Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

While there are immigrant communities in the Atlanta area, I don't think of Atlanta as a focus of the Japanese expatriate community. When I've traveled to the West Coast, I've been more likely to encounter Japanese knitting magazines, stitch dictionaries, and pattern books in yarn shops than I would here on the East Coast. When STITCHES South was still a regular event, I would acquire a new Japanese stitch dictionary each year, typically from Yarn Barn of Kansas. Eventually, I discovered there are some Japanese book sellers on Amazon. So, you might imagine my delight several months ago when I encountered a pre-order opportunity for this: I'm used to dealing with these books entirely in Japanese. This one is translated by Gayle Roehm. I've taken a couple classes from Gayle, (see posts here and here ) mostly in how to read Japanese charts and how to do some of the unusual maneuvers required. When I think of Japanese culture, I think of commitment to very high st...

A few months ago, a member of Atlanta Knitting Guild arrived at a meeting with a challenge. She was making a blanket in pieces and was ready to seam it together. She had used slipped-stitch selvedges and was discovering that mattress stitch did not appear to be a pleasing solution. There was quite a bit of discussion amongst members but no sure-fire solution. I let this question mull in my mind for awhile. Then I remembered a trick I had seen Gayle Roehm use in her "Sssinuous" scarf pattern , Knitter's Magazine #117, Winter 2014 . As you might guess from the name, Gayle's scarf twists around and back on itself. Because it is a scarf, a tidy slipped-stitch edge is appealing. After all, most of the selvedge is visible in the finished accessory. But there are places where the scarf needs to be seamed together. And the scarf will be seen on both sides, so reversibility is highly desirable. I am pleased to report that Gayle has thought this problem through and solved it...

Yesterday I showed you swatches from Gayle Roehm's "Challenging Stitches from Japanese Designs" class. Today I present the swatches from its sequel, "Even More Challenging Stitches from Japanese Designs." In this class, Gayle labeled the swatches with numbers instead of letters. Swatch 1 from "Even More Challenging Stitches from Japanese Designs"  This first swatch is a "basic" Japanese lace pattern -- that is, it has action on both right and wrong sides. Although it is a stockinette-based lace, the increases and decreases push the wales in different directions to create a surprising amount of movement and texture. Swatch 2 from "Even More Challenging Stitches from Japanese Designs" Gayle called swatch 2 a faux paisley. Like the dogwood lace swatch B in yesterday's post, the chart has large open area of white space that are disconcerting to the uninitiated. The top of each paisley also has a strange maneuver that i...

Last month I gave a short talk about Japanese knitting for Atlanta Knitting Guild. Pam is leading the guild on a knit-along incorporating techniques from around the world. Ideally we would have had either Gayle Roehm or Fleegle come talk to the guild about Japanese knitting. Since I had taken two of Gayle's classes, I filled in. This led me to pull out my notebook of class handouts. When I took that first class at STITCHES 2009 , I was not in the habit of keeping my swatches. Rather, I learned in class, ripped back, and reused the yarn. I also put all the handout pages in one page protector. Now I know better. Now I put each page in a separate protector and I put the swatch in with the page, so I can see what it was I did. After giving my presentation for AKG, I decided to knit the missing swatches and revisit what I had learned. If you have a chance to take a class with Gayle, I recommend it. Over the past five years I have gathered about half a dozen Japanese stitch dictionar...

In the past I've blogged STITCHES South as individual posts for each day. But this year, I'm going to do it a little differently. I know a lot of people go for the market. Mostly, I go to STITCHES for the classes and the networking. The convention attracts truly talented knitters -- both teachers and students. It is so much fun just to watch what people are wearing. This year I took four classes. On Thursday I took "Embed and Embellish: Felt, Stone, and Bead Jewelry" with Sharon Costello. I must admit that by the time the convention came around, I could not recall why I signed up for the class! It must have been the beautiful pictures in the brochure. I had not done wet felting before, so this was new to me. My friends Debra and Linda were also in the class. Most of the students were very familiar with wet felting, and they were eager to move along. We learned how to layer the fibers and how to encase rocks or pieces of smooth glass inside the felt. Most of the othe...

Thursday morning I got up early and headed over to the Galleria. I was pleased to see that Debi Light, owner of The Whole Nine Yarns, had managed to park her Volkswagen Beetle in the perfect spot, in good view of the front entrance. (For those of you who wondered, she left Woodstock at 6 AM to get that spot.) I parked nearby. I was about 8:15 AM. The opening day festivities were scheduled for 10 AM. Almost as soon as I got in the door I started meeting people. There were ladies from Florida who were pleased as punch that they could drive to a knitting event. I guess Florida can sometimes feel a little remote from the rest of the country. I went over to the Registration desk to see if everyone had what they needed for the day. Woofgangpug was there helping, and she requested a coffee. By the time I had fetched that, more people were coming to register. I got to meet Charles D. Gandy from Clayton, who had two winning socks in the Think Outside the SOX contest. Charles is a ...