Gansey Wk 7

Happy Birthday, Linda! We celebrated Linda's birthday which was on the 24th with a tea party. Cynthia brought a bunch of yummy teas, and the ladies came through with wonderful cookies.

Irene decided to bring a hot water maker to class every week (not the coffee maker). Since we do not have a place to store items at ARD, please bring your own cup, spoon, and tea, coffee, or cocoa.  She will be using tap water; hope you don't mind.

Vogue Knitting Convention
Debi and Teri are in Chicago for the Vogue Knitting Convention. We could not use Skype to talk to them, but we looked at the photos that Debi posted on her facebook page. She also has some videos that we could not open. We were excited to see the display which is really nice. Please see Debi's facebook for photos and videos.

Gansey Neckline
There were at least eight ladies who could not make class this week, and no one was interested in knitting the Gansey pattern for the neckline because it was a tight fit, so we did not go over the neckline chart. We discovered that a regular stockinette stitch that rolls naturally is the stretchiest for slipping over a doll's head. When picking up the wasted yarn stitches, make one stitch in the center of the six stitches to make seven stitches on each side. Note, bind off loosely for a stretchy fit.

Toni knitted this whole outfit for Chatty Cathy. The Gansey sweater is a perfect fit. She added a picot edging around the neckline to match the Channel Island cast on.

Karen's Gansey. This one shows a ribbed neckline.

Sandy's white Gansey with the rolled neckline--lovely in white.

Irene's two-toned Gansey using the stockinette, rolled neckline.

Look how far Cynthia is on her adult Gansey!

Pattern Problem and Solution
Most of the patterns that we received this week were blurry and one was missing, so we did not go over any of the patterns. Linda did not know what to do about this problem, so Toni came to our rescue. She volunteered to scan and send the patterns out for Linda since she has professional equipment.  Toni already sent this week's patterns out this morning. For next week's class, choose one of the patterns to work on and bring supplies for it.

Rug Knit Time
ARD has generously given Linda permission to use the classroom for us to get together to work on the rugs for the rug book. Linda thought Thursday afternoons would be a good day and time. She will get back to us when we will start on this at a later date.

Skiff Party
Linda is hosting a Skiff Party in December. Skiff is the brand of knit clothes that Linda loves to wear. Below she is wearing a Skiff top.  Leslie, from her morning class, made this awesome stool for her.

 

 Marybeth's mother knitted this lovely sweater that fits her great.

Toni made this pretty two-piece sweater. The cowl is separate from the sweater for different looks.

Sandy knitted this mosaic purse; it is lined and has a zipper.

Toni bought this keychain kit from a yarn shop called Yarn Dog in the bay area. She knitted the sock that comes with the pattern in the kit.

Happy knitting!

Gansey Wk 6

Now that we worked through the tricky part of attaching the shoulders, the sleeves may be a little easier. We watched the DVD to learn how to pick up the stitches around the arm hole. And, we learned a new technique called the double decrease. For picking up the stitches, put the stitches with wasted yarn (part of the neckline) on stitch holders, then start picking up stitches from the underarm. For the cuff ribbing, switch to the smaller needles unless you are going to use the sampler on a toy with big arms.

Next Week
We will work on the neckline and finish up the Gansey sampler. Below is Toni's sampler. She made it with short sleeves because Chatty Cathy is now 54 yrs old and having hot flashes.

 

Toni also knitted a Gansey pattern small bag. She added a zipper and lined it.

 

New Patterns
We will also receive new patterns by email from Linda L. Patterns include the 3 cake covers (yarn caddies), the knitting needle knit bag, the fisherman bag, and a pine cone Christmas ornament. These patterns focus on texture.

Yarn supplies for the patterns are as follows.

Knitting Needle Bag: 330 yds of chunky wt (#5) yarn (you can use 2 strands of ww instead), size 10 1/2 circular needles (estimate length of circular for a 18 3/4 inch wide bag), size 9 needles for decorative handles (probably 14" length).

Cake Covers: Sock yarn (#2), size 2 needles (dpns and 12" to 16" circulars).

Pine Cone ornament: Size 1 needles, yarn used for our finger puppets.

Stitches West
Linda is accepting checks for the SW trip in Feb. Checks will be cashed on Feb 1.

Good Day Sacramento Taping
Linda wanted to know who will be able to attend the taping on Election Day at the Good Day Sacramento taping for the knitted presidents. The studio staff would like us to be there from 7:30 am to 10 a.m. Linda needs to leave right after the taping for her class, but she would like to arrange carpool with everyone going.

