New friends, new stitchers, warm coffee...what more could you ask for from a Sunday afternoon?

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks in my world. The one staple in my world has been our weekly S'n'B. The members of the Saskatoon Knitting Circle have been busy stitching up a storm and it is my pleasure to show them off here. We've discovered new friends, ogled new knitterly notions and even encouraged future yarn addicted enablers. As always, we have had a wonderful time Knitting and Nattering away the afternoons.

First up is the introduction and welcoming of our two newest gal pals. Acadia, Melissa's daughter, joined us on Sunday January 20, 2008 for an afternoon of discovery. She took to the needles like a pro. Gale encouraged and mentored her through a few rows and in no time at all, Acadia was masterfully completing rows on her rows. Melissa reported that her love of the craft remains strong. Acadia is becoming quite a dedicated little stitcher - so much so that she awoke at 5am one morning, turned on Treehouse TV and quietly knitted away. Apparently, the completed project (of which we are not sure of its name yet) will be gifted to Gale.

Next is Summer. On this cold and blustery day the addition of Summer to our little gathering was a joy. She is an 11 year aspiring stitcher (walking in her Grandmother Jan's stitching footsteps) who brightened our afternoon and learned a knitterly trick or two to apply to the construction of her very first scarf. We all have faith that Summer will become an expert knitter who will soon be stitching up her own socks and avoid the urge to appropriate her Grandmas hand crafted tootsie warmers.

Progress has been made. After weeks of lamenting over the dullness of knitting with gray, Melissa finally finished her Mother's socks. The colourway is quite pleasing to those of us who didn't have to knit with it day in and day out. Congrats, Melissa, on finishing the project. A round of applause to you.

Next on the needles is the Pirate Booty Bag. Gale is making progress and almost ready to begin the skulls. It is coming along nicely and has been dubbed her S'n'B meeting bag. It has received some attention and contention. Gale is desperately trying to decide whether or not to frog it and begin anew. She's unsure as to its finished size (whether it will be big enough) and whether the stitch markers are in the right place. Good luck, Gale, here's hoping the booty bag avoids the frog pond.

Our good friend, Kristen, has been a busy crocheter. She's been stitching up nine patches and granny squares into blankets. They are turning out to be highly coveted items in her world. She'd quite like to keep the purple one, but her Mom is giving strong hints that it needs to go live with her upon completion. Good luck, Kristen. I have the same issue in my knitterly world with sweaters. I make them and my Mom and Sister tend to steal them - NO they don't borrow, they are not gifted, they just mysteriously disappear out of my closet. A number of my afghans are surprisingly adorning the beds and couches in my sister's home too. Hmmmm.....is this an epidemic?

New friends are always nice to have at the meetings and today we formed a new friendship with a fellow knitter. A big welcome to Mary. An environmental researcher who has taken a liking to stitching, Mary joined us for the first time today. She was trying to decipher EZs Baby Surprise Jacket. So any of you out there who have tried it or completed it or even wish to try it, come and join us and let us discover together!

So what's on my needles these days? Did we mention needles? Oh I think we did. Now to the really exciting news. As most of you know my husband gifted me a set of the highly coveted Harmony needles by KnitPicks. Let me just take a moment to pet the needles....mmmm....smoothly goodness - I'm okay now. They are truly beautiful, a joy to work with, wonderful to look at, satisfying to pet and love and drool over! I am a lucky gal. Let us all take a moment and pay homage to the Knitting Goddess for allowing them to come and live with me :)
The cables are supple and forgiving. They have little to no memory, which make them a joy to work with. The wood of the tips and the sock needles (yes I have both...commence drooling again) are smooth and forgiving with just enough "grab" to keep the stitches from slipping off the end of the needles. I simply don't know how I did it before Harmony, for now that Harmony has come to my world, I shan't (if at all possible) knit with anything again. I shall pledge to love the Harmony, protect the Harmony, enjoy the Harmony and encourage and enable all others to partake in Harmony.
So now that my episode is complete, let me tell you what the Harmonies are hard at work on. First, I have cast on the Double Play Raglan Cardigan from the book entitled Top Down Sweaters: Knit to Fit from Top to Bottom by Doreen L. Marquart. This is my first experiment with this construction type and I must admit I am enjoying it.



Of course, the Harmony sock needles are getting a work out too. I've cast on the Jaywalker sock (found on ravelry.com - if you are not signed up for a membership yet I highly recommend you get in the queue and if you are a member I can be found as theknittinggodde - feel free to add me as your friend).
Last but not least is my Bobble Sock. I came up with this little cutey by flipping through my favourite stitch dictionary and combining it with my favourite sock recipe. Very quick to stitch up, very easy and nice and cozy on these blustery days.