Trish Knits.com

Category: Events

  • First Saturday in April

    Well, it took me four nights to get the photos together for the post from last Saturday’s knitting group, and to the group, I apologize! I know some folks really enjoy seeing the photos. But, better late than never, and here they are!

    As usual, click to make the pictures bigger.

    Saturday was a great day, as we welcomed quite a few new group members. As I was coming in the bookstore, I happened to see a woman browsing the knitting magazines. So of course I asked her if she had her knitting with her and if she would like to sit with us for a while. It wasn’t long before Alice fit right in as if she had been coming all along.

    Another bookstore patron, Diane, saw us knitting and said she didn’t know how, but wanted to know if she could join us. She then went to the nearby craft store and got a skein of yarn, came back and dove in for a lesson. I tried to help, but my own weird knitting method is hard for others to translate into something that works for them. So Marie jumped in to help. It was great!

    Wanda brought her sister, Lisa, for the first time, and Rhoda’s friend Kathy also came along for a bit. Ileana couldn’t be there, but her friend Mia came along for a first time visit.

    The group was wowed by Tammy’s beautiful sweater that she knit for her granddaughter. And then there was Lola’s beautiful handspun alpaca, which is destined to become a shawl for her mother.

    I really had a great time meeting so many new folks and chatting with other knitters for the afternoon. I’m already looking forward to our next meeting, which will be on May 9, so our group can go to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. Ah… Maryland Sheep and Wool. I think it’s my favorite day of the year–even better than Christmas.

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  • News from the Interwebs

    I don’t do this very often but there are so many amazing and exciting events coming up in the world of knitting, that I thought I would take a little space to mention a couple that stand out above the crowd.

    Sock Summit 2009

    Sock Summit 2009 Logo
    Sock Summit 2009 Logo
    Have you guys heard about this one? Sock Summit 2009 promises to be a knitting event like no other! The list of instructors reads like a who’s who of knitting. The instructor list includes names like Lucy Neatby, Nancy Bush, Cat Bordhi, Meg Swansen, Cookie A, and Barbara Walker. The registration opens in May, so keep your eyes open and watch that site. I’m sure they’ll be flooded when the time comes.

    Oh how I wish it wasn’t so far away! I’d give my eye teeth to be there, even though I am NOT A SOCK KNITTER. I’d be one, just for that. So many knitters I admire, but the trip is more than I could do. Still I am hoping that many of my knit buddies will go and tell all about it. I can’t wait to hear.

    A Radical Act of Knitting in honor of Mother’s Day!

    From CODEPINK:

    “Calling all CODEPINK knitters! We are creating a beautiful, quilted cozy to cover the fence in front of the White House to honor Mother’s Day. The message will be “We will not raise our children to kill another mother’s child”-inspired by Julia Ward Howe’s Mother’s Day Proclamation. We’ll be piecing it together from individual squares knitted by YOU as part of the 24 hour Mother’s Day vigil for Women who live in War Zones. The best part is you don’t have to be an experienced knitter to help! This is perfect for knitters of all skill levels—and a great opportunity for those who want to learn! Celebrate the time honored tradition of the radical act of knitting.” Read more about this event here. This sounds easy enough that I think I will participate by making a square or two.

    Worldwide Knit in Public Day is June 13

    I’m thinking of hosting an event in my hometown. I’ve never done it before but I will be talking to my knitting group this weekend to see what they think. Visit the Worldwide Knit in Public Day website to find an event near you!

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  • It’s Been a Year!

    It just now occurred to me that it’s now been a year since our very first Bowie Borders knit group meeting. A whole year! We’ve grown a lot and are going strong. I am so happy to have some time with my knitterly peeps once in a while, and am so grateful to all the ladies that have helped make the group a success.

    I’ve been remiss in posting the photos from last Saturday’s meeting. So, at long last, here is this month’s gallery:

    Trish 3 is a newcomer, and we were so glad to meet her! She was working on a lovely vintage pattern for a lacy top that made me want to DROOL!