Rug Book
We have been assigned the rug to be knitted. Everyone participating are excited about the one chosen for them. Linda received yarn samples for the Cascade brand. Some rugs will be made from chunky yarn and some from two strands of ww.

A darling baby sweater by Rosemary 

Debi has a shawl ready for her trip to the Vogue Knitting Convention in Chicago.  Teri will also be leaving for the trip on the same day next Wednesday. Thank you for representing us.

Happy knitting!
　

Gansey Wk 5

Tonight was the big join. The trickiest part of the Gansey sweater is joining the shoulder pieces and starting the sleeves. In order to join the pieces, we learned the invisible cast on using a piece of scrap yarn with our regular yarn. Linda demonstrated the cast on as well as the joining of the shoulder pieces. We also watched the DVD. Our assignment this week is to just join the two shoulder pieces. Next week we will work on the sleeves.

We will also be receiving new patterns very soon by email.

Farewell, Pat
Unfortunately, this was Pat's last night with us. If you would like her address, I can send it to you by email.

Rug Book
Linda gave us a third handout with seven more rug ideas. She said that the majority of us picked the same three rugs.  She has contacted several yarn companies and a panty hose company asking for supplies.  If you are interested in knitting any of the new ideas, let her know.

Green Planet Winner
Congratulations, Teri! She won the chalkboard paint contest and will be featured in the February edition of Green Planet magazine. This is her second win.

This is Teri hiding behind the beautiful skirt she knitted for the Chicago convention.

 

Her top is knitted with DK alpaca yarn.

 

Here's a cute wrap around skirt.  Patterns from Vogue Knitting.

 

Rosemary made this warm, comfy short sleeve, hooded sweater.

 

Guess who finally made a sweater?   Irene!  This is called the Anthropology Jacket.

 

Back view.  The yarn is a cotton/bamboo blend.  The pattern is from fiestayarns.com; they were at Stitches West.

 

Warmest welcome to our newest member, Heidi.  She knitted this lovely sweater. 

 

Heidi also made this beautiful sweater.

 

Linda finished this fun vest for her morning knitting class.

 

 Sandy's felted white pumpkin bowl

Happy knitting!
　

Gansey Wk 4

This week Teri, Debi, Karen, and Linda packed the knitted presidents for their first out of state debut. Teri and Debi will represent the Knotty Knitters at the Vogue Knitting convention in Chicago where our presidents will be on display from Oct 26-28.

Gansey Sampler
We covered Rows 41 to the top of the pattern. Watching the DVD,  we learned which stitches to be put on stitch holders (the 11 stitches under the arms or the gusset). The yarn is broken first.  Then, add new yarn to knit back and forth until you reach the top of the row on the front side, and do the same on the back side. Note: when the chart, read the odd rows from right to left, and the even rows from left to right. The even row stitches are reversed; for example, the knit stitches are purled, and the purl stitches are knitted. Knit cables on the right side (it is possible to knit it on the WS, but it is very difficult). 

Next week, we will connect the front and back sides together. We were told that the shoulder area is the most challenging part.

Needle Size
Linda gave us some tips by changing needle sizes for a good fit on sleeves or any part of the sweater. This way you do not need to start all over from the beginning. Just change to a bigger or smaller needle if the shoulder or arm area is too tight or loose.

Rug Book
Three more patterns were added to the rug book, and Linda explained each one. We turned in our list of 3-4 rugs that we would be interested in knitting.  It is difficult to find a company to supply the yarn, so she thinks we will need to get our own supplies. The rugs are about 20 x 30 inches, and they are due in July.  The rugs will be shipped to the publisher; but in the long run, you will be keeping the rug(s).  Linda is looking for a place for us to meet before class to work on the rugs such as Auburn Needleworks or at ARD.

A New Challenge?
Some of the Knotty Knitters expressed their interest in having a challenge this year. Linda thought we were all burned out from the last one, and we will be too busy with the knitted rug book; but we took a vote, and it looks like enough knitters would participate for a May deadline. She mentioned a few ideas and would like to hear of any ideas you may have.

Show 'N Tell

In one week, Toni knitted two toddler sweaters, a little dress, and a scarf! This dress has a cute border just like the top; I'm sorry I didn't get the full photo.

Toni's baby sweater. It was too big, so...

She knitted this one.

Toni also knitted this lace scarf.

Penny's darling hat

Pat's pretty scarf

Cynthia felted these slippers with a leather sole for her mother.

She also gave us a great tip on knitting two strands together.  She took two spools of yarn and wound them in a ball winder to make one ball.  She said it is so much easier to knit that way.

Sandy found these knitting needles for $1.99 at Tuesday Morning.

Linda is almost done with the vest that her morning class is learning to knit.



Happy knitting!