Typical Thursdhursday at Theo's Coffee House

We always have such a variety of projects in progress. This time we had:


Zombie dolls



a baby blanket



some little slip of a tank top like thing made of Hempathy yarn


another baby blanket


something which was not a sock (was it a sweater sleeve?)





an almost done shawl










a just begun....













comfort dolls for AIDS orphans/babies in Africa















2 hats















a blues shrug













and a 1st try at a top down sweater.











Of course no knitting group is complete without at least one crocheter sneaking in with her afghan squares!

Knitting Retreats

OK, I made it here, finally.

I know that in looking around, I saw Marina's post in response to Meredith's request for info on Fall knitting retreats, but now I can't find that page, so will add this here.

There is an Ample Knitters Retreat in Ashland the first weekend in Nov, to which Marina and I are going, along with our DHs. The AKers have had a Yahoo group for a number of years, and this will be the third year for the retreat. The group focuses on issues regarding finding and tweaking patterns to fit non-standard sized people, so whether you're a plus-size or you knit for plus-sized people, or other non-standard sizes, this group helps.

I can send more info if anyone is interested. I just registered last month and there were still vacancies at the motel where we're staying.

Or if you want to head north that same weekend, the knitting guilds in the Puget Sound area convene at Ft. Worden in Port Townsend annually the first weekend in Nov. There are probably ~100 attendees. Cost is reasonable. I don't know if there are any vacancies for this year, but you can contact Pat Brunner for more info. I went several years ago and aim to go back again sometime, maybe next year?

I may be a bit late on Thursday to Donna's; DH & I are going up to Portland for a concert Wed night and will be driving home Thurs AM, but I will be there.

Joan

Book Signing

Donna Druchunas will be at The Knit Shop on Saturday Aug 25th from 1pm to 2pm to sign her book Arctic Lace. We will have copies of her book for sale that day. Hope to see you there.

Putting up Pictures

To add pictures to your blog post, first hit "new post" on the upper right. The box that opens (below the title space) has two icons on the upper left, one of which looks like a tiny picture. Just click that, and a box opens so you can choose pictures from your computer. Click on "choose file" -I find this part easier if I have already put the files for the pictures I want to post on my desktop for easy access- then locate the file that holds the pic. Click on it. To add more pics, hit "add another pic" and repeat. To post, just hit "publish post". When I posted my pictures, There was a bunch of weird typing (which I assume was for the picture files) in my post-writing area. I just added my text below that. If you have any problems, try the help link in the upper right. I can't wait to see what you all want to show off!

Adding Links/ Flock and Fiber Fest

We can put up a list of our favorite knitting sites in the form web links. To add a link, go to customize (on upper right), then click on "edit" in the links box. A box will open so you can put in the link info. Hit "add link" the "save changes." Lets share our favorites! I've kicked it off by adding a link to the Flock and Fiber Fest home page. Are any of you planning on going? I might make a day trip, but I can't stay for the weekend. I'll probably go Saturday if I can find a car-mate or three. If any one is interested in carpooling, please let me know. I have the car! -Meredith

Mom's Sweater:

I actually finished it the day of the Stitch and Pitch, but I was too depressed to talk about it. When I blocked it to smooth out the shoulder ridges ( I WANTED ridges or I wouldn't have crocheted the sleeves on from the outside, they were just a bit too pronounced), the sleeves stetched like 4 inches (and my mom has short arms)!








Well, I just bunched the sleeves up (being careful not to bunch the shoulders) as it dried, and, as you can see, it all came out just fine in the end.

The pattern is called Melon Blast (it was originally knitted in plain watermelon red); it's from the Spring 2004 Knitter's magazine. I made the sleeves full length, crochetd it all together, and crocheted the neckband, but other than that I just followed the pattern and it worked fine except for my one night of extra-long-sleeve-related-nightmares. I used the Manos de Uruguay Cotton Stria (yellow color #218 and pistacio? lime? color #204), and though the doubled strands were a bit hard on my wrists at times, the softness of the fiber made up for it--besides my mom is worth it!

STITCH 'N' PITCH

Here are some of us knitting away.







If any of you are on the witness protection program and don't want your pictures up (even w/o names) let me know!







Thanks to the whole staff at Soft Horizons for organizing this!












I guess Miller is better than no beer at all--hey some people like it!











GO EMS!
(This is spokanes team warming up).




It turns out the Ems did NOT win (guess who left early?), but knitting is always a winning proposition!

BlacK Sheep Gathering

I got third place in my category at the Black Sheep Gathering with this yarn (the one with the white ribbon in the middle of the photo). All the color is from colored silk roving that I hand-carded in with a nice white fleece (i had to use hand cards becasue the fleece was still in the grease). I chain plied it with itself to keep the colors from craossing over each other much. I'm goin to try a top down sweater based on Barbara Walker's book (just as soon as I do one from a commercial pattern in commercial yarn to get the hang of it first!). I hadn't spun in awhile so the gueage is ALL over the place, so it will be good to try it on as I go!

Just wanted to try posting!

Pics!

These pictures are of a baby hat I made following Cat Bordhi's Lotus hat pattern, knitted in Inca Alpaca; booties that I knitted in the Knit Pics Alpaca/Cashmere blend(the name of which I can't remember) based on a pattern I found online and then altered; and some Ultra Alpaca yarn that I hand dyed. I am not thrilled with the way the colors show on these photos, they are very rich and deep colors. The baby clothes are for my new nephew who will be joining us (by way of birth) sometime this month!

Our new blog!

Hey everyone- Creating this blog has been interesting and I'm still learning. In order for all of us to be able to post, rather than just comment on posts, I will need the email address for all who would like to be "authors" of the blog. I'm still trying to figure out how to post pics. I will also email this info to Sarah so she can send it to all. Since this blog belongs to all of us, it will be a better resource for us (and more fun!) if we all contribute. Hopefully, I will get this all figured out in time for Thursday at Theo's