Vests & Free Form, 1

Happy Birthday February Knitters! The following detailed classnotes are from Liz. Thank you, Liz, you did a great job!

We had our first class of the new session on Thursday, January 31st. Some of the returning members were not able to make it because of the weather (snow, snow/mix) we have been having during the week. Hopefully, everyone will be able to make the next class without having to worry about snow and or icy conditions after class.

Linda Pietz, welcomed all of the new students along with those returning from her previous class(es). She mentioned that she has 2 beginner knitting classes now. 1 on Monday and 1 on Tuesday. She told us that we can join either one and/or both of these sessions if we wish; however, we all need to remember that her students in these classes get first priority as to her attention. There is no extra charge if we wish to join any of these 2 classes.

Linda now has a little noise maker that she will be using to keep us under control if needed. She explained to everyone of us that we will have to patient with her due to the class size. She explained the use of the board as to signing up your name if you should need help during the class from the projects we are working on. Linda also mentioned that everyone should also ask anyone sitting around them if they should need assistance as well.

Additionally, Linda asked if there were any of the students from her Thursday (very large class now) class possibly interested in attending a class if she was to have it on Friday. She got a fairly good showing of hands. A list was put together and those interested put their name down if they wished to change over from Thursday to Friday. Linda is not quite sure yet if she will have a classroom or be able to split the class up; but due to the number of students attending on Thursday, she believes she can get a classroom. She is not able to do a class during the evening as she is not sure her hubby would be that happy with her being gone 4 nights a week.

Linda also informed the new students of a blog that is kept updated by Irene who takes notes and the pictures. We each can use this blog if we should miss a class and want to see what happened in the class the previous week. The blog is also used to enter comments. The blog address is: knitbeyond.blogspot.com

Also, she made mention of a email listing that we have been using among us in case we have questions or need help with the directions in between class. Linda L. maintains this list and she asked that who ever wished to be added to this class to let her know their name, email id and phone number. She will then update the list and send out to everyone.

Linda P. told us that we will knitting a vest and then after that we will do a free form project.

Linda P. then got into having us all meet each other. She passed out the "Get to Know You" questionnaire and we all got started meeting others and matching them up with their special "background" or "what they have done" statement. After about 10 to 15 minutes we all sat back down and Linda asked who got the most comments identified. No one had 20 or 19, but Bea and Bev were able to identify 18 and won the co-prize from Linda. They were special "heart candies".

Linda then mentioned that Cascade has come out with a yarn comparable to Monos and it is a lot cheaper. She told us that we could find it at Auburn Needlework's for around $10 and some change. We also get a 10% discount at Auburn Needlework's. She explained to us (for those who did not know) about Monos. She also mentioned a new yarn that she likes called Freedom Spirit; it is a sport weight yarn and 100% wool. It is also at Auburn Needlework's and is around $5+. We are also able to get a 10% discount at Fibers in Grass Valley. We might be asked for our receipt to show we are attending the class to get this discount. We also have to remember to ask to have them spin the yarn for us as they usually do not do this unless you ask.

Linda P. then passed out a huge packet that showed about 5-7 different vest patterns. We are to pick a pattern from this packet for our first project. Included in this packet was a vest that is kind of free form (it is the first vest). Linda mentioned that we could do this one for our first vest or possible the free form project if we choose too. We went through the packet and Linda provided feedback to us as to the skill level (Easiest to the hardest 3+ to 4). We are suppose to select one of the patterns in the packet for our vest. There are also some patterns where the designer had a sketch of how they put it together and then Linda provided a sketch of how she put it together and/or she mentioned to us if we should choose this pattern she would work with us as to how to put together. Linda also mentioned that we needed to be careful when choosing the pattern as some of them are showing a small size and no other sizes, which means we would have to do some measuring and then figure out to convert that smaller size to a larger size. She mentioned to us to measure a sweater that we like and to use that as your measurement for your vest.

Homework
Our assignment for the next class is to select a pattern we wish to knit our vest, get our yarn and to knit a swatch, and it bring to class. We will then get started knitting our vests next Thursday.

Also, Linda P. mentioned to the class about a knitting seminar happening in late February. Liz Staats had sent to a couple of people the link for Amtrak which showed a train going down to Oakland from Sacramento for this event. The cost of the train ride is $56 (round trip), which leaves from Sacramento and then you get off in Oakland a bus will shuttle you over to the Santa Clara convention where the Knitting event will be. There is also a slight charge for breakfast (believe about $6) and then you can also pay a charge to get into the event, believe this is $6 as well. Liz will resend out the link in email and it is also on the blog as well.

That's it and hope I covered everything for Irene. You really must concentrate on what is going on.

One last thing, Georgia gave me her new email id it is: jorja2@att.net