Mary brought to our attention that this was National Doughnut Day (who knew?) and she shared a pattern with us.
When we looked at the pattern and discovered that the doughnut in question was knitted with size 00 needles, we decided to skip the calories. But thanks for thinking of us, Mary! Mary was still busy knitting a dishcloth – she had even knitted some between meetings. Good knitter.
When I looked across the room, she and Michele were deep in thought looking at a pattern and I think the question was about the poor neglected polar bear scarf. Poor bear – put away until cooler weather.
Michele had sad news about her bathroom curtain. When she placed it beside the existing curtain (that this color will be added to) she discovered that the needle size was wrong and that she had to start over again. ARRGH! Sometimes knitting is frustrating. Anyway, she has come a long way since the great ripping so we all have high hopes for the curtain.
Francy is knitting mittens! Mittens? Yes, mittens! I think this must be an interim project between baby things, don’t you think? They are pretty and are made with a pattern that Julie gave her.
Linda was knitting a dishcloth too – the famous ball band pattern that we all love. She had finished Carol’s scarf and it looks great on Carol.
Carol told us that her son, Duncan, got a great job offer in Alaska, so he, his wife and unborn son are moving up to the Great North. We are sad for Carol because she won’t be there when the baby is born, but we are happy for Duncan. Carol will just be planning trips to Alaska! The little family will be home in the fall for Grandma Carol to see the baby.
I am making progress on the afghan that I’m knitting for my sis-in-law Marty. Everyone likes the color much better now that they can see it in a pattern. I like it better myself.
Marylane is only a few bracelets away from completion for her reunion. Here is one that she made from yarn leftover from Michele’s block afghan project. We all liked the way it came out. Sorry for the out-of-focus shot. Just call it artsy.
Deb was working on her daughter’s scarf. Mary said that earlier in the day, Deb came into Mary’s office and casually asked where knitting would be today…”Uh, YOUR house, Deb.” Mary said that the look on Deb’s face was priceless. Here is the serene hostess.
We all had fun playing with Izzy, Deb’s Yorkie, who examined and sniffed us and our projects. We loved having her little nose in our business.
Next Saturday is Knit in Public Day! Hard to believe that a year ago is when I started this blog. Marylane sent me the information for our day of knitting in Kalispell, so I’ll pass it on to you.
WORLD WIDE KNIT IN PUBLIC DAY
June 12, 2010 in Kalispell
Join us as we knit with thousands of other knitters
around the world on the same day!
This event will take place between 8 am and 6 pm in several locations around Kalispell.
Come to any or all scheduled locations.
10-12 Corner of Main & Center Streets at Kalispell
Center Mall. If rain – inside the Mall.
12-2 Bonelli’s Bistro, 38 First Ave. E.
2-4 Conrad Mansion, 300 block Woodland Ave.
Described as the most authentic pre-1900 Mansion in the Pacific Northwest, open 10-4, Tuesday–Sunday. This historic home features antique furniture, original clothes, and personal items belonging to one of the founding families of Kalispell.
4-6 North Bay Grill, 139 1st Ave. W.
Finish the day with a cool drink.
For additional information call: Paulette 257-9514 or Marylane 257-5793
World Wide Knit in Public Day was created by Danielle Landes in 2005.
To find out more about WWKiP Day visit wwkipday.com.
We will meet next week at Julie’s house and talk about Knit in Public Day. See you all at Julie’s! In the meantime, keep on knittin’!
]]>There was one other choice, but the photo was not very flattering – besides, it was our least favorite option. We are anxious to hear which one Leslie chooses. We love her in all of them!
Leslie, by the way, is knitting the FINAL ‘thick and thin’ scarf for the bridesmaids. Perhaps next week we’ll see them all together? Whadya say, Les?
Francy was about to knit the button band on her hoodie sweater. She showed us the seam (or non-seam) made by a three needle bindoff. It was perfect and perfectly beautiful.
We gave her our opinions about the button band which goes all the way around both sides and the hood. One piece – pick it all up. Can’t wait to see the end result. Francy is also knitting a dishcloth – it’s always good to do something easy when you get tired of concentrating on something difficult.
