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Leadership Team
2008
Westchester Knitting Guild
November 2008
Candace Eisner Strict at WKG
♦ Judi Tepper, President
914-238-0545
[email protected]
Learning both music and
♦ Olive McNeil, Programs
914-664-3513
[email protected]
♦ Jeanne Scofidio, Treasurer
914- 923-0712
[email protected]
[email protected]
♦ Sharon Barette, Newsletter
914- 739-7648
[email protected]
♦ Dorothy Freeman, Charities,
Library
914-271-5743
[email protected]
♦ Linda Higham, Yahoo Master
914-277-7803
[email protected]
Inside this issue:
KAL, Cruise
2
Workshop
3
Zines
4
New Zealand
4
Party Plans
5
Charity Knitting
5
Calendar, Directions,
Announcements
6
knitting at the age of
three, Candace Eisner
Strick has followed these
two loves all her life. She
was co-director and cello
instructor of the Suzuki
String Program of Mansfield, CT for 16 years. She
is the author of Sweaters
From a New England Village, a book about Harrisville, NH which features
twenty original designs
using Harrisville Designs
yarn. Her second book,
Sweaters From New England Sheep Farms is a series of portraits of eight
New England sheep farmers who hand-dye the
wool they produce, and
includes over 25 original
designs using their fiber.
Her third knitting book,
Beyond Wool, uses a variety of fibers other than
wool. There are chapters
about the fibers as well as
25 original designs. Her
fourth book, The Quilter's
Quick Reference Guide,
was released in June,
2004 by Martingale and
Co. Her fifth publication,
Little Box of Crocheted
Bags, was released in
2006. Her designs and
writing have appeared in
Knitter's Magazine, Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, Knit It Magazine,
Wild Fiber Magazine,
Cast On Magazine and
Vogue Knitting books.
Candace designs for yarn
companies while she and
her husband run their internet based business,
www.Strickwear.com,
which features her exclusive designs of socks, mittens, hats, scarves, shawls,
bags, jackets and sweaters, custom hand dyed
yarn, and her new line of
uniquely blended colors,
Merging Colors.
Candace teaches workshops internationally. Her
other fiber related interests include spinning,
weaving, dyeing and quilt-
ing. When not doing the
above, she is riding her
bicycle. She lives in rural
Connecticut with her pianist/knitting husband and 2
birds. She has three grown
sons, all of whom know
how to knit but refuse to
do so.
Candace’s topic on the
24th will be "Ten Things
Being a Knitwear Designer
Has Taught Me".
One of Candace’s designs Box
SweetTM : A tour de force of
color and geometry, this sweater
is never boring to knit or to
wear!! The diagonal lines make
it flattering for every figure.
Page 2
Westchester Knitting Guild
Olive McNeil
We had a wonderful turnout for
the KAL in October. Everyone was
able to choose a pattern while others began their projects with the
suggested materials. We can't wait
to see the finished products.
Thank you to our members Ninette
S,, Jeanne S. , Margaret S., Sue
A., and Sandy W. for suppling the
patterns, materials and samplers to
get us started.
WKG Elections
In the meantime, whatever questions you might have concerning
color, techniques, shaping
or thoughts and insights may be
forwarded to our website ( http://
groups.yahoo.com/group/
westchesterknittingguild/).
The office of President is open
for nominations for 2009. If you
are interested, please contact
Hilary Ward at:
[email protected]
For those working on the moebius
scarf, feel free to join us at the next
meeting Until then...Knit on!
The KAL is in need of someone
to take over the leadership roll.
If interested please contact
Olive McNeil for more info. at:
[email protected]
September Knitting Cruise
Dorothy Freeman
I was surprised at people’s reaction when I
mentioned I had been on a knitting cruise; the
response was usually: a what? To me it
seemed like a no-brainer and what could be
better!
This past September Olive McNeil, Jeanne
Scofidio and I were 3 of 56 knitters on a New
England/Canada cruise. There were over
2,000 people on this cruise but they all
seemed to be aware and curious about the
knitters. As soon as they saw someone with
needles and yarn, they would come over and
begin talking to us . . . and yes, telling us their
sweater size and favorite color.
Not only did we attend knitting workshops, but the travel agent had provided us with lists of yarn shops in
the various ports. We stopped in Boston, Newport RI, Halifax NS, Saguenay Quebec and Quebec City. The
hurricane prevented us from stopping in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
The workshops were taught by Joan McGowan-Michael and Joan Schrouder. Some of the techniques we
learned involved socks, Shetland shawls, Fair Isle, plus sizing and combining fabric and knitting. In the evenings a few of us gathered to knit and chat and make new friends. The “two Joanies” (as they were affectionately known) usually joined us and shared stories or helped us.
