this morning that we didn’t all share in her travel experience. She will be back from Colorado in a week or two and she will be first on to tell us more about the trip. She sent out the most wonderful photos. Looking forward to the rest of the story!

We also rejoiced that Bonnie was back with us…..much going on with home construction and family life and she had to be gone for a bit…she’s back and we are all happy.

We did manage to get some knitting done during our two hours together. We are often asked, “What is so interesting about your knitting sessions?” Well, we knit, share our techniques and then we “travel” over the world. The week before Kimberly told us about her trip to Seneca Falls….more specifically about the Freethought Trail. I do believe we could have our own “teaching/learning” circuit. We all walk away from our knitting with more than our love of knitting!

Stay tuned for more back tracking for the summer and a look into some of our knitting projects.

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Two days of celebrations

Posted in Friendship, knitting, tagged farewell, friendship, Joy, knitting, tears on August 31, 2013| 1 Comment »

It’s the last day of August….ending with two celebrations…Friday was all about Debra and Sheri…and Patricia….and more! Will chatter about that later today.

Saturday morning photos are “hot off the press”. We celebrated retirements and farewells with a potluck brunch….out came my Grandma’s party glass plates to eat some of our favorite foods. Susanne has retired from Chevron and is moving with her husband to Chico…..we may get to see her once a month. She proudly announced that she has finished the queen size Mason Dixon adult version of Moderne Blanket…in fact it is now on her son and wife’s bed. This was a 2-year project of many roads of garter stitch. Remember the “99 rows to go”? They’re gone!!

Diane, Betsy and Susanne

We’ve begun to gather

Eating has begun

Betsy Celebration

The group

They will be greatly missed…..so glad they have been part of our circle for years. Betsy, who worked at Skein Lane retail once upon a time, had been gone and returned and is now off to Kentucky. Susanne came into Skein Lane retail store 10 years ago. It’s been a wonderful 10-yr journey together. Now a new chapter begins!

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Maurie and Bruce got married!

Posted in knitting, tagged Garden Club, knitting, Marriage, Niagra Falls on July 23, 2013| 1 Comment »

Maurie came to knitting about a month ago with her exciting news….she and Bruce got married. They knew each other in their youth and reconnected 5 or 6 years ago. They had been planning to marry for awhile….they decided now was the time. We all wish them much happiness!

Maurie has been kind enough to share a couple of photos -their wedding here in the East Bay and their honeymoon at Niagra Falls. Her garden club made the cake a couple of weeks ago and she shared it with the knitting group.

Maurie and Bruce

Niagra Falls

Gift from Maurie’s Garden Club

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Friday….a day of celebrations!

Posted in Friendship, knitting, tagged Angel's Island, Birthdays, ferry, knitting, Sunset Cruise, Tiburon on July 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This past Friday was a day of two celebrations within our knitting community. We started the day with a surprise birthday celebration for Jean….and it truly was a surprise for her. Several of us were waiting with baited breath asking “is the day that she is returning?”. I called to check and her husband says “yes, she’s on her way!” Shortly after that she stepped though the front door and was greeted with “surprise” and a bottle of bubbly.

The gang gathered!

Kimberly is gifting Jean

The gift – a handcrafted bracelet

Kimberly describing technique

Sharing some of her gifts.

The sun is setting!

That evening some of us headed to Tiburon to board the ferry for the Sunset Cruise where we celebrated Ellen – she recently passed the nursing license exam. It was such a fun evening that we are dreaming about doing it again very soon. Be sure to check out the Facebook photo album.

What a grand day!!

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J’Adore Tuesdays: Lacy Shawls

Posted in knitting, tagged knitting, Shawls on June 19, 2013| 1 Comment »

Some intriguing shawls in this post….I now my needles are struggling to knit all that I see…just keep knitting!

For the Knit of It

I love shawls. They’re the perfect pieces for adding just a touch more warmth on chilly nights (or in chilly offices). You can use almost any technique/style with them – from cables to garter to lace. It’s lace, really, that I’m loving most right now.

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Spring Round-Up

Posted in knitting, tagged center stage, friendship, knitting, spring, The look-alikes on June 18, 2013| 1 Comment »

This idea has been hovering in my mind for the last couple weeks…..Spring Roundup – a bit like Blast from the Past featured in Dec 2012…..time to share those photos that didn’t make “center stage” yet. The only reason they haven’t is that often my ambitions are greater than my time. Now having “whined” about that, here’s the deal. I am going to post photos of Skein Lane knitters….I invite each you featured to pop back into the blog and make comments about your project or activity. This will be truly the personal touch. Here goes!

The “dress alikes” have appeared here before…..but they are so much fun it’s hard not to post again.