Linda came in and told us that she had moved back from Denver for the summer. Yay! We’re glad to have Linda’s knitting projects to look at all summer. She is knitting a scarf/shawl for Carol for her graduation and the pattern calls for cutting part of the edge to make fringe. Gulp. Scissors and knitting don’t sound natural, but she swears that it should turn out okay.
Linda also brought some fingerless gloves that she and Francy played with for a while.
Marylane knitted a great hat and attached femo beads. Very fetching, Marylane. I mistakenly referred to them as phyllo beads until the baker in the group, Lisa, corrected me. Oops. Guess you can tell who doesn’t make pastry.
Marylane is also still working on the baby hat in that striking fuchsia color.
Michele brought the almost-finished afghan that her class knit. Francy is going to sew the backing onto it and I know that it will brighten some elderly lady’s room in the nursing home.
Now Michele is back to knitting her mohair sweater with big ribbing about the bottom. Beautiful pattern and yarn.
Julie was all smiles because she leaves on a family vacation soon. She may or may not take her knitting with her. What do You think?
I’m starting my afghan for my sister-in-law. Amazingly, the yarn that everyone hated in the skein doesn’t look so poopy on the needles. I might end up liking it which is probably a good idea, since I’ll be looking at it for a couple of months.
Leslie served us wine and tea and great pineapple chunks and some little muffin thingies called Aussie Bites. I loved these – and they’re healthy for you, too! Lots of nuts, seeds and fruit.
Mary was stitchin’ and bitchin’ about the polar bear scarf. Now she wants to put it away for the summer because it’s BORING. Geez, Mary, by the time you finish that thing, polar bears will be extinct!
Next week, we will meet at Marylane’s house after we shamelessly talked her into hosting and ditching the district retirement party. Oh, she likes us better anyway, right?
A couple of days after the meeting, Marylane, Mary, Marsha and Linda met up at a brunch for Carol in honor of her graduation from college with her degree and teaching certification. It was a lovely day, full of loving friends and relatives. We are so proud of Carol and know that she will be a great teacher.
See you at Marylane’s on Thursday. I’ll leave you with a great sign from Leslie’s deck that brought back fond memories of Julie’s youth. “Ah, Blatz beer. $2.50 a case and that’s what you did the next morning. BLATZ!” Thanks for the visual, Jules. Have a great vacation! Keep on knitting!
]]>Marylane’s sister Joan (from Arizona, but living here for the summer) brought her mysterious hats and they are stunning! And they have matching scarves. She can no longer tell us that she isn’t a knitter. Joan, you are a KNITTER. She is quick to point out, however, that she is a ‘knitter’ not a ‘purler’ so maybe we’ll convince her to learn to purl while she’s here.
We were happy to hear about Mary’s trip to Italy where she visited her daughter, hiked the Cinque Terre and other delights, and made a trip to Budapest. I, for one, was jealous. Mary is anxious to finish her felted purse and we are looking forward to seeing it.
Marylane and Joan brought some polymer beads that a friend makes. They added them to some felted bracelets and we all were very impressed. They add the beads and then felt them in the washing machine. I loved the combinations. Perhaps someday I’ll try felting. For some reason, it makes me nervous, but I’ll try to overcome the fear of shrinking (too much, maybe?) down a garment or accessory that I’ve spent hours and hours knitting. Gulp. These bracelets just might be the place to start.
Speaking of felted accessories, Linda joined us and showed off her beautiful tote bag that she will felt soon. It is big and bold and I want to see it when she’s finished. She was also working on a pair of socks. Another project that I haven’t tried yet!! Marylane knitted a pair of socks that very nearly did her in, so I’m apprehensive of bringing them around where she can see them. Am I beginning to sound like a wimpy knitter? Uh…Yeah! But there are so many projects, so little time.
Several of us are knitting ‘thick and thin’ scarves and we decided to bring them all to the next meeting (or the next) and have a real showing of the different looks that the same basic pattern makes when you use vastly different yarns. This will be a lot of fun because we are all so different in our approaches to knitting. It’s always so much fun to see what the minds of the Castoffs come up with…bwah-ha-ha! Oh. Here are some candid shots of our knitters in action.
