Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

Today was the day for the panda naming ceremony. The little guy born on the 3rd of November has passed his 100 day mark. The ceremony was scheduled for 8 AM, which is uncharacteristically early, especially when the zoo gates typically open at 9:30 AM. But I got up at 6 AM and faced down the morning commute. The gathering was probably about equal parts zoo staff, media, and general public. There were a couple groups of adorable school children dressed in panda hoodies. And there were several of us hard core panda fans from last winter's deluxe nightcrawler programs. The ceremony included some delightful Chinese dancing first by two little girls and then by young women using ribbons. And there was also the obligatory puppet dragon with its flirting eyes and wiggling ears, alternately delighting and startling the children. Raymond King, CEO of ZooAtlanta, kindly kicked off the ceremony. Governor Deal said a few words. And a representative from Mayor Reed's office also sp...

Valentine's Day is usually associated with chocolate, dinner, and roses. I like to think that knitters are a little easier to buy for than that. In this particular case, the Cuddly Hubby was kind enough to give me a White Lotus Stole kit. The design is by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer. The kit includes three balls of Colinton 3000 yarn, plenty of beads, the pattern, and a supply of Unicorn fibre wash. The yarn is undyed Australian mohair. It feels softer than it looks, and I suspect it will soften even more with use. I've done a little lace, but this kit is a nice chance to try something a little more complicated without getting into something crazy complex.

I took three classes during the weekend. On Friday afternoon, I took a class with Virginia on how to knit with beads. I've read a few books on the topic, but had never really sat down to try it. Not only did Virginia provide each of us with a spool of wire and some beads, but she also brought other beads to encourage our artistic play. And she says she recycles old necklaces she finds at yard sales and thrift stores. I don't know that I'm going to want to knit much with wire, but it was good to try it. Wire is rather stiff, so the kinesthetic feeling is like you are back in kindergarten and learning to write with a giant pencil. This 3-row black bracelet was made as follows: String 57 beads on the wire. (57 = 3 rows x 19 beads per row) Sliding a bead between each stitch, cast on 20 stitches using backward loop. (Notice you'll use 19 beads, not 20.) Turn. Do not slide a bead up between the last cast-on stitch and the first stitch of Row 1. Row 1: Sliding a bead ...

I don't know if I ought to be spilling the secret, but the South Carolina Knitting Guild throws a dang fine shindig! (T-shirt logo with embroidered yarn from Mimi Makes Memories .) Over the weekend, I attended the South Carolina Knit Inn. I hadn't been before, but a significant fraction of North Georgia Knitting Guild has been attending over the last couple of years. So, I decided I ought to check it out. The SCKG gets a ballroom for the weekend along with several meeting rooms for classes. Members donate their time to teach classes. Half the ballroom is a large knit-in area, with a nice arrangement of beverages and snack food on tables along one wall. On Saturday afternoon, the other half of the ballroom is used as a market. Participants could order boxed lunches for Saturday and participate in a pizza party that evening. There was a "bring one, take one" area for people to swap books and magazines. There was knitting bingo on Friday night. The guild even g...

As you may have noticed when I updated my profile information, I'm the 2011 VP of Programs for North Georgia Knitting Guild. When Gerri was on the nominating committee, she called and said something along the lines of, "Well, you know so many people, we thought you would be a really good fit for the job." Now why did she have to go and present a valid argument? Dare I say that so far, things have gone pretty well. I have all of 2011 programmed. A couple months are only tentative, but a good many are confirmed. At the last meeting, Pat from Taming of the Ewe asked me about programs. She is a member of a small guild over in Alabama. Newer and smaller guilds often don't have a lot of resources to put towards programs. So what can you do? I thought it would be helpful to post here some free or nearly-free guild program ideas. NGKG has a lot of talent, so we've had a number of programs in which someone shared her expertise with the group. And we have been a...

Artists sometimes talk about being blocked. There's writer's block, but other types of artists have similar experiences. At the moment, I'm being a lot more productive about spinning than knitting. Part of it is that the Knitting Needle Liberation Front needs to sweep through my house and rescue needles out of stalled projects and unfinished swatch experiments. Sunday was a perfect day for spinning, as there were two football games. Cuddly Hubby and I were particularly keen to watch the Packers at the Bears. My friend Theresa had shown an interest last week in an orange blue-faced Leicester roving from Pagewood Farms. I was happy to spin that up for her. Theresa wanted a thick yarn, but spinning thick is not all that easy. Spinning thick-ish and then plying seemed like a better plan. I pre-drafted the fibers during the first half of the game. During the second half, I spun using backward draw. I finished spinning just after the game ended -- about the time the int...

I'm pleased that 2011 seems to have gotten off to a good start. I have two patterns out in the world and under review. They may not make the cut, but at least I've gotten in a couple tries. I've received the materials for Level 2 of Master Knitter. I have more ideas on paper or in swatches than I have time to knit. Saturday I taught two workshops for Clicks & Sticks Knitting Guild -- my first time teaching all-day workshops for a guild. I've had good attendance at my classes this month at The Whole Nine Yarns. Next weekend I'll be teaching reversible traveling cables. The weekend after that I'll be at the South Carolina Knit Inn -- just hanging out, not teaching. We're even off to a good start with programs for North Georgia Knitting Guild. I have a tentative list for 2011, and most of the months are filled. I thought I might be stressed about being VP of Programs for this year, but I'm not. I'm managing to take most things at a steady...