Travelling SnB

This past weekend marked another successful SnB for the Saskatoon Knitting Circle. Jan and Gale livened up MacKenzie Coles Coffee with their stitching and laughing while other members (like Jeanette and myself) were there in spirit.

My nephew marked another milestone in his life...he turned 18. So Jeanette and I travelled off to Brooks, Alberta to celebrate his coming of age. Yes, we took our stitching with us. I was busy handing out a number of handmade gifts. Michael loved his Saskatchewan Rough Rider inspired afghan. Michael is now a man, but still needs to keep warm and agreed this is the perfect gift.




















Jennifer Kent-Thistle coveted her Hermione inspired winter ensemble and other hand made items came to rest under Shannon's Christmas tree. Jennifer's favourite colour is red, which makes this ensemble perfect for her. She looks just like Hermione in Prisoner of Azkaban!



















On our trip home (a 5 1/2 drive) Jeanette decided to give stitching in the car a try. She chose eyelash yarn and created a simple yet beautiful scarf. By the time we arrived back in Saskatoon, she had completed just beyond the 1/2 way mark. Quite the knitter she is becoming. She has already suffered startitis and Second Mitt Syndrome. She's knitting almost everywhere and every chance she gets. My next mission is to get her hooked on socks. I just may need the Knitting Circle's help with this one as she is not all that keen on starting with the DPNs.





















This past week saw the completion of one more Xmas item. The list is now shortening, much to my relief. This Hermione hat and Fetcher set worked up well with Red Heart Acrylic. Since the recipient is a teen it needs to be washable, so Red Heart in Burgandy is the perfect medium.

I now have another Hermione hat on the needles for myself! Yes, I do knit the occasional item for myself but tend to do it last. With all the chill and snow around these days it is time for me to update my own winter ensemble. I plan to stitch up a pair of mittens to match the hat and am using the Red Heart Aran Fleck yarn (a creamy natural colour blended with flecks of other yarns to mimick the look of real wool - great for an Aran knit sit like the one above).

That's all the updates for this week. On Sunday December 08, 2007 at 2 pm we will all reconvene our group at MacKenzie Coles Coffee here in Saskatoon. I can't wait to catch up with the girls, meet some new members and enjoy the coffee.

Alpaca's R Us!

Exciting news! This past weekend saw the marking of my parents' 40th Anniversary! So to commemorate the occasion my Dad decided to buy an Alpaca for my Mom's anniversary present. We are so very excited! Fibre at our fingertips, literally! Al the Alpaca (no said my parents were very creative with the naming of beasts) is quite happy in his new and, I have it on good authority, that he's eagre to share his warm and wooly coat with the knitter in our family (okay this is mostly me although others have also given it a go).

Although the picture above is not our Al, it is a great one to show the warm and wooly content of their fibre. I am so excited about this new member of our family. However, I shall have to wait patiently until next spring when he will be ready to sheer and then a little while longer while the fibre is cleaned and spun and ready to knit up into some wonderful creation. It is touted as being one of the warmest, softest and silkiest fibres known to knitters. Added bonus: they are just so darn CUTE!

Anyone out there who has any experience with Alpaca fibre, drop me a line. I am eager to learn all I can about the care of Alpacas, processing of their fibre and knitting with the fine yarn produced. I'm looking forward to learning all there is to know about this member of the camelid family and maybe writing it up into an intriguing article some day.

Happy knitting!

Meeting of the Needles (Sept. 23, 2007)

The meeting of the needles came together as another success! We knitted and chatted (oh yes and our resident beader...well...beaded). We welcomed another new member of our group and enjoyed the return of several long standing and appreciated regulars.

The needles clicked with renowned purpose as Gale aided Pam with her attempts at beginning a scarf. Pam has been recruited by our beader, Michelle, and brought with her much enthusiasm and dedication as she perilously began to cast on a garter stitch scarf. This may not seem like a feat of enormity to those who have a long knitting career, but to Pam it was a feat of excellence. After a few false starts and an eventual success, Pam's scarf is well on its way to completion. She even noted that she learned more in the 2 hours she spent with us than she did at a $25 class from Michael's and all it cost her was the price of a yummy coffee from McKenzie Coles!

