Major Knitter

Wednesday Women

We're back on schedule for our Wednesday Knitting Group.  Jackie and I are back to working on our Kaffe Fassett Floral Jackets from last year. Joan is working on a Tomtem jacket for her granddaughter.  Kathy is making a gorgeous pair of sulbovetter gloves.  Lisa is working on another great jacket.  She has finished so many lovely sweaters already this year.  Here's the amazing jacket she finished last week.

 

Wilma was quite happy to chill out with us. In fact, she thinks we all meet to give her love and attention.  It's really hard to convince her otherwise.

 

I didn't get pictures of everyone's projects - but will show them as they progress.  Next week I'll be diligent about getting more pictures.  It's such a fun group.  I look forward to Wednesdays because of this amazingly creative group of friends.

What a Fabulous Day!

Monday was the first day the boys went back to school.  It was also my first day (week day) out of the house in nearly 5 weeks.  Ah.  Freedom.  Sweet Freedom!  I went to check out the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation in Westchester County, New York as a possible campsite for future Scout campouts. We'll definitely be checking this place out in the near future.  After that, I went to Estella - Just One More Row Please (which by the way, is how BF always refers to her).  We sat and chatted and knit and ate.  Estella and I both nearly finished our current projects during our knit-together.  In fact, you can see her finished Ingenue on this morning's post.

But let me tell you a little secret about Estella - she's an amazing hostess and chef.  In no time at all she whipped up these amazing baked goat cheese mixed green salads with dried cranberries and an out of this world balsamic vinaigrette dressing. 

 

You should see the trick to these amazing baked goat cheese slices.  Estella simply dipped the thick cheese rounds in olive oil and then patted them with seasoned bread crumbs and baked them in her toaster over at 425 for about 10-15 minutes.  Y-U-M-M-Y. 

Rather than eat in the kitchen, I suggested we be all girly-girl and eat in the dining room with all that gorgeous sunshine.

 

What a fun treat.  Thanks Estella for your wonderful hospitality! 

Kathy's Tomten Sweater

The Kaffe Fassett Club met today for knitting, chatting, and a bit of show n' tell.  Kathy finished her Kaffe Fassett Floral Jacket already and came today with her most recent accomplishment - Elizabeth Zimmerman's Tomten Sweater

I forgot to get a close up of the closures Kathy selected.  They're phenomenal.  Here's a look at the back of the sweater

Doesn't this look like the perfect go-to sweater for fall?  If it were mine, I think I'd wear it every single day until my entire family was begging not to see it again.  You have one of those favorites, don't you?

Congratulations Kathy on yet another job well done.   

Lucy Neatby's Tug Boat Socks

I promised you more pictures of the Saturday knitting adventures.  Here is the Fair Isle sock that Susan K (Rowrgirl on Ravelry) is making.  It's the Lucy Neatby Tug Boat Socks

Here is the cute little tug boat on the front of the sock.

Here's a close-up of the cable heel (trust me, it's really the heel)

Here's the sole of the Tug Boat Socks

Here's the back of the sock with the ship being pulled into port by the two tugboats (that are on the front of the sock)

Aren't these just the cutest most whimsical socks you've ever seen? Lucy Neatby is truly a genius.  Susan is an intrepid knitter to adventure into these rough waters -- but she's a natural on water so these are the perfect knitting project for her!

Labor Day Weekend Knitting with the Gals

I invited my various knitting buddies to join me for knitting this Saturday.  There were knitters from my Kaffe Fassett Club (aka Sally Session from Knitting Central); friends from my original Saturday kNit Live (SNL) group; the Church Prayer Shawl Ministry, the Knitting Central Tuesday Sit-n-Knit group and the Westport Young Woman's League.  It was great to sit and chat and stitch and snack and show-n-tell.  Here are some treats to share with you:

Joanne wore her gorgeous new sweater.  Here are the specifics

• Tahki Yarns Terra Collection - Textured Cardigan Pattern #9
• Tahki's Birch Loop-D-Loop in Color #1

Here's a baby blanket that Joanne's making for a friend.  It's an alternating cable pattern that she designed herself using Encore yarn.  The color's not quite accurate, but it's sort of a celery green.  Perfect for a boy or a girl!

Betsy (rryan3 on Ravelry) finished her first sock for the Knitting Central Sock Club.  The pattern is by Pam (Stitch and Chat or LiveLaughKnit on Ravelry) and will be for sale in a few months at my LYS - Knitting Central.  It's currently an exclusive pattern for the sock club members.

