It was a small crowd last Wednesday (just the way one particular member likes it, preferring the more favorable teacher:student ratio in such gatherings). The ones who came had great progress to share and it was encouraging to us all.
Christina arrived with completed slippers, fully felted, ready for wearing. They look great and will make a fantastic present for some lucky sole. Christina revealed the felting was a piece of cake. She simply put them in a hot wash of regular laundry and they came out great! We'd hoped to get a picture and post the result but living on this side of the world prompts swift action and she already had them mailed to fortunate recipient before I managed to get my camera aimed in her direction. Ideally I would have shot the picture that very night but for some reason, with needles in hand and yarn streaming through, actually making the effort to get up, find the camera, and have batteries charged and ready to go, all just seems way more effort than I can possibly expend in such settings. I'll do better. I promise. Regardless - congrats to Christina on success!
Extra kudos to Sheila, too. She displayed, not one, but two projects nearing the finish line, both destined to be Christmas presents for additional unknowing recipients. Knitting and gift giving just seem to go hand-in-hand. A visit with Sheila last night revealed finishing touches and she now has those two gifts ready to go. A trip to Orly's Gourmet Yarn Shop initiated a third project and provided supplies for a fourth. I'd say she's hooked - go, Sheila, go!
Eileen also brought in a near finished item. By end of knit night, her slippers were ready for felting! We're all quite anxious to see how her project turns out. She is using a hand spun yarn that has beautiful variations within it. A question was raised as to how well it will felt when a similar yarn was being discussed in the yarn shop. She did a test swatch but honestly didn't take it to full conclusion and did put it through a fairly violent agitation to get it to work. (Did she really use a food processor?) Anyway, we're all anxious to see how the finished slippers felt out. There's a good deal of shrinkage that must occur for the pattern to work, else we'll have footies for one in the Land of the Giants. I personally, though, have great faith and feel they will be perfect. Plus, once they are condensed to the right size, they are going to be SO cushy and comfy. Have you been on this side of the world? Tile, stone, marble, HARD is the name of the game in flooring. These slippers are the very dinktum as an ideal knitting gift for the world over here. I can't wait .. and yes .. I promise to get a picture for you loyal readers to enjoy.
Maria has been battling some mystery bug and wasn't up for joining us. Poor dear - it's bad enough to be sick but to have to miss knit night too? That's just insult to injury! The injustice of it all! Get well soon, Maria, we're saving you your reserved spot at the honored round table of knitting.
Jo is off for six weeks of holiday merriment in the UK. We're missing her and all the verve and humor she adds to the group! Come back, Jo, we need you here! Jo worked hard and pulled her Christmas project into high gear. She finished nephew William's stocking and it looks fantastic! We are all so proud of her incredible effort. She's even started a second, more challenging stocking. We'll have to send out a dispatch to see what progress she has made on it. We sought to take pictures of Jo's project only to find those pesky camera batteries dead and totally unwilling to power even a single shot. Thankfully, Maria came through that night and whipped out her handy little camera phone. Troy worked some technological magic later and got them downloaded and sent my way. So, with all this coordinated cooperation, we do have an image or two to share. Below is one of the overall stocking and a close-up of some of the detail. Unfortunately, as is the usual case, a simple picture does not do it justice. With knitted items, one really should feel the excellence - this stocking is great - cuddly soft. Way to go, Jo!
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Kathy, Sirima, Patricia, and Laurie were all missing in action but I'm sure they'll be back in the knitting swing before long. Actually Laurie's work did make it to the meeting as Eileen brought it with her things. I hear Laurie has been lobbying for her mom to finish the scarf up but surely I got that wrong. The joy is in the knitting, not the use of the end product - isn't that right? That's why I personally never worry too much about finishing a project. I just like knitting new things! Could be there are some different philosophies on this. We'll have to investigate. Regardless, Laurie's work is looking good, hopefully she'll jump back in and finish it up.
Well, dear reader, your poor miserable journal writer has not made near the progress that he'd hoped in finishing his grandchild's Christmas stocking. There is good news, though, as Sharon and Eileen, along with input from shop-owner Orly, determined a perfect pink 100% wool for making Santa's face. The funny part was when they got it home to me, I recognized it as the exact same wool I already had upstairs in my personal stash. How could I have missed that? Weeks of delay, waiting on opportunity to go to the knit store turned out to be totally unnecessary. Well, can't reel the time back, so best to simply press forward. The good news by this point is that the face is back and I'm exactly where I was before I started ripping back. Was it worth the effort? Hmmm .. hard to say. I didn't make the 'improvement' that I'd hope, but it will certainly do and I'm pushing on. Here's how it's looking:
After a night of knitting last night I'd made a few inches of progress - two I believe. At this point, I noted to Sharon that our grandchild would probably have her stocking ready by the time she was five years old.
BUT WAIT - THAT WON'T WORK! Why you ask? Because .. Ta Da! .. Grandchild number 2 is on the way! That's right, folks, I'm going to be a grandpa again! That, of course, means that I must not only finish this stocking, I must also get on the stick and design and knit a second. I've already been warned they have to be comparable in size and offering, so I've got my work cut out for me. We'll see how it goes.
For now, the dilemma of the present stocking project is what to do after I finish Santa's face and the Christmas tree. I'm contemplating doing the foot in entrelac, as detailed in an article by Eunny Jang in Spring 2007 Interweave KNITS magazine. (Don't you just love Eunny's stuff? She's great.) Below is a picture of a practice piece in appropriate colors and a picture of a sock I'm doing for Samantha in the same style. The truth be known, I started the sock in order to gain experience for possibly doing the same on the bottom of the stocking. Unfortunately it's been so long since I've done the sock, I don't remember how I did it. Couple that with the extra misfortune that our rabbit, Lester, has eaten a particularly crucial part of the pattern from the Interweave Knits article and I'm wondering if concluding the stocking with entrelac is just not meant to be. We shall see. Oh, and the pink in Samantha's sock? It's the exact same yarn the girls came home with for me to make Santa's face with. How's that for irony?
Regardless of all that, Samantha informs me she would simply like for me to finish her pair of socks. :-) Patience, I say, she won't go away to college for another five or six years.
Well, suffice to say, your knitting boy has returned to the journaling process:
May the force be with ewe ...
Mitch
