Trish Knits.com

Well, I was successful in getting the sleeve stitches onto holders today before knitting group, so here is the latest photo of the baby sweater in progress. It finally looks like a sweater, no? I’m finally seeing a light at the end of this tunnel.

Now some scenes from today’s knitting group:

Rhoda knitting on the BYOB bag from Knitty.com

(Dina is our new group member. She didn’t want her picture taken, but here she is!)

Lola saw that I posted on Ravelry to Jo the other day, asking if she had a drop spindle that I could play with at group today. Jo said no, she didn’t, but then Lola surprised me with this:

A drop spindle to play with and a bit of roving! I tried for quite a while to make yarn tonight and it was interesting to say the least. It looks so easy when I see others doing it! Maybe I’ll have to ask Lola to give me a lesson or two. I’m thrilled that she’s letting me borrow this spindle before I buy my own, though… it’s good to figure out whether I can even do it first. So far I’ve had yarn falling apart and lots of spindle crashing to the floor stuff, and very little yarn stuff, but I think I’ll get there. Wish me luck, and what a great afternoon it was. Thanks again, ladies! I had a great time.

Everyone was knitting socks:

Even me!

And the thing is, even though we were all knitting socks, we were all doing it differently. Shelley was knitting top down on DPNs. Lola, who happened to be knitting way cool purple socks, was doing top down on two circulars. Rhoda was doing a second striped sock top down on magic loop. And me? I’m doing one toe up on magic loop. Isn’t it great how the same thing can be done in so many marvelous ways? That’s the coolest thing about knitting to me. I’ve learned that there’s no right or wrong. I don’t have to be concerned that my hands won’t work a certain way to use this certain tool or that certain method. There’s always another way. And that’s cool!

Shelley and Lola both like spinning and had lots to talk about. Lola reported that she just got a new spinning wheel.

Rhoda knits away on her second striped sock. Looks like she’ll be done soon!

I of course could not get out of the store without buying another book. More on that tomorrow.

It is uncharacteristically hot for this early in June in these parts, and some folks on some of my knitting groups are complaining about how it’s too hot to knit. No! It’s not! I can attest to that. My Bowie group met today for our usual first Saturday of the month meetup. And it was such a good time that most folks stayed beyond the two hours I usually allot.

Lissa came all the way from the other side of the Potomac to help me untangle my yarn woes! And she stayed at it for about three hours, too. Amazing! The hank was in such a mess though, I’m sorry to say, that even after all that, it still wasn’t done. Oh my, why am I so clumsy with my yarn? Not to worry, though… my dear friend Rhoda volunteered to take it home and keep winding. (She said her daughter actually likes to do these things… I don’t get it, but more power to her!

Speaking of Rhoda:

She’s back! After having foot surgery a couple of months ago she was finally able to join us again. Rhoda is my main knitting buddy and I have sorely missed getting together with her, as we have somehow managed to do every couple of weeks over the last couple of years. Here she is knitting a sock from some Opal yarn that I covet!

This is Yvonne, our newcomer for this month. She is a wonderful teacher of amazing second graders, and she is making the fabulous Frock Camisole
from the Spring 2008 Interweave Knits. Lissa, who had showed Yvonne how to pick up stitches without a crochet hook, really coveted the yarn, which I forget what it is. Yvonne returned the favor by showing Lissa how to do a gusset in the tank top she’s working on (demonstrating with Rhoda’s sock). Aren’t knitters great? This is one of my favorite parts of knitting group–that everyone learns from each other.

Jo came along and was knitting away on a purple sock (which I, as a lover of all things purple, drooled over). We all practically squealed when she said that the yarn was her own handspun. It was surely gorgeous! Spinning is something that eludes me but I admire people who can do it! Go, Jo!

And this is Marie, who brought along a baby sweater and hat that she was working on with some red and white yarn. We all agreed that it would make an ideal Christmas sweater. Now Marie just has to meet some lucky baby to give it to!

We survived the scorcher of an afternoon with good friends, good air conditioning, and plenty of slushy cold drinks from the coffee shop. I already can’t wait until we meet again.

Today was our post-Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival knitting meetup. It was small; Jo was there, and then I showed up a bit late. We had fun chatting and knitting. I was working on my second-ever sock, and Jo was knitting a sock from her own handspun yarn. It was lovely!
Jo mentioned that her spinning wheel is really quite portable and I think she’s going to bring it next time! I’ve always wanted to observe spinning up close so this will be a real treat for me. Our next meetup will be the first Saturday in June.
In one of those “small world” moments, we discovered that Jo’s husband Pete went to high school and graduated with my husband, John. What’s more, they’re both obsessed with model building! (And, we wives know, REALLY into model kit collecting! So not much need to complain about our stashes, eh?) Turns out that Jo’s hubby is into military models, and mine is into all things car-related, but still… it’s a similar passion.
Four o’clock came too quickly for me and I am already looking forward to next month, when I can see Jo again and her spinning wheel. Hmmm. Spinning yarn whilst spinning yarns. Now there’s a pun I’m sure no one has said before!