Rather than work on my Kaffe Fassett Floral Jacket (which would require me to actually pay attention) I worked on my Movie Socks in plain old stockinette.  I managed to knit nearly 3 inches today!  Woohoo!  This yarn is Rio de la Plata kettle dyed yarn and I just love how it feels.

Susan K (Rowrgirl on Ravelry) was working on this Fair Isle masterpiece.  It's breathtaking.  Susan is our go-to-lace-gal and she said that after knitting all that complicated lace, Fair Isle is a breeze. This is the sleeve and here are the details:

• Rowan Magazine #44
• Ghiberti - pattern 134
• Yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca

Susan brought another Fair Isle project for show-n-tell, but I'm going to save that for another post.  It's spectacular.  It was such fun to mix all my knitting groups.  I'm sorry to Kathy, Lisa, Joan, Susan and Tricia that I didn't get photos of your great projects, too.  Next time.

Saturday kNit Live in the Summer

It's so hard to find time to get together with knitting friends over the summer.  This Saturday I managed to sit and knit with a few of the ladies from SNL who happened to be in town. 

Jennifer "JZP" brought her amazing Icelandic Baby Sweater and Hat (pattern by Lynn Wilson).  JZP altered her sweater to be knit from the top down.  The great thing about this sweater is that it's a mother-daughter project.  She and her daughter Jessica are knitting two baby sweaters for some twins in their lives.  JZP is knitting this one for the boy and Jess is knitting the pink one for the girl.  Isn't it adorable?

She's using Uruguay Chunky Queensland Collection which she purchased at Annie & Co. in NYC.

Meanwhile, Betsy and I cast on for our Charlene Schurch Caesar's Check socks from Sensational Knitted Socks.  We purchased the Lorna's Laces sock yarn in River and Charcoal - just like in the book.  These socks are so gorgeous, but we had to sit down and figure out the pattern together.  We both took the amazing 2-day workshop with Charlene at Knitting Central in May.  We fell in love with this sock and agreed to knit them as our own personal KAL in order to motivate each other along.  It helped that we took Charlene's class, because we discovered that she was an engineer in her former life.  This made complete sense to us as we started to noodle over the pattern instructions.  We put on our engineer hats (theoretically speaking) and followed the pattern with remarks like "Oh, I can see now how Charlene's amazing brain works".  We followed the directions, which were clearly written, and took the leap of faith.  There is a bit of engineering in this sock that doesn't make complete sense at first glance, but as soon as you trust the pattern and just go with it, you start to see Charlene's creative genius flow through and you say "Wow!  That is so cool how that works!"  Anyway, we definitely needed to make a swatch on this pattern, so here's a photo of Betsy's swatch.  Isn't it an interesting pattern?

That was it for our SNL in the Summer get together.  We're all traveling here and there for August, so we won't be able to meet as a group until school starts again in the fall.  I think I'm going to hold off on my Caesar's Socks until the Ravelympics.  I'll get my swatch done (afterall, that's just training, right?)  But it sure was fun to sit and chat with my friends again.

Saturday kNit Live Reunion

I looked at my calendar yesterday and came to the realization that I had a Saturday morning wide open.  I sent out a quick email to the Saturday kNit Live (SNL) ladies and had an impromptu SNL just like the good ol' days.  Of course, I had misplaced my camera, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.  I knit on my Oh So Soft Baby Blanket (mostly because it's mindless knitting which is the perfect thing for sitting and chatting.

I've almost finished the 3rd skein, which means I'm nearly halfway done.  After SNL, I grabbed my Scandinavian Mittens and finished knitting the thumb on the right hand and then I wove in all the loose ends.  Here's the finished mitten.

And here's the inside with all the woven pieces and floats:

I tried to get a close-up of the thumb to give you an idea of the design.

It was fun to knit with my friends this morning.  We chatted about the fact that a) knitting and b) having a group of friends who are supportive (like SNL) is doubly therapeutic.  We all agree.  We share our knitting projects, patterns, latest finds and our life stories.  It's nice to have other people there for you, don't you agree?  Is your knitting group a support group for you?

SNL Ladies at Tea

Today we met for a social gathering at Susan's home.  It was lovely and delicious

Susan had the most beautiful table set for a festive afternoon tea

My favorite part (aside from the dark chocolate caramels with sea salt) was the beautiful collection of tea cups and saucers.  I selected this one for my coffee.

