Shell Wk 3

Felted Bracelets! For Show and Tell, Sandy, Louise, and Diane showed us their felted bracelets. I'm sorry my camera was not working so I did not get a picture.

Gourds
Linda brought the gourds which were cut, cleaned, and drilled. We will work on this project two weeks from this past meeting. Before that class, we need to prepare the gourd a little more. You may need to sand the gourd until it sits flat. You can sand the outside and inside. Also you can wood burn on it, use wood stain or shoe polish such as Kiwi on it before knitting. Let it dry and then buff it to a shiny gloss finish. You will need worsted weight yarn, a size E crochet hook, a cable needle, and six size 8 double point needles (bring 7s or 9s too if you have them).

Next Week
We will have a special treat. The hooked presidential portraits will be on display in class! Don't miss it.

Rug Book Update
Linda received a call from the publisher. They have finished taking photos of the rugs and are sending them back since they take up a lot of room in their office. They have enjoyed looking at them very much.

Knitted Presidents
Linda wasn't going to talk about the emails about the presidents' future, but she decided to address it. We spent some time discussing it, and Linda expressed her disappointment with the outcome. She has seen the special impact the knitted presidents are having all around the country, the importance of keeping them together and finding them a permanent home for others to see. She has spent hours of her time writing 50 letters and contacting museums. As of last Thursday, 13 presidents wouldn't be a part of the display which is a lot to redo, and we haven't heard from all of the knitters yet. At this point, she is not sure what to do about displaying the presidents in New Jersey at the Baron's Art Fiber which is a big deal. Debi explained the serious process of getting the presidents into the Smithsonian and the necessity of a release form. In order to get them into the Smithsonian, it can only be represented by one owner, and a presentation and portfolio have to be submitted. The decision was to have the ladies email the group without Linda being on the list and for us to discuss it after she left class since she had to leave early to be in Southern California the next day. I'm sorry I don't know what the outcome was after she left.

Future Class
Linda also expressed her discouragement of continuing the class. She feels we have lost our enthusiasm, do not need her help anymore, and the class is getting smaller. She puts in a lot of time and work behind the scenes for this class. For the next session, she is thinking about having class every other week or turn it into a club instead where we can get together. As of last Thursday, she wasn't sure if we should continue or not. Several of the ladies said the class is teaching them new things, and they look forward to being in class.

For next week's class, bring your yarn, needles, and pattern for the shell. See you there.