My own new knitter, Jeanette, cast on and made some excellent progress on her project of choice - Mousy Mittens. These have been a regular in her winter world since she was 5 years old and now that she is 15 I'm prepared to pass the torch to her and have her making her own. Since mittens are the forgotten soles of Winterland, she has consistently lost one or two of them per year. I'm sure if we found a way to permeate the black hole of mittens, we'd find enough lost mitts there to supply a third world full of children with the warm woolies. Jeanette's dedication to the craft brought the mitten just past the cast on stage of the thumb gusset and, by next week, she hopes to complete the thumb and be well into the hand construction.

Scarves and mittens are great projects to learn several techniques such as cast on, knit stitch, pearl stitch (and their combination into the stockinette stitch), increasing and basic construction techniques. Good luck to both Jeanette and Pam as they discover the journey through the Land of Knitting. Just one bit of advice...REMEMBER: Knitting is fun and relaxing!!!

Jan returned to our group with socks in tow. She's an expert sock knitter and enjoys each one of the approximate 20,000 stitches that build to create a warm wooly for the tootsies. Gale expertly worked away at creating warmth and love for a friend's impending birth of twins. Bonnie continued constructing a cable and bobble toque and Michelle touted her pleasure at seeing several of her belly dance costumes worn and fashioned.

Although we did not find resolution to the "Gauge versus Tension" debate, we did decide that we would enjoy creating warm woolies for less fortunate children of Saskatoon and intend to begin creating them with the supplies that were so kindly donated by other residents of our fair city. A big thank you to all who donated their unwanted yarns!!!

Thanks to all for joining in our numbers as they are growing. Thanks and welcome to the new knitters for their uniqueness, enthusiasm and laughter. Remember to continue to recruit...we are still in need of male representation (I know they are out there, we just have to find them!).

Until next week my knitterly cohorts...

September 30, 2007
2 pm
McKenzie Coles Coffee
Corner of Gray Ave and Central Ave, Saskatoon, SK


Keep those needles clicking!

Sept 16 Knitterly Meet Up

Today's meet up was a great success! Although our numbers were few, we felt the comradeship that stitching in public affords us. We bonded with a new member, accomplished some much needed progress on our projects and infused our systems with caffeinated fuel that allowed our fingers to fly.

Our group has grown. Jan, a knitterly friend, who is well accomplished in many stitching adventures, met with us for the first time. She has known the joy of knitting socks to keep her families tootsies toasty. She has infused many a sweater with love that wraps her receivers in the warmth and joy from her heart. She has crocheted, beaded and quilted many a miracle. Welcome...Jan and we hope to see you back very soon.

As always, onlookers watched us intently and we suspect that we saw a few knitters in hiding as our row counts grew. We were visited by a friend or two who took away amazement at our accomplishment. By the end of our session, we were proud of ourselves. A Rider themed Afghan, warm and cozy socks and baby ensembles adorned our needles as we filled the coffee house with laughter, fun and clicking.

Some of our group were busy living outside of the land of knitting. Teaching, learning and family obligations kept many of you from joining us today. But, and I have it on good authority, that you plan to return. (We haven't scared any of you off yet!). We missed your senses of humour and creative spirits today.

Those of you who missed today...we look forward to getting together with you next week! Don't forget to tell your friends to join us as well (we are not above kidnapping, as Rai is so fond of reminding us). Help our numbers grow, for as a group we will bond over the love of stitching.

Our next meeting is scheduled for:

Sunday September 23, 2007
McKenzie Coles Coffee
Corner of Gray Ave. and Central Ave.
Saskatoon, SK

See you all there!!!!!

Calling all Stitchers!!!!

A new group has appeared...The Saskatoon Knitting Circle! Come and
join us for a stitchin' good time.

This is the URL http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SaskatoonKnittingCircle

This is the e-mail SaskatoonKnittingCircle@yahoogroups.com

Join up, pass the info on to friends who are interested in good
company and great stitching.

We meet regularly and always welcome new stitchers, experienced queens
of the thread and those who want to learn. If it can be done with a
needle and thread mixed with love and devotion then it will be there!



alt="Click here to join SaskatoonKnittingCircle">
Click to join SaskatoonKnittingCircle

Is Saskatchewan's Economy Improving for the better?

The news is overflowing with success after success. The air waves and the internet job search engines are promoting growth beyond what has been experienced in recent years. My question is: Is this growth sustainable? Is the economy expansion actually improving our communities or creating an environment where minimum wage jobs are the norm and home ownership is far beyond the reach of the "nuclear" family? What are your thoughts?