My mother used to have a mis-matched set of antique cups and saucers so this brought back very happy memories for me.  As if that weren't enough, Susan made her famous Charlotte Rousse - yum

When sliced, it's even more delectable with the sauce on top

I'll ask Susan if she'll share the recipe.  But there was also some lovely fibre sharing going on.

Susan framed this lovely bread basket lace for her dining room wall.  What a brilliant idea.  I have one of these too, and I never quite know what to do with it.  Maybe I'll frame it like Susan did.  Copy cat.

I also got my holiday gift from Susan.  Look how cute!  They're stitch markers by Split Yarn.  You can get some Scrabble stitch markers of your own on her Etsy site.  Not much knitting was done, but we sure had a great time! 

Betsy finished her sweater for her son.  I didn't get a picture, but I immediately recognized it as the same one Stephanie made for Ken for Christmas.  Technically, I think it's called the Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood which was featured in the Interweave Knits Fall 2007.  Betsy made hers out of souvenir yarn from her trip to South America about 2 years ago.  It was so much fun to see the yarn when she brought it home from vacation and even better to see it turned into a finished Christmas sweater.

It was the best possible way to spend a day with friends.  Thanks Susan.

It's Only Thursday, and Yet It's Time for SNL

The talented ladies of SNL came over last night to meet James.  We had a fantastic time eating, drinking, knitting and telling tall tales.

Regina, Lindsay, Susan, Betsy, Jennifer and James are ready to sit down to a delicious fall dinner

My dear friends Angel and Erik regaled us with funny tales from their stay in Tanzania.  Look!  There's a rare shot of BF, well, at least his right hand. 

After dinner we had a scrumptious homemade apple cranberry pie made by Susan's daughter.  We also had a bit of show and tell.  It wouldn't be Saturday kNit Live if we didn't have a bit of sharing.

Betsy had her amazing mystery stole in this lovely blue.  We all admired her work.  She's such a fast knitter and her lace work is divine!

Betsy actually had not one, but two (yes 2) amazing mystery stoles.  Here's the white one she's nearly finished knitting.  The picture doesn't do this stole justice.  It's just breath taking!

The oohing and aahing continued to a near-state of drooling when I asked James to share his Kaffe Fassett Persian Poppies Wrap.  We were all duly impressed.  Someone even commented how we'd never seen anyone knit such a beautiful wrap with such lovely mohair, angora and boucle mixes. 

It was easily one of the best SNLs ever.  Thanks everyone for coming out on a weeknight to get together.

Saturday kNit Live Show 'N' Tell

Today we met for some knitting and chatting.  OK. We really did our catching up and showing off.  It's always so much fun to see what everyone is knitting.  We have all evolved in our knitting over the past few years and it's always a thrill to see the patterns, the fibres and the finished projects.  I'm just sorry I didn't get my camera out before Betsy had to leave.  She was working on her Knitting Central Sock Club socks (Cables, Cables Everywhere) and also the Mystery Stole.  It is so amazing!  But let me stop talking and just show the pictures.  We start with the show stopping Regina and her wet felted jacket.

Regina took a wet felting seminar in Massachussets to learn how to make this sexy swing jacket.  The photos simply don't do it justice.  Regina's sense of style and color are unparalleled and we all just sat in awe. 

In addition to her felted jacket, Regina finished this moss green sweater.  Sweet!

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Both Susan and Jennifer "JZP" are taking Sally's entrelac class at Knitting Central.  Thy both showed off their swatches in Noro.  Entrancing Entrelac is all I can say.

Susan, in her snazzy glasses (I'm so envious!) made some cabled wrist warmers and a matching cable scarf - that has cables on each side of the scarf making it perfectly flat and perfectly plaited.  Here's a better look so you can see what it looks like on both sides

Both the wrist warmers and the reversible cable scarf were store patterns that Susan got when she bought the green (color 1972) Waterlily by Classic Elite Yarn at Ladybug Knitting Shop in Dennis, Massachussets.

Jennifer "JZP" was knitting this Organic Cotton Baby Blanket using Pakucho Organic Cotton yarn.  It's a store pattern that she got when she was at one of her favorite California LYS - Alamitos Bay Yarn Company.

Finally, I finished the back of my Sublime Pixie jacket.  Thank goodness for stockinette!  I was able to chat and knit all morning without worrying about concentrating since the back is simply a rectangle. 

It was a great get together.  I always love seeing my knitting friends and catching up on all the creativity that abounds with this group.  Happy knitting to all!