Monday Night Knitting Group

After last nights group, I think perhaps our group should be renamed! Instead of Monday Night Knitting, we'll call it Monday Night Fiber!! Joining us for the night were 4 fabulous women and their spinning wheels and drop spindles!

Just sitting there listening to the quiet hum of the wheels was so relaxing.

Watching their piles of fleece turn into yarn right before our eyes was almost hypnotic . . . and it looked so effortless . . . then Martha let me sit at her wheel and try.

OMG!! It's not nearly as easy as they made it look!



Pat joined us again with her weaving . . . 

The picture doesn't really show it . . . but there are beads woven in!!! She also explained how to create 'the wavy effect'. (I'm sure there is an official term that sounds better than 'wavy effect'.) The finished project will be a purse. 












And of course there were knitters . . .

Joan is working on 
socks again . . . .
















Joy is going to make a sweater in this gorgeous green that we all assured her was the 'in' color. 

Here she is making a swatch to test her gauge, (as every good knitter should do!!).









Liz came and learned how to sew her hand-warmers together.














And there were more . . . but apparently my skills as a photographer are lacking . . .  the other pictures are blurry . . . maybe I can blame it on my camera phone??

We'll meet again on May 18th. Come and see us . . . bring your favorite 'fiber project'. The more the merrier . . . 

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

From the Library Shelves

Let's think for a second  . . . what are some of our favorite things? I like books (helpful if you work in a library), knitting (of course), and cats. So imagine my reaction when I saw one of the latest additions to the library . . . 

click here to place a hold

I mean, really. Can you stand it? 

Of course I flipped through it . . .

I'm not sure which are cuter . . . 
the hats . . . or the cats!!

Since I have 3 cats at home (I know, it kind of makes me a borderline 'cat lady'), I decided I had to take it home and break out the scraps. I mean the cats in the book are cute . . . but my cats are just as cute . . . or at least two of them are. One of them has had a rough time and as a result has runny eyes. You know . . . a face only a mother, or an-almost-cat-lady, could love. 




So I checked the book out and made a couple hats while I watched TV. That was the easy part.

Then I went looking for cats . . . and then came the hard part. I even enlisted my daughter in case i needed an extra pair hands. One cat was ready to claw us to death . . . she was quickly released. My daughter also resigned at this point. The second cat squirmed and wiggled and ran away. (He also hid and wouldn't come near me for the rest of the night . . . even with the bribe of cat treats.)





The third time was the charm . . . and of course with the I'm-so-ugly-I'm-cute-runny-eyes cat. Probably because she is the oldest and just can't be bothered to run away. 

I know . . . it's blurry. But I was lucky to get even a blurry shot!!











So now I am looking at this book in a whole new light. I think the photographer is a genius. How did he get them to sit still, put these hats on them, get them to keep the hats on, AND take a picture . . . that is not blurry?!

At the very least he is a cat whisperer.

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

Let's Start at the Beginning.

All the good books usually have a good beginning. All the old houses that are still standing usually have a good foundation, and all the knitting projects that don't look home-made have a good cast-on. 

At the last Monday Night Knitting I discovered that some people were having trouble with their cast-on. So, as Julie Andrews would say,  . . . well she would sing it, but you really don't want me to start singing . . . "Let's Start at the Very Beginning. A Very Good Place to Start."

The easiest cast-on to start with is the cabled cast-on. It will give a nice stable edge and is fine for most projects.



But done incorrectly . . . EEKS! 
Here is a swatch of it. See how loopy the bottom is!! In fact, it's so loopy it relaxes into the first row of knitting. 

Here's what NOT to do . . . after you have placed the second stitch on the needle, don't just knit into the first loop . . . insert the needle behind the entire stitch.



Take a look.

First start out with a basic slip knot for your first stitch.

Insert the right hand needle into the stitch as if you were going to knit it.

Wrap the yarn around the right needle as if you were going to knit it . . . 

. . . then pull the yarn through. 
Pull it through far enough 
that you can insert the left 
needle into the loop just 
created on the right needle.



Slide the stitch off the right needle and keep it on the left needle.

There you go . . . you have cast on 2 stitches. 

When you go to create the third stitch, insert the right needle between the first and second stitch.


I know it's not a glamorous shot . . . I need a manicure and my band-aid is showing . . . but I was willing to suffer through it to make sure you could see where to put the right hand needle








Then go ahead and pull the yarn through and place the loop on the left needle.

That's where some of my Monday night ladies made their mistake. They only inserted into the front loop . . . . resulting in the loose cast-on. 



Here's what it will look like if it's done this way.


 

On one side you will see a 'line',









On the other side it will look almost like a row of garter stitch.

Whichever side you choose to make visible on the public side of your garment is your choice . . . YOU are the knitter after all! 



Pick whichever one you like the best. Just make sure you pick the same side for all the pieces of your project.

There you have it. A good beginning. There are many other ways to cast on . . . but I'll save them for another day since sometimes simple is all you need. 

It's kind of like 'Once Upon a Time'. How can a story start any better? Can't you just see the prince, the princess and the dewy eyed looks they are giving each other? (Can you tell I just saw Cinderella?!).

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.