^Ç|àà|Çz axãá 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 VtÇwtvx X|áÇxÜ fàÜ|v~ jÉÜ~á{ÉÑ 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 TÇÇÉâÇvxÅxÇàá@ • 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 exyÜxá{ÅxÇàá tÜx tÄãtçá ãxÄvÉÅx tà à{x ÅÉÇà{Äç Åxxà|ÇzáA
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