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http://www.bostonknitting.com
November-December 2013 Newsletter
2013-2014 Officers:
Gail Press, President ([email protected])
Vivian Bolt, Vice President ([email protected])
Cynthia Scott, Secretary ([email protected])
Jane McKinnell, Treasurer ([email protected])
Rosann Fleischauer, Corresponding Secretary ([email protected])
Letter from the President:
Dear Knitters,
I don’t know about you but I am so happy to have the hot, humid weather behind us. Time to
take out the handmade sweaters, scarves, shawls, etc! I love this time of year, the cool crisp
days, perfect for planning winter projects.
How are you inspired? Some great sites to browse are KnittingParadise.com, Ravelry.com,
Patternfish.com and allfreeknitting.com. I have found some great patterns on these sites as well
as many adorable hat and baby patterns, perfect for Caps For Kids and MGH. It’s a wonderful
feeling to know that many children and tiny babies will be a little warmer thanks to our
wonderful Guild members.
Happy knitting and crocheting!
See you at the November meeting,
~ Gail
Upcoming meetings: 2013 – 2014 Calendar
The program committee has worked hard to prepare an outstanding program for this year. Please
go to the GBKG website for the complete list.
http://www.bostonknitting.com
November 21, 2013
Knitting Know How: Dot Ratagan & Judith Durant talk about their respective backgrounds in
knitting followed by an overview of their new book.
From 1-4pm Dot and Judith will be conducting a workshop of many new techniques from the
book…various cast-ons, increases, decreases. The more you know about knitting the more there
is to learn. Class is limited to the first 24 members who sign up. Cost is $35. Registration
information available in October.
December 19, 2013
Annual Holiday Party – Knitting and cookies!
Our December meeting is a Cookie Party. Everyone is invited to bring in two dozen or so of her
favorite holiday cookies with some copies of the recipe. Trinity Church staff members act as
judges and prizes are awarded to the winners of the tasting. Coffee and punch are served, bags
for taking home cookies are provided, and the meeting is devoted to knitting, talking and
munching.
The guest speakers are Laura and Sven Risom from Northern Lights Fibers. In October, CC
Fitzgerald and Anita MacKinnon, on a quest to scout potential programs and retreats, visited
Block Island to see the charming mill surrounded by special animals. Much to their delight, the
entire visit was wonderful, so they invited the Risoms to come to the holiday meeting to tell us
all about the entire operation, and what it has to offer by way of fibers, retreats, classes and a
more restful way of living. Beware- they plan to participate in the "Cookie Contest"!
Submitted by CC Fitzgerald and Anita MacKinnon
Greater Boston Knitting Guild Meeting Minutes:
September 19, 2013 Meeting:
It was a bright, sunny, clear day. Children were playing on the duck statues, and the aroma of the
rose garden wafted through the air for anyone who cared to notice. A very large number of
knitters arrived this morning to hear our first presenter for the year, Betsy Perry. She gave a brief
history of her company, Classic Elite, which started in the late 1940s as part of a textile
manufacturing mill in Lowell, MA. Classic Elite was created as a marketing division of the mill
and catered to hand weavers and designers. They expanded their range of products to include
cotton, silk, and fiber blends. They also started producing two annual collections of hand knitted
designs. Betsy Perry joined the company in 2003. In 2009 she purchased the company and
moved it to North Billerica. They now have 12 employees. They are no longer in the
manufacturing business but focus on the distribution of fine yarns. The in-house staff manages
all pattern design and development.
Classic Elite Shawls, Wraps & Scarves (2013) is the latest book by Betsy Perry. There are
twenty stunning designs, and each one has three variations: shawl, wrap and scarf. With models
modeling knitted garments and a glorious slide show presenting more beautiful fashions, our
members sat back, relaxed and absorbed the exquisite display of the latest fall designs.
The show and tell (brag?) portion of our program brought forth interesting projects. Inge showed
us her multicolored scarf made of lace-weight mohair. Mary Crotty had been working on a baby
blanket with a raised sheep pattern. Other projects were Santa hats to be used as tree ornaments
and a teddy with a comfort blanket.
