My Blog

I love linen

Sat, 23 Aug 2008 06:24:02 -0500

I knit this sweater for Joan from the top down. When you do top down you get to try on the sweater I asked her to try this sweater on with 2 very long circular needles in the bottom and circular needles in each sleeve. What a fun thing to do. First of all it is very funny. She had a great laugh trying it on with all the needles hanging off it. But you really do get to see how it is progressing.
Yesterday I was looking a choral music at MR Music and ran into Janet Evans there. I used to teach elementary music and she taught band in the same school. What a small world. Then we went to Subway and ran into Karen Lansdowne an old friend from St. Alban Roe. Good to see them.

Machine Knit Baby Sweater

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:34:08 -0500

The baby sweaters are finished. The sweater we learned to knit at our class is the one on the left. The next Machine Knit Morning is going to be held Sept 3. We are going to learn about the ribber. There are so many things you can knit with a ribber besides ribbing. We are going to investigate the many uses of the ribber.

I also finished 2 other sweaters that were started a few years ago and I was asked to finish them. These were hand knit. Its hard to get the gauge of someone else. I tried 2 or 3 different needles on each sweater until I got something that looked like the original.

June and July

Thu, 7 Aug 2008 09:21:23 -0500

I have a new job. I am the music director or St. George Parish in Affton. I began Aug 1 and am looking forward to beginning choir practice.

Wednesday the ladies of our Machine Knit Morning came to my house for our meeting. We finished up the baby sweater with Nini teaching about putting shoulders together with waste yarn. Harlene taught tuck and we looked at her beautiful tuck sweater she made to show us. I finished up the baby sweater with putting in ends with a latch tool and final steaming.

We went to California in June and visited with our son Ryan. Jon went with us and we went to see the sights and museums.
I spent a day looking at yarn shops with a new friend . I bought some Terra from The Fibre co., Some sari silk, some Shira by the Curious Creek Fibers, and some lace Malabrigo.

Thursday I went to see Momma Mia with my friend Jean. Wonderful fun movie. Lots of singing and dancing. Saturday night we surprised her with a happy birthday party.

Entertainer

Sat, 17 May 2008 12:22:54 -0500

I came across this picture of my entertainer sweater that I knit a few years ago. I have one that is a cardigan that I wear a lot. Using Scott Joplin’s music and Designaknit software I came up with this design. Later today we are having a rehearsal at Manchester United Methodist church for our concert tomorrow at 3PM We are singing Testament of Freedom. Metro Singers is singing with Manchester choir members. A group is going to Washington DC to sing at Kennedy Center next week.

Machine Knitting

Thu, 8 May 2008 05:07:00 -0500

Yesterday 7 ladies came to my house to learn about Machine Knitting. We are starting a Machine Knitting Morning meeting once a month. The next day will be June 11. We learned to CO (cast on) 3 different ways, BO (bind off) 2 different ways. and showed things we are working on. Next month we are going to bring swatches to measure, make an infant pattern, and learn how to short row the neck of a pullover sweater.
I am so excited about having people over and am looking forward to monthly meetings. Machine Knitting is so much fun. I am continually surprised at the enormous amount of ideas people come up with. I want these knitters have as much fun as I am still having with my knitting machines.

Knit knack shop

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:24:26 -0500

Last weekend Rosemary, Harlene and I went to Peru, Indiana to a machine knitting workshop. Ileene Levy was there alsong with the others I mentioned in Rain Rain Go Away.

I learned a lot and got a lot of ideas from Susan Lazar. I want to try material and knitting together. Maybe material on the bottom of a cardigan from the underarms down. Susan uses fleece so you don’t have to face the front and bottom. You just cut it off.

Michael Beckers classes were great. I learned a lot about Designa Knit. How to measure for pants and make patterns.

On the way down on Thursday we went to Mass Ave yarn shop in Indianapolis. What a wonderful store. If you ever get a chance to go there you can see lots and lots of yarn and books. They have lots of classes to take.

We survived the earth quake. Actually I didn’t feel a thing. I was in bed asleep.

Joan's sweater

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 07:52:49 -0500

I finished my friend Joan’s sweater and took it to her. This is a top down raglan sweater. Top down sweaters are so much fun to knit because you can try them on as you are knitting them. Simply put another needle in the bottom so it can stretch around you and you can put it on and see just how it is progressing. So often knitters get done with their sweaters that took hours and hours and it doesn’t fit. The neck of this sweater is picked up from the cast on stitches and knit up toward the chin. I redid the neck on this sweater 3 different times. It was too loose and too short the first time so I just decreased some stitches and knit it longer. Then I did it again changing the needle size to a smaller needle because the stitches were too loose.

Rain Rain Go Away

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:56:25 -0500

Yesterday we drove in the rain to Hannibal. We went to a Machine Knitting club at Ileen Levy’s. She is a long time machine knitter and teacher. Her class was about edgings out of Mary Ann Oger’s new book. Very informative.
We met another machine knitter from Wildwood and found out that a number of people are going to Peru, Indiana in April to the Spring Fling, a 2 day workshop with Mike Becker, Dean Barnett. Sandy Cherry, Susan Lazear, Ileen Levy, and Tricia Shafer http://www.knitknackshop.com/seminars.htm
I am planning to go with my friend Rosemary.

I found out that my piano student couldn’t come so since I was driving by I went to Knit and Kaboodle in Saint Charles, Mo. I found some lovely off white cotton Cascade Cotton Rich to make a summer sweater and bought some more Skin Creme by Marcha Labs. Yarn Shops what can I say? There are also so many books that I want but???

One of the first ones

Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:56:50 -0500

Zena is one of our SKIF patterns. It is one of my favorite and very comfortable to wear. We used Linen and Cotton held together to knit it.

Tuesday mornings I usually go to Borders and knit with my friends. I warned them that I want to take their pictures and put in my blog. Then I spent all afternoon at SKIF working on the new Mateo and Bellagio patterns. I got a new mac laptop and am learning Illustrator. I wanted the picture on the back of the patterns to be inclusive. Its really lots of fun. Nina and I went over and over the final pattern for Bellagio . It should be in the stores soon.

I called Deep South Fibers to find out about telling the Greater Saint Louis Knitters Guild about our patterns and soon we will have an announcement there. I really love going to the GSLKG meetings. Even though I have been knitting for years and years I still learn things there. Last month the meeting was about Alpacas. What wonderful yarn. My Victorian Lace Shawl was knit with Alpaca.

This Sunday at 3pm I am singing a concert with the Saint Louis Metro Singers at St. Anthony Catholic Church. We are singing selections from the Messiah. I am so excited about singing a solo. All of the pieces are so exciting. I have been singing with the Metro Singers for a long time and they just get better and better. Kevin our director is amazing. He makes us really want to do a good job.

I plan to spend most of today knitting for SKIF.

Belligio Skif sweater for Hand Knitting

Sat, 8 Mar 2008 12:41:53 -0600

I have just finished writing the pattern for the Belligio sweater for Nina at SKIF. This should be in the stores soon. You can ask your Local Yarn Shop to get in touch with Deep South Fibers on line at deepsouthfibers.com
I already have the pattern that Nina designed in picture form written for the knitting machine. Now I have just finished writing the instructions for hand knitting. This time I also used Illustrator to draw the picture. What fun. Since I bought my Apple lap top I also bought Mac I am just learning how to make this web site and blog.