Next week we will meet at Joan’s home away from home and catch the view from the base of Lone Pine mountain. I can hardly wait. Until then, careful of the pointy ends!
Apologies to Julie who didn’t get in on the photos. I guess I was knitting. But here is a picture of a pair of her mittens that she swears is the easiest pattern ever! She gave me a copy so I’ll just try it.
]]>We decided that because it was a morning meeting and we couldn’t share a wine of the week, we would introduce a new segment to the blog called:
WHINE OF THE WEEK!!
Our very first WHINE OF THE WEEK comes from Marylane and it concerns her first use of joining on a circular needle. “Why isn’t it joining?” Marylane whined.
Well, we couldn’t figure it out at first, it looked like she should be joining. Marylane was working on a felted purse that is going to be fabulous (if it ever gets joined in a circle, that is). I kept saying, “Well, you just knit, knit, knit all the way around.” Of course, we all were talking and knitting and eating and not paying attention. Marylane kept whining (I promise I’m not picking on you, Marylane. We’ll undoubtedly all get our turn in WHINE OF THE WEEK). Anyway, we finally figured out that she was turning her work as if she was using straight needles. Duh, if you’ve never knitted in the round, it makes perfect sense to go the other way at the end of a row. I can’t wait to see how far she gets by next week.
We all brought great things to work on: Marsha brought her blue short/sleeved sweater that is gradually getting done. It’s nearly finished, all that lacks now is the button placket! Pictures next week! Carol wasn’t knitting this week – she was making emergency repairs on her daughter Shannon’s Ecuadoran hammock that lost its fringe.
Julie was working on a baby sweater last week, which could have been the WHINE OF THE WEEK. Julie was whining about skeins of yarn labeled with “No Dye Lot” that turn out to be different colors. Of course, Julie didn’t see any difference until the front of the sweater worked up with a definite line of color difference. Aaaaie! What to do? We all suggested different things. “Embroider a line of design along the front,” said Francy. “Yeah, little cross-stitch Xes,” suggested Marylane. “Have another glass of wine,” Marsha offered. This week we discovered Julie’s response. “I ripped it out.” Okey, dokey, then. So Julie was re-knitting her little red sweater.
I have to show you the cutest little mittens knitted by Marylane. We got this pattern from a woman who came to the World Wide Knit in Public Day in Kalispell. I am thinking about knitting them for my brother’s grandchildren (6 little tykes!) that I knitted hats and sweaters for last year. Not doing that again, I was thoroughly sick of itsy-bitsy hats, scarves and sweaters. It made me glad that my son’s not married. These would make great Christmas tree ornaments – or rearview mirror ornaments, as one of our members suggested.
Francy brought photos of her wonderful coat that she knitted for her daughter, Betsy. “Email a picture to me for the blog!” I begged. Still begging, Francy! We want to show off the coat, please. Francy is knitting a Moebius scarf whose instructions were defying interpretation. We finally figured out that when Francy printed off the instructions, a pesky pop-up ad was blocking instruction #3 – a vital detail about knitting the first round. So more about the Moebius in our next blog. Here is Francy with mittens instead of Moebius or beautiful knit coat.
By the end of the morning, we all felt like we could go out and face the day. We had planned to hike on the trails of our local State Park, but the day was turning out to be a scorcher. I went home, watched the British Open and knitted. What better way to spend a hot day?
]]>But the point of our blog is to share our triumphs and frustrations, our joy in knitting and our love for our companions. We will be posting whatever we discuss at our meeting, from sailing on the beautiful Flathead Lake to hiking in Glacier Park; from Michele’s excellent recipe for chocolate Grenache cake (yummmy!) to the kinds of wine we like to drink while we knit (gimme a red!) and occasionally we will bitch about Republicans, so consider yourselves warned.
So grab a skein of yarn, a couple of needles, sit back and join us. We love to knit and we are quite knowledgable (if I do say so myself) and plan to share a lot of great patterns and opinions.
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