Submitted by: Cynthia Scott, Secretary
October 17, 2013 Meeting
The temperature was perfect: not too cold, not too warm. No one was climbing on the ducks. A
couple of trees were showing their fall colors, and George was looking over the empty flower
beds. A good crowd of members gathered in the Undercroft of Trinity Church to hear our
speaker, Shannon Okey from Cooperative Press talk about Needles and Artifice: A Refined
Adventure Story. It is part novel, part pattern book.
Shannon first talked about how and why she started her own press. She started writing books for
publishing companies and discovered that she had little control over the product and made very
little money. By starting her own company she could try out different ideas on her customers,
such as developing stories to go along with the patterns. The knitted items became part of the
story. She could try out extreme patterns, some in the Goth style. Items such as mitts, bed
jackets, corsets, aviator helmets, and bloomers appeared in her books. She could find lots of new
ways to find solutions in communicating patterns to her customers. She could offer them
tutorials.
Shannon’s first book was Knitgrrl. It was designed to teach beginning knitters by using step-bystep photos, and carefully arranged patterns. The beginning knitter learns to build her skills
incrementally. One of her more recent publications is, What Would Madam Defarge Knit?
Creations Inspired by Classic Characters edited by Heather Ordover. It includes 21patterns plus
essays. This book is also unusual because it has its own website with links to additional material.
Today’s Show and Tell was very informative with many varied projects for the membership to
appreciate. There was a knitted cat basket which could be repurposed as a fruit bowl, Bob
Jaeger’s waistcoat made from a 17th Century pattern from Plymoth Plantation, and CC’s single
fingerless glove a la Michael Jackson.
Submitted by: Cynthia Scott, Secretary
Community Outreach Program:
Our year is off to a great start. We strive for 1000 hats to Caps for Kids each year. So far this
year we have already delivered 549 items to Dana Farber. November is a big month for the
program as we try to get as many hats in before November 30 as possible. Please knit a hat or
scarf for Caps for Kids!!!!. If you already have hats done remember to bring them to the
November meeting. Please put them in your bag now so that you do not forget them to the
November meeting!
Thanks to everyone for your support.
~ Vivian Bolt
Photo by L. Darisse
One Day Emergency Hat by Celia’s Basket
(Free Ravelry Download)
Yarn requirements
50-100g 8ply (DK) wool
Equipment
1 set 4.5mm DPN or
1 40cm 4.5mm circular needle (you can use longer circulars if you plan on using the Magic Loop
method)
8 stitch markers
Gauge
20st to 10cm in st st
Sizes
Make the size slightly smaller than your head circumference for a snug hat. Sizes XS(S, M, L) to
measure 36 (44, 48, 52) cm circumference will stretch to fit head size of
approximately 43 (48, 52, 67) cm circumference.
Abbreviations
k:knit
k2tog: knit two stitches together (makes right leaning decrease)
p: purl
ssk: slip one stitch, slip the next stitch, knit those two stitches together (makes left leaning
decrease)
st st: stocking stitch, knit every round
©2010 Celia’s Basket http://www.celiasbasket.com
Instructions
Cast on 72 (88, 96, 104) stitches.
Rolled edge
Round 1: Join, being careful not to twist the stitches, and knit around
If you are using circular needles, place marker before joining to mark the beginning of the
round.
Round 2-6: Knit
Ribbing
Round 1: *K2, P2, repeat from * to end of round
Repeat Round 1 another 4 more times
BodyRound 1: Knit
Repeat Round 1 tile work measures 3(5, 6, 7.5)cm from start of ribbing
Ridges
Round 1,2,3: P to end of round Rounds 4,5,6: K to end of round Rounds 7,8,9: P to end of round
Crown
Round 1: K to end of round
Repeat round 1 till work measures 1.5 (3, 4, 4.5)cm from end of last ridge
Decreases
Round 1: *K9(11, 12, 13), place marker, repeat from * to end of round
Round 2: *K to 2 stitches before the marker, k2tog, repeat from * to end of round
Round 3: Knit to end of round
Repeat Rounds 2 and 3 till there are 4(6, 6, 7) stitches between the markers
Repeat Round 2 till there are two stitches between the markers.
