A Field Trip to Artfibers’

A couple of weeks ago our Saturday morning knitting group went on a “field trip”. We traveled to Artfibers in Pinole and knit amongst the wonderful fibers. Some of us walked away with yarn for new projects. Diane and I looked, awed, and then sat down to knit on existing projects.

I am knitting a summer shell/tank out of MaggiKnits linen in dusty rose. Diane is knitting a stole with Queensland Collection’s Kathmandu in smoky gray (yarn available through Skein Lane Studio) – it is trimmed with Crystal Palace’s Waikiki in a deep vibrant blue. Will show both when completed. Notice the colorful quilt that is hanging on the wall behind of us. I emailed Rox of Artfibers last night and here’s her info on the beautiful quilt.

“The quilt was designed and made by a good friend and wonderful quilter named Evelyn who lives in New Zealand.  On one of our trips to New Zealand, Evelyn gave me a sneak preview of a show where this quilt was being shown along with a series of others she had made on the theme of stained glass.  I fell in love with this piece.  She came to stay with us for a bit last spring and we
got the pleasure of showing her some of the wonders of the SF Bay area.  When she departed, she presented the quilt to us as a gift (made me cry!).   It is nice to have a large wall to show it on.  It’s a powerful piece that really adds so much to the ambiance of Artfibers!”

PJ is knitting a scarf for her son Sam – she is knitting it in Bouton d’or’s Ksar – the pattern Textural Scarf in Scarves by Judith. Check out the Ravelry link  http://www.ravelry.com/projects/PJKnitsUFOs/textural.

PJ did purchase some yarn, She bought 1300 yards of Tsuki, a silk/mohair laceweight that she plans to carry along with some merino that she purchased when when traveled in New Zealand. Her thought is she will make a cardigan, but so far she has only swatched and sketched. Words directly from PJ.

It was a fun time knitting and shopping (for some) at Artfibers. We will journey there again.

Carol had fun selecting new yarn and then relaxed as you can see in the last photo.

Nina and Terry were off shopping when these photos were taken!

It’s a first for Janie!

Janie joined one of our knitting workshops a couple of months ago. She not only embarked on a sweater but it was her first…..and it’s done. Her inspiration for her garment came from  Creative Knitting Magazine, Sept. 2009.  It’s called Short-Sleeved Cardigan and the skill level is just a bit harder than “Easy”. Janie is not sure that she agrees with that description.

As I often say, use the pattern as the beginning of the road map for the knitting trip and then feel free to take diversions. In this case, we changed the yoke pattern, the placement of the top buttonhole and the yarn. The yarn that she chose was Brown Sheep’s cotton fleece…an old time favorite of mine. Back to the yoke pattern for a moment. The designer of the pattern had in mind that the yoke would be the Trinity stitch…sometimes known as the Bramble Stitch. Janie has a shoulder injury that was not compatible with this pattern. I suggested that she use the Pebble Stitch aka Sand Stitch I didn’t find a good link for that …so here is the reversible stitch pattern. This is a 2-row pattern – Row 1: Knit; Row 2 – Knit one, purl one. She is really pleased with the results!

Congratulations to Janie for a job well done.

An aside for Janie…..she not only knits, helps with her grandchildren, she designs jewelry. Check out her website.

Janie…and her new sweater

A close up of the Pebble Stitch

Janie- another view

So many choices!

So many choices…so many knitters….great designs! Where to begin…this will be a random sampling of projects in process or finished over the last few months.

PJ is knitting gloves for Afghans for Afghans and Susanne is her model!

PJ has knit a second item for Afghans for Afghans. She has used a washable yarn to knit this gansey…a pattern Beth Brown-Reinsel.

Terry’s needles are really clicking…it seems that she just requested yarns from her fellow knitters stash…and magically she appears with an almost finished afghan. She has a lot of fun putting the color and fiber combinations together. Check out the link below – Afghans for Afghans.

Merle tells us, “I used Fantasy, Dark Horse Yarns. A really soft nylon and acrylic blend. It seems cruel to knit a kid’s sweater that can’t be machine washed and dried. It’s a Green Mountain Spinnery pattern that offers 4 versions – 2 “boyish” and 2 “girly.” I made the car version because the trucks have 16 buttons for wheels. Abel is only 2-1/2, so that’s one excuse for not wanting to use buttons. The other is, who wants to sew on all those buttons after you’ve finally finished the damn sweater! The most important tidbit about Abel, who is my great-nephew, is that he’s coming to visit in two weeks!!!!!!”

Given that I attached descriptions directly to photos in this post…I will list some of the links here for you.

• Dark Horse Yarns
• Green Mountain Spinnery
• Afghans for Afghans
• Beth Brown-Reinsel

From the Friday knitting workshop group

Sarah’s shawl is hot off the needles. She used Pastaza yarn from Cascade which is a 50/50 wool, llama blend. She believes the color was raisin and it is knitted on #9 needles so it goes pretty quickly. The pattern, called Cusco, comes from Cheryl Oberle’s knitted jacket book. She just washed and blocked it so hopefully it has settled down a bit.