Stash Enhancement

I finally got this yarn in the mail on Tuesday! It’s Regia Nation Colors #5399. I got it from a shop called Web of Wool, and I’m not sure about the exchange rate but I think I got it for a good price. It took nearly a month to get from them to me, but I don’t do much overseas shopping so I don’t know how long it’s supposed to take. The Yarn Harlot featured a pair of socks made from this yarn on the date that I appeared as a member of the First Sock Brigade (see April 8, 2008, post entitled, “Two for One”), and I knew immediately that I must have this yarn. It took me a few days to figure out what it was and then find it. (Several stores I had checked with were sold out–they say once a yarn’s been “Harlotted” there’s usually a run on it. Ok, so does that make me a follower?)

Truth is, regular readers already know I’m a bit of a rainbow fanatic. So, I could not get just enough to make one pair, because I know as soon as I do knit with it? A couple other folks in my world will see it and want some rainbow socks, too. So, I have six balls, just for insurance. Even that might not be enough.

This weekend I plan to go through my last tub of acrylic yarn. The art teacher at DD’s school teaches knitting and weaving, and she said she can always use some more yarn. So I’m gonna bite the big one and get rid of it. I’ve got plenty of other new yarn around here to keep me busy!

Today we had our second Knitting Group Meetup at the Borders in Bowie. A lovely assortment of people were able to join us. It’s funny, but most of the folks from last month weren’t able to join us, but a whole other crop of folks did! So maybe one of these times both sets of folks will be able to come and then we’ll be on our way to a big group. It was lots of fun! At one point, another lady who saw us knitting came up and asked questions about our group, and she said she’ll be joining us in June! This photo is of Marie, Diana and Trish. Marie was knitting a lovely Lady Eleanor Stole, and I was working on my first practice sock.


This is Charlotte, mother of one of Diana’s skating buddies. I didn’t know she was a knitter until she mentioned it a few weeks ago so I invited her to come along. Here Charlotte is knitting a sweater in the round on some lovely, soft yarn.


This is Lola, showing her amazing colorful vest. (It looks like it’s at least inspired by Alice Starmore, if it isn’t a Starmore, which I forgot to ask. Maybe I’ll check her Ravelry projects and see.) While in group today, Lola worked on her Mr. Greenjeans sweater.


This is my mom, Pat. She worked on a crocheted baby hat today, but is learning to knit and is doing very well. It was great to have her along, and she really seemed to enjoy talking with everyone. The sweater that matches the hat is beautiful, and the recipient will be one well dressed baby!



And this is Karen! It was wonderful to meet her, and I think we will be seeing each other again on Monday when the Harlot comes to town! Karen worked on her Clapotis made from hand dyed sock yarn on size six needles. It’s going to be lovely!
It’s funny how people who never met before can just get together and knit and become instant friends. Karen and Charlotte both have experience with living overseas because of the military life, and Karen and Marie had a previous career with the airlines in common. And we were all completely blown away by Lola’s knitting.
I’m so glad I started this little group! Our next meeting is going to be on May 10, due to Maryland Sheep and Wool on the 3rd and 4th. I’m sure everyone will be anxious to tell about their festival treasures!

Ah… What a perfect afternoon!

Today was way fun! Kiva had posted a question on Ravelry about whether the knitting group still met on Wednesdays at the Bowie Borders. I responded that yes, I thought so, but I had never been. With school age kids there’s always homework to monitor, showers to be sure get taken, and flutes to be sure get practiced, etc. So the whole weeknight thing seems out of the question for a good long while. So I posted back that I would love to get an occasional group going on a Saturday afternoon. Even if it’s only once a month. Kiva responded that yes! This sounded like a good idea. So we set it up.

To my surprise, seven people showed up today for our first meeting! My knit buddy Rhoda was there too, and everyone else was from the Ravelry boards. Lola wore a knit sweater and brought two others in progress. Kiva had a gorgeous scarf and brought her mother and daughter along, Pat was knitting her traveling sock, Jo was knitting a gorgeous drop stitch wrap with yarn she had spun herself, and Rhoda was working on her gorgeous (purple!) chevron scarf. I was knitting on my never-ending afghan, and spilling coffee all over the floor. Geez, can’t take me anywhere! Left to right in this first photo are Jo, Pat and Lola.

Here’s a shot of Rhoda, with Kiva, and Kiva’s mom, Betty. There’s Kiva’s gorgeous daughter, too!

Rhoda showed Betty how Magic Loop works, and we all shared stories of how long we’ve been knitting and how we learned. It’s funny, but even though most of us had never met, the language of knitting made it easy to talk and it seemed as if we were old friends very quickly. We talked lots about Ravelry and how much we love it.

The ladies admired my Ravelry button and are all hoping to get one before the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. I’ll have to see if there’s a way to get ahold of some.

Lola was working on a blue sweater with saddle shoulders from Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitting Without Tears. She puzzled a bit over Elizabeth’s traditionally wordy directions, and showed us all a photo of a completed one on her blackberry. But, before the afternoon was done, the light bulb clicked on and Lola was off and running with the next section of her sweater.

For now, we’ve decided that we will meet on the First Saturday of the Month, except for May. That’s the Sheep and Wool Festival, so in May we will have a Show and Tell session on the Second Saturday. It was great being in the company of knitters, and I hope it will continue!

Of course, I can’t go to a bookstore without brining a few things home! Today my haul included Son of Stitch ‘n Bitch: 45 Projects to Knit and Crochet for Men, and Creative Knitting Magazine. Don’t know why I don’t subscribe to that one; I always like it. Perhaps I should go now and fix that little problem. More later…