Next round: *K2tog, remove marker, repeat from * to end of round
Last round: K2tog four times
©2010 Celia’s Basket http://www.celiasbasket.com
Finishing
Cut yarn leaving a tail of about 15cm long. Pull the tail through the remaining stitches on the
needle and pull to tighten. Sew in ends on the inside of the hat
Handy notes
1.Sew in the end at the brim of the hat on the “right side. When the brim curls, the reverse
stocking stitch side will be showing and you don’t want the end to be visible.
2.You can make the ribbing and ridges in different colours, making this the perfect project for
using up all your scraps. If you are using different colours for the ridges, change colours 1 row
before the start of the first purl row of each ridge to avoid having the main colour show through
at the bottom of each ridge. You can see here that I have used different colours for the ridges but
by changing colours a row before each ridge, I don’t have the main colour bleeding into the
ridges.
Note from the Editor:
I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to this edition of the newsletter. I am always looking
for stories from members about fiber happenings in your lives. I know all members have had
interesting experiences and if you are willing to share, please contact me so we can get them in
the newsletter. Everyone loves to hear about knitting weekends, fiber trips in the US and abroad,
guilds and other groups who meet regularly, courses and classes, etc. The positive feedback I get
from the newsletter is about stories and photos people have submitted. Please email me at
[email protected] about any articles for publication in the newsletter.
~ Linda Darisse, Editor
Looking for a knitting themed vacation?
…try Taquile Island on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. UNESCO honored Taquile and its
Textiles in 2005 as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
Book Review by Carol Gelb
“ The Principles of Knitting; Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting”
by June Hemmons Hiatt
List price $45 - usually available on sale for $25
About ten years ago I read a blog that extolled this book, which was then out of print, as the most
essential of knitting reference books. An ebay search located two copies that were available for
over $350 each - way beyond my budget but sold in days for the asking price! When it was
recently reissued as a revised and updated edition and then appeared as a sale item in the Knit
Picks catalogue I immediately ordered it.
It is THE resource for knitting techniques. Do you want a different cast on method? There are
45 pages of cast ons. How about picking up stitches along fabric edges - 23 pages. Surface
decoration - 24 pages. There are long, detailed, illustrated discussions of knitting with the yarn
held in your right hand versus in your left hand.
Do you want to design your own sweater or radically alter a professional pattern to accommodate
the wearer’s actual size? Chapter 24 discusses accurately taking measurements, drawing
schematics of the pattern pieces, altering pattern pieces to fit, designing sleeves and shoulders
(very useful if you want to change a drop shoulder to a cap sleeve), putting in darts and
customizing the front and back to accommodate broad or rounded backs. In fact, every knitting
topic, except actual patterns, that I can think of is covered somewhere in this book.
I would definitely recommend that you put this book on your holiday wish list - especially if you
are still trying to convince someone that knitting is serious business. The book measures 9”w x
11”h x 2” d and weighs 4.14 lbs!
Bermuda Knitting Cruise 2013 by Lesley Nemser
After attending my niece’s wedding cruise five years ago, I thought I would never cruise again.
However, the idea of Bermuda and knitting was too much of a draw. I was among a group of
over seventeen knitters, some with their spouses, who left from Boston on an overcast July
morning to embark on an amazing week of knitting, friendship, food and fun. Among the
passengers were Boston Guild knitters Peggy Dixon, Shelley Leahy, Elaine Cobucci, Natalie
Washshawer, Nancy Guetersloh, myself and our husbands.
Shelley Leahy of Sheep Ahoy Knitter’s Cruises, coordinating with Patti Crooks of Cruise One,
planned and arranged everything from start to finish, including wonderful goody bags. They
were also there to assure that everything went smoothly, which apparently included the
wonderful weather and calm seas.