Jean wears what she knits! In this photo she is wearing one of her most recent creations. She used Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool sweater the pattern came from Tahki Yarns’ terra collection booklet (cover picture). She always has something on the needles as she does in this photo.

Cameron’s vision – she will use this as the edging for a vest. She is self-designing. Stay tuned!

A message from Debbie

Just recently Debbie, a Thursday night knit workshop knitter and a regular Skein Lane retreater, shared her most recent excitement. She just purchased a home on the coast that she really…really wanted. The first thing to share here is that the clincher that closed the deal. Debbie is the kind of person who is quite financially sound and has chosen not to have credit cards. This  actually created a challenge for her lenders to the close the deal…they were looking for info about her payment patterns. She called me in a panic and requested a letter saying that she had been a customer of Skein Lane for a number of years, paid her bills on time, and had no outstanding balances. (All of which is true!) Can you believe that the letter from her knitting enabler was the decisive factor in granting her the property loan? Go Debbie!

More about Debbie….she is an avid crafter. She knits, beads, spins, dyes…that is just a bit that I know. Her excitement about fiber arts is so inspiring….I still am enjoying her glee when she was  sharing  her fiber arts experiences at our recent retreat. I am in awe of how much Debbie accomplishes…not only does she craft at the handcraft (not homemade) level, she “runs” a school and finds time to spend with her husband.

Debbie sharing her dying results with her teachers - Marlee and Mimi

Debbie has given me permission to post her latest sentiments. ” All in all a great collection of photos and precious moments at the retreat. The pleasure of knitting and crocheting has brought so many special moments into my life as well as the very amazing beach house soon to be filled with fiber art projects and accomplishments. Thank you so much.”

Debbie so warms my heart! And now thank you to Debbie.

Until Next Year – Retreat 2010

So long until next year! Sally, Carolyn and Nancy

 

We are so fortunate – Sally and Nancy are returning for next year’s retreat….same place – Marconi Conference Center and the date is Oct 1, 2 & 3.

We are considering adding an extra day…let us know your thoughts.

You can sign up now at the Skein Lane website or call 510.525.9276

A last minute show and tell

It was the night before retreat and a call came from Ariane…”I know this is a last minute question…but would there be any space available for the retreat?” As it turns out we had one unfilled bed. And what a joy to have Ariane join us. I was fortunate enough to share a room with her and Carrie.

Here’s Ariane’s show and tell …. her own private fashion show. The pattern came from a class that she took…she will tell us more…the yarn was Knit One, Crochet Too, US dk 100% wool.

Ariane

Ariane - the detail

Wrap up of Retreat Photos

Nancy Bush – “nupping”

Sally, Tabitha, and Betsy

Goodbyes – Skein Lane Retreat 2009

Another “slice” of the group

Tabitha, Betsy and Sally

Emily – Moment of Pause

Tomales Bay

Carolyn – Moment of pause

Fond farewells

Another partial group shot

There’s more on the retreat

Bonnie was one of the attendees at our recent Skein Lane Retreat. There are many reasons why it was such a joy for her to be there…one of which is that she brings  inspiration wherever she goes.

We met, four or five years ago in my retail knitting shop,  about a year after she was in a serious automobile accident.  She was (and still is) a young vibrant working mother who was driving to work early one morning on an East Bay country road …I believe she had at least two jobs and a young son that she was and is raising. Her car went off the road and hit a guardrail…and that guardrail  severed her leg and then pressed against her body and saved her from bleeding to death.

Nancy and Bonnie

She now works with seniors, teaches dance, performs, and knits while she raises her son! Here is she is with Nancy Bush  at our recent retreat showing the yellow socks project that was featured on Ravelry.

More from the Retreat Fashion Show

Here’s a showing of the garments modeled in the Shawls, Stoles, and Scarves category.

Several of us have knit the La Alhambra stole design that Debbie is modeling. we have knit it in different colorways making them all unique

Debbie modeling her La Alhambra stole- a design from MaggiKnits and she knit with MaggiKnits Cotton, Linen, and Misty Slub. This stole is joined together with buttons making it sit on your shoulders much like a poncho. The beauty of this garment is that you can wear it several ways...just as Debbie is in the photo...you reverse it...or you can have it drape off your shoulder.

Linda and her capelet. The pattern she used was Sivia Harding's Aphrodite. The yarn used was 2 skeins of Lorna's sock yarn (430 yds.) for the main color. The trim was done in 1 3/4 skeins of Frog Tree alpaca sport (130 yds. per skein). Sivia's pattern does not have a neck closure but Linda added a crochet loop closure.

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Gwen with lovely shawl

Karen in her lovely shawl. the design is a free pattern on Ravelry called Percy. She used South Winds Trading Jezebel, which is a lightweight fingering.

Ruth's shawl.The pattern was the Luna Moth Shawl and the yarn was Misti Alpaca, worsted weight. Ellen and Ruth used the same pattern and brand of yarn, but different weights.

Darlis - a beautiful stole that was once displayed in my shop! The pattern is Stitch Half Circle by Martha Waterman, in her book Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls.

Ellen's shawl - The Luna Moth pattern is free from elann.com and Ellen knit her shawl with Misti Alpaca Handpaints in DK wt.