    Sue (I am SO sorry if I messed up your name!) is making beautiful crocheted squares in different sizes for an afghan.

    And Wanda? I’m sorry I can’t remember what you’re working on in this photo but I’m so glad to see such a big smile on your face at your first group meeting! I hope this means you’ll be back again!

    Not pictured were Melodye and Carla, who somehow managed to sneak away before I got the camera out. Melodye showed us her completed Cobblestone Pullover, which was gor-GEOUS!

    I guess I wasn’t too quick with the camera because I was working on casting on for my first sweater:

    swatch for February Lady Sweater with cast on beginnings of sweater
    swatch for February Lady Sweater with cast on beginnings of sweater

    I’ve already encountered knots in my yarn and I’m barely past the first buttonhole. I had to cut the yarn and rejoin already. I hope this isn’t a bad sign of what’s ahead… I’ve had my fill of knotty yarn for awhile.

    Next group meeting is April 4! Hope to see everyone there.

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  • Be Warned: Loooong Knitting Post Ahead

    And Thank You for that, oh Cable Internet Provider Craptacular! I’ve been offline more than on since last Wednesday so this is the first chance I’m getting to update since our Bowie Knitting meetup on Saturday. So, bear with me, as this is sort of a catch-up post.

    First, I have an FO Report!!

    Lady Hawk Hat
    Lady Hawk Hat

    Project Name: Lady Hawk Hat
    Source: Me!
    Yarn Used: Cascade 220, less than one skein each of Navy and White
    Needle Size: 5 (I’m a loose knitter)
    Date Started: October 17, 2008
    Date Completed: February 7, 2009

    Tammy did the duplicate stitching on the hat
    Tammy did the duplicate stitching on the hat
    Notes: I did this hat using a simple top-down formula and changed colors back and forth basically when I felt like it. Except that I knew that the letters I’d be using were 10 stitches high so I had to do one of the white bands at least wide enough to accommodate the lettering. I am not sure why this hat took so long to finish, except that it did. Perhaps it was that I was dragging my feet about doing the duplicate stitch lettering, and it turned out that was for good reason, because I sucked eggs at stitching. I’m going to have to practice with some swatches before next time.

    So, enter in Tammy, who graciously (and patiently!) tried to show me how to do duplicate stitch at our last group meeting. She felt sorry for me and my pending sense of disaster, I think, because she took pity on me and offered to do the stitching and bring the hat back to me. This was so generous of her! It looks great, doesn’t it? And I do think that my generally hard-to-please, almost-teen was genuinely thrilled with it, even if it was in her usual understated way. Thanks to Tammy for helping to make this project a success!

    February Bowie Borders Meetup Report

    Our little monthly group met on February 7 at the usual time in our favorite little coffee shop. There was much yarn and much fun enjoyed by all! Here are some photos of the afternoon’s doin’s!

    I brought my little Flip Ultra video camera with me to group for the first time and I got a few shots of the fun.

    It was a great day! I am always so excited to go to group every time. I love the bunch of people that I am getting to know!

    And Finally, A Ravelry Connection!

    You know, I am amazed at the number of ways Ravelry has impacted my life over the last year and a half. Over the weekend I got my glasses done, at long last, after being frustrated with my poor quality of vision correction for at least 4 years. Wouldn’t you know it? Someone I met on Ravelry is a Master Optician at a local optical chain, and she helped me make some good decisions about my eyes. I have progressive lenses, and have had them for the last several years, but my mid-range vision for the computer has been consistently awful. Anne Marie (“Roxy”) fixed me right up! Given the amount of time I spend at the computer, she recommended two pairs of glasses, one for distance and reading, and one for computer use and reading. Wow. I never would have thought to do it this way, but it works and I love them! Of course I had to make sure to document the occasion for the blog:

    Trish with Anne Marie... I can see again! THANKS!!!
    Trish with Anne Marie… I can see again! THANKS!!!