We sailed on the Norwegian Dawn, with our fabulous teacher Ann Weaver, a gifted and talented
designer, who taught classes twice a day while we were at sea. We learned color theory,
designed our own shawls and created he wonderful Albers Cowl. I worked with colors I never
would have chosen before. In the evenings, sometime before and sometimes after dinner, we met
at the Star Bar to knit and socialize. Knitters could be found doing homework or projects in the
dining rooms, at the pool or waiting for the evening’s entertainment to start.
Bermuda was as lovely as everyone had told us, but I would have been content to stay on board
and keep knitting. We did, however, go ashore, and surprisingly located two yarn shops to visit.
Some of us even bought yarn!
Sheep Ahoy Knitter’s Cruises has me hooked and I can’t wait until the next cruise – October
2014 to Canada. Hope you can join us.
A Trip to the Eastern Townships in Quebec, Canada by Linda Darisse
This past July, my husband and I traveled to the Eastern Townships in Quebec for a week of
relaxation and site-seeing. We stayed in Lac Magog and took day trips to lots of nice places
including the Abbaye de Saint-Benoit du Lac, a working monastery where we went to Vespers at
5am, Lac Magantic, the site of the derailment where so many lives were taken suddenly last June
by the explosions of rail cars filled with crude oil, and Moulin a Laine d’Ulverton, a wool factory
museum which included a video of interviews with workers who spun the wool and kept the
machines in running order.
Above and below are some pictures of the museum. I would recommend a trip to the Eastern
Townships and the factory museum. It’s a nice drive to get there, through Vermont, New
Hamphire or Maine, and there is a lot to do there. It’s an area well-know not only for boating,
hiking, biking and swimming, but also for wonderful food, great ice cream, “bluets”
(blueberries) in season, alpaca farms, and for the men on your trip, The Musee J. Armand
Bombardier which houses all the prototypes of snowmobiles, war machines, and farm equipment
invented by Armand Bombardier– a must see!
GBKG Website: http://www.bostonknitting.com
The Guild is trying to focus more on our website and depend more and more on communicating
electronically. The Calendar page is updated regularly. We encourage you to check our website
just before you come to a guild meeting for last minute notices. All newsletters are uploaded at
the beginning of every second month. Business members are listed there as well.
Enjoy!
~Ingeborg Endter, website untangler
Business members:
Receive a 10% discount when you present your membership card at these shops:
Adventures in Knitting, Harwich Port, MA – Cathie Hammatt
Another Yarn, Winchester, MA – Teresa McGonagle
Cranberry Fiber Arts, South Hamilton, MA – Helen Millstein
Green Mountain Spinnery, Putney, VT – Maureen Clark
HodgePodge Yarns, Newport, NH – Suzanne Connary
In the Loop, Plainville, MA – Cheryl Erlandson
In Stitches, Weston, MA – Jean Holtey
Integrated Mind & Body LLC, Boston, MA – Ann Marie Turo, OTR
Island Alpaca Company, Vineyard Haven, MA - Barbara Ronchetti
Maggie’s Muse, Jamaica, VT – Margaret Silvia
Metaphor Yarns, Shelburne, MA – Meta Nisbet
Newbury Yarns, Boston, MA – Aldrich Robinson
Perfectly Twisted Yarn, Tiverton, RI – Maureen Rounds
Putting on the Knitz – Don and Janet Scope
Sally’s Sewing, Halifax, MA - Sally Wells
Stitch House Dorchester, Dorchester, MA – Annissa Essaibi George
Tactile Travel, Melrose, MA – Alanna Nelson
WEBS, Northampton, MA – Kathy & Steve Elkins
Thanks to all our business members for your continued support.
Plimoth Plantation Community Outreach:
As part of the Guild's community outreach program, several GBKG members knit 17th c.
garments for Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower II, and travel to the Plantation once a month
to knit and talk with the Plantation's visitors. The Plantation created a poster to display while
GBKG knitters are on site that shows various knitted items, which are keeping GBKG members
busily attending to their needles (see Jan-Feb 13 issue.) If you would like to join in the fun,
please contact Mary Keefe at 617-522-0235, or [email protected]
GBKG Website
http://www.bostonknitting.com