We were extremely fortunate to visit with Lucy Neatby in Halifax as well as Fleece Artists. Both work out of
their homes and we saw the Fleece Artists dyeing their wools, and of course were able to purchase yarn.
Some new yarn was so yummy we couldn’t wait and walked away with damp yarn. Lucy was a delightful as
always and warmly welcomed us into her home. We had the additional good fortune to meet and talk with
Ilga Leja. I didn’t have the will power to walk away without purchasing something – and why should I? So, as
we all know, the stash just keeps growing and growing.
Page 3
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Sponsored by the Westchester Knitting Guild
American Legion from 11 am - 5 pm. Price $30. Limited to 30
Length of class: 6 hrs. Proficiency level: Intermediate
25 SLICK TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Some things in knitting can seem like a drudgery, but if you know some basic techniques and tips, it's a
breeze. Learn a slick trick every few minutes and you will be well on your way to making your knitting more enjoyable and professional looking. There's something for everyone, including knitting backwards, cabling without a needle, working short rows, a few cool cast-ons, and 20 others.
The following 25 techniques will be learned: knitting backwards, purling backwards, fixing a
dropped stitch, 1 row buttonhole, spacing buttonholes evenly, increasing, decreasing, working short
rows, cabling without a needle, binding off over cables, 2 needle bindoff, cutting your work, working
twists, 2 color cast-on and bind-off, Latvian braids, knitting in ends, invisible cast-on crochet chain
method, invisible cast-on for K1, P1 ribbing, grafting a knit stitch, crochet hook cast-on, chained edging, mattress stitch, I-Cord, and making twisted cords.
Supplies to bring to class: 4 swatches (from homework, below), yarn and appropriately sized needles, cable needle, yarn needle, crochet hook
Homework: Knit 4 swatches in stockinette stitch at least 4 inches by 4 inches, 2 of them should be
bound off, the other 2 left on stitch holders.
Registration: Please send your check payable to the Westchester Knitting Guild to:
Olive McNeil, 14 South First Ave., Mt. Vernon, NY 10550. E-mail: [email protected]
Handmade Holiday Gifts
Gear up for holiday giving! Interweave Knits Holiday Gifts is a special
issue devoted to everything you need to make gift giving a breeze for
family and friends, other knitters, and even yourself.
Inside you’ll find:
•
An annual gift giving guide especially for knitters
•
A special section on knitting inspiration for the holidays
•
30 beautiful projects for gifting (and keeping!)
•
Easy techniques to dress up simple knitting
Page 4
Westchester Knitting Guild
Online Magazines or Zines
Black Purl Magazine
(www.black-purlmagazine.com) is devoted
to many crafts, not just
knitting. L'Tanya Durante
is Publisher and Editor-inChief says her love for
community, history, and
learning prompted her to
start Black Purl Magazine.
It is a craft publication of
a different sort that incorporates all of her loves.
The magazine focuses on
needlecraft designers,
tips, history, travel...and
yes, projects.
There are free patterns
in each issue, easy to in-
termediate in difficulty.
The projects vary in purpose from crocheted wine
glass charms to more conventional knitted items
such as sweaters. One
interesting group of patterns are charted intarsia
patterns of some of the
symbols of the quilt code
used by African slaves to
help them navigate
through the Underground
Railroad. By clicking on
the link in the pattern, you
can access an article and
find more information
about the code system.
The articles range from
history lessons to personal
News from New Zealand and Margaret Stove
I recently visited Aus-
experience. Her home was
a worker’s home built in
the 1800’s, I believe. She
has expanded it and lives
on the side of a very
steep hill overlooking the
harbor. It is impossible to
describe how lovely it is.
New Zealand was formed
from volcanoes so this
“hill” is actually the side
of a dormant volcano and
the harbor is the crater
full of water.
While in Christchurch I
was able to contact her
and we made arrangements to meet. She invited
me to her home and I was
so charmed by her
warmth, generosity and
home and the town she
lives in. It was a wonderful
I also learned that Margaret is working on another book, lace shawls
that can go through a
wedding ring. She showed
me some of the laces she
is working on and told me
about her research. She
went to Estonia and interviewed lace knitters there.
tralia and New Zealand
and was fortunate in being able to visit Margaret
Stove in Lyttleton New
Zealand. Unfortunately I
was not yet a member of
the Guild when Margaret
visited. Judi Tepper was
good enough to encourage me to try to contact
her saying Margaret
would love to see someone from the States.
