Wednesday 18 February 2009

A Few Ideas!

Helen has sewn on the button to the preemie set she knitted a few weeks back. Here it is here with Ann using her hand to show everyone just how small it is. This is the first size. You can actually fit the little cardigan on the palm of your hand.

This is the second set she finished last week. It's still tiny but is actually one size up from the first one. Helen knitted both sets using one ball of 100g 4ply baby yarn. She thinks she might be able to get booties out of what's left. Not bad for one ball of yarn. Last night she was knitting a lovely scarf as a gift for a friend. It's a leaf scarf in a lovely shade of greeny-blue. She got the pattern from new magazine "Knitter". The pattern called for an Orkney yarn. As it would take time to get here Helen looked at the content of and tension of the yarn and was able to substitute it for Rowan kid silk haze. It's a lovely pattern and as Helen loves scarfs she plans on knitting one for herself too (Helen is not the only one since a number of us have borrowed most of her scarf patterns, lol).

Monika finished her scarf during the week and brought it in to show is. It's a lovely lacey pattern and the yarn is very soft. Monika spent last night looking through a crochet book as she has decided to give it a go next.

I was finally able to photograph something that Ann has finished. She has knitted a number of pairs of socks but she is usually wearing them when she brings them back in to show us (no one can blame her as all sock knitters in the group say they are the comfiest socks). These lovely stripey socks are for her daughter. She has enough self striping yarn left to knit up matching wrist bands. Ann finished these right before she left.

A while back Ginnie suggested that we blog about new yarns out there. Or at least interesting yarns that the group are using. Joyce has been knitting up a jumper using Sirdar Crofter DK. It caught our attention. It's a lovely yarn and the shades Joyce chose are lovely. This yarn though imitates Fair Isle. In other words you can knit up a lovely Fair Isle jumper without having to work on a complicated pattern. It's also beautifully soft and comes in many different shades. Not sure where it can be bought in Glasgow but you can purchase it from Knit and Sew and at the Black Sheep. I have bought yarn from the second online store and received it quickly. I am almost 100% sure someone from the group may have purchased items from the first site.

Helen also came up with an idea last night. She suggested that once a month we bring in our old knitting magazines, the ones we don't want and do a swap. With the credit crunch magazines might seem like an extravagance and this is a good way of still trying out new patterns. I'll email everyone with the idea and a suggested starting date if there is enough interest.

One last idea. I though maybe once a month we could profile a member of the group here. Take a few photo's and then do a Q&A. Thought it might be a good way of new members getting to know people better. We also might be able to pick up some tips from each other. Again I will send out a group email to see what you think.

2 comments:

The Sock Lady said...

Lovely photos of lovely knitting!
Sorry I was AWOL this week, had too much work to do. I have found a bit of time though to knit a preemie jacket and hat, which I'll bring along with me next week. I admit I can't wait to get back to socks though! Great ideas about the old knitting mags and the biographies; it would be good to find out a bit more about people. A couple of other on-line sites that provide a huge range of wools (especially sock wool) and a fast and reliable service: www.modernknitting.co.uk and www.getknitted.com . Sock knitters amongst you may wish to try Tofutsies sock yarn. It's made of soya fibre and crab and prawn shell chitin (!) and unbelievably produces a silky soft sock. Get Knitted have it on sale at the moment, a lucky dip of four 100 gram balls for £20 (usual £8.50 per ball, it's lovely to knit with and nice to wear.

Anonymous said...

I was so looking forward to visiting Stitching Time in Hamilton tomorrow as I had finally finished using all the wool on my lovely red, white and blue socks for my wee daughter. I have just discovered that David, the owner and avid knitter, passed away in January. He was always such a lovely, helpful and incredibly funny man who remembered me every time I went in. I just thought I would share it with the group. Anyway, see you all on Tuesday. Ann