    So as you can see, Saturday was a great day filled with many rewards. I do love the knitters!

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  • If You Squint a Little…

    It kinda looks like a heart, sorta, maybe??

    knitted heart on a greeting card
    knitted heart on a greeting card

    I got the idea from looking at a short video on Vickie Howell’s blog, but mine doesn’t look as “heart-y” as hers. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts, right? I have a good friend who has been trying to reconnect by writing letters, and while I’m thrilled to receive them, I don’t really write letters anymore. Not since the advent of e-mail! So you know it’s a special friend. I hope she likes it!

    We’re hoping for snow tomorrow. We haven’t had a good snow around here for a couple of years now. I like snow when it’s enough to cancel school around here, because then I get to stay home with the kids and knit and sip hot chocolate all day. Oh, that sounds divine! The kids went to bed with their jammies on inside out, for luck. Let’s hope it works!

    Ciao for now.

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  • Long, Cold Weekend Brings Out Lots of Knitterly Folk

    Yesterday I was without my internet connection for nearly the whole day. Of course my provider said it was something wrong with my modem, and they could be out to fix it in oh, three days or so. Well, that’s not good enough for this house! Not only that, every time they say it’s my modem? It never has been. They just don’t like to admit a system outage so I won’t hold them responsible for it. But of course, when I woke up this morning everything was back to normal and I was in cyberspace again.

    The point of this little rant? Well, let me tell you. We’ve had some unseasonable cold here. So a couple of weeks ago when I suggested that we have a second knitting meetup this month due to the long weekend, it sure sounded like a good idea at the time. But then, yesterday morning, when I realized it was a whopping 6 degrees outside, I wasn’t sure who in their right mind was actually going to show up. Boy, was I surprised to find that we had our biggest crowd EVER. I was so excited that I wanted to come right home and blog all about it, but my lack of connectivity made me wait until today. So, here I am to talk all about it!

    Here’s the gallery from yesterday!

    We had lots of new folks, thanks to some word of mouth. I’m glad that our group loves to spread the word!

    Doris said she came because she made a personal commitment to herself to learn to knit this year. By the time I left she was cooking away on a shawl and I look forward to seeing her again soon.

    Trish (Other Trish?) is a regular at Borders and frequently shows up in the background of some of our other photos. Yesterday she came to the table with a learn-to-knit kit in hand. Glad she could join us!

    Lysette is the organizer of our knitting meetup at work. I was so happy to have found that! And I was really excited that she could join us yesterday.

    Marie was working on a baby sweater and modeling another beautiful sweater that she had made. She’s excited to be going to the Oprah show at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts tomorrow.

    Melodye was working on a Cobblestone Pullover.

    Rhoda was making great progress on her Baby Surprise Jacket.

    Molinda brought along the scarf she was working on that she started at the last group meeting. I gave her the instructions for Twin Rib stitch, which I thought would look great with her yarns. It does!

    Me? I brought along my daughter’s hat to work on the duplicate stitch lettering. Tammy helped me get started, but I got frustrated quickly and she very generously agreed to help me with the stitching. For my part I will be knitting a practice swatch, with which, who knows, maybe I’ll duplicate stitch myself some sort of sampler.

    Others who were there included Dina, Lysette, Yvonne, Ileana and Leslie. I’m really glad that more and more people are coming. It was a wonderful time, and even after three hours I didn’t want to leave.

    Tonight I’m headed out to one of the Inaugural Balls. I’ve never done anything like this before but I’m excited! And I hope to have some fun photos to share tomorrow. Not only will I be able to reconnect with members of my own wonderful community of disabled persons, but I’m hoping to “rattle my jewelry” among some of my personal and political heroes and heroines. I hope to have stories to tell tomorrow. Stay tuned!

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