Melissa Shinsato
essays, suggestions to book reviews. I’m always
intrigued by the
different projects
and focus of articles. In the most
recent issue, one
of the articles is
about George
Washington
Carver his love of
fiber arts, and ability to
knit.
The more I explore this
magazine and the archives, the more I learn
about diverse topics I
never thought would be
connected to knitting.
Dorothy Freeman
They wrote an article
about her and she received a copy of it; unfortunately it is written in
Estonia, which she can’t
read. I took a copy hoping to find someone who
can translate it. She would
be thrilled if we can do
this for her.
Page 5
Westchester Knitting Guild
Party Plans
Plans are underway for our annual holiday party in December. This year there will be a ‘yarn exchange’
and ‘ fashion show’.
•
For the yarn exchange, everyone is asked to place two or more balls of yarn in a plastic or zip lock bag (3
bag limit). You will receive a ticket for each donation. Tickets will be selected randomly. When your ticket
is selected, you will have an opportunity to select a bag of yarn from the display. We will begin collecting
donations at our monthly meeting on Nov 24th.
•
You are cordially invited to participate in the fashion show and model a garment that you have completed
this year. How wonderful to receive accolades from your fellow knitsters as you walk the runway. Your
entry should be a hand knitted wearable garment for an adult.
You will be asked to describe your inspiration, yarn and pattern information, and technique used. This
promises to be an exciting event - with your participation. Sign up at the next meeting or email [email protected]
•
- We are collecting gently used knitting books to add to our door prizes this year. If you have a book to
donate, please bring it to the Nov. 24th meeting.
We thank you for your continued support. Knit-on!!!
Time for Giving
. December is the time
for giving and at our holiday party we will be giving gifts to our members.
We, the board members,
would like to ask each of
you to knit preemie hats
which we in term will give
to those who will be
spending the holiday in
the hospital. You are all
familiar with knitting these
teeny, tiny hats because
you have all given so generously over the years. If
you need a pattern,
please go to Knittingpatterncentral.com and select
“preemie” in their index.
They have so many patterns from which to
choose.
Dorothy Freeman
Last year when I spoke
to my contact at Westchester County Medical
Center (WCMC), she told
me that these babies and
their families are in the
hospital for such a long
period of time; when the
holidays come around
they feel very alone and
forgotten. The staff put
together a little gift basket for each family and
distributed them on Christmas Eve. They were so
touched and grateful.
There can be as many as
50 babies so that’s a lot
of hats.
I’ve collected quite a
few preemie blankets
over the last few months
so I would like to combine
the hats and blankets and
deliver them just before
Christmas. These are quick
little projects so I hope
you can find the time to
make at least one. I thank
you in advance, on behalf
of the families spending
their holiday at WCMC.
Sponsored by the Westchester Knitting Guild
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•
Preemie hats will be collected at the Holiday Party in December. If you have
squares for Warm Up America, please bring them to the monthly meetings.
Knitting News
c/o Sharon Barette
2023 Crompond Rd
Cortlandt Manor, NY10567
•
Consider volunteering for a leadership position in the WKG. Elections will be
held in December. The office of President is open.
•
Knitting book donations will be collected at the Nov. meeting. See page 5.
•
KAL needs a leader. If interested, contact Olive McNeil.
•
Join the WKG Yahoo site by sending an e-mail to Linda Higham at:
[email protected]
•
Please bring donations of yarn and plastic knitting needles for the prison knitting program at Taconic to monthly meetings. No blue, black, gray or orange.
Solid colors only.
Calendar
Monthly meeting: Monday, November 24, 2008
•
•
•
Nov. 23- Workshop
Candace Eisner
Strick
Nov. 24- mtg.
Candace Eisner
Strick
Dec. 15
Holiday Party
Directions to Chappaqua Library
195 South Greeley Ave.
914-238-4779
From the South: Go north on the Saw
Mill Parkway, Exit #32 - Chappaqua,
Rte. 120. Make left at end of exit
ramp and a left at first light. *Go over
parkway and bear right at the fork
onto S. Greeley Ave. Proceed down
street. Library is on the left, across
from Town Hall.
From the North: South on the Saw Mill
Parkway, Exit #32 - Chappaqua, Rte.
120. Right again at light. Then follow
from *above.
Meeting Schedule
6:00 KAL
7:00 Hands on help
7:15 Announcements
Show and Tell
7:30
Program
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