Mother Daughter Act

Lynn and Becky wore their finished projects this week. Becky was shown last week with the shell in hand without its buttons. Here she models it, buttons and all, looking great.

Lynn has been working quietly on this jacket. It is from Doris Chan's Amazing Crocheted Lace. Of course Lynn shortened the sleeves and added length for her taller frame (do any of us not tinker with a pattern?) It looks just like the pix in Doris's book. And she looks great, too. A very talented crafty family.  

New friend

Jenny was here for the first time. Stacy is her connection. We even let her cross stitch.

Knitting Barbie

      I found this set in a Barbie catalogue. I've been getting the catalogue since I bought Nascar Barbie for my grown daughter when she was making racing tires in Akron, and cowgirl Barbie when she moved to Oklahoma.

This is a vintage reproduction of Barbie with Skipper. Barbie says: Just relax, Skipper! And don't knit your brows..... you'll get wrinkles!"

Skipper responds: "Gee, Barbie, you are so smart and funny.... you always put me in stitches!"

It was just too corny not to be shared.

Saturday designs

Becky has finished her top. It combines knitting and crocheting. There were previous pix on the blog of it as a WIP. Now it just needs its buttons. Everyone finds the knitted pattern intriguing and unusual. Some very small needles were used.

Rebecca found a great shawl pattern for Lion Brand's Incredible. This yarn can turn out looking fantastic or kind of confused, depending on the stitches and color repeat lengths. This one shows off the ribbon yarn beautifully. It wasn't quite finished but you can really see the pattern already. 

A message from Randy

As an out of town member I thought I might qualify to have a picture on the blog. Here it is. 

"You can see if you look at the designs at the ends of the scarf, how much I improved from one end to another. I cannot even imagine what  I was thinking when I started. Was I not looking at the pattern??

I started this while visiting my mother (Pat) in Pittsburgh in April 2008. One evening Karen and Bradley came over to the apartment and each helped me figure out my purling. Finally I got it!

This scarf really represents about 3 scarves with all the ripping I had to do.

Randy"

This was Randy's first knitting project. I know she can already crochet because I've seen her do it. Just having learned to knit 2 years ago myself, I'm really proud of her.

Books

Two books were being used this weekend. Cozy Crochet by Melissa Leapman and Trendsetting Totes from American School of Needlework. Neither of these books is particularly new. But they are both good choices. 

Cozy crochet has a wide range of designs: good if you want to try lots of different projects. Totes is, of course, a very specific project book, but it gives you several different ways to do each design. Which can get your own creative juices flowing.

More on Saturday

On Saturday we had a lively meeting. Chris brought in her finished projects  to be photographed. The stole is really fine looking and can be worn on any occasion. Her vet will be the recipient of the kitty blanket.

Then to our surprise Beth arrived from WWKIP earlier in the day! It was good to see her. She is looking for a group of yarn enthusiasts. Hope  she found us a good fit.

Knit Out (&Crochet) in Public

The 14 th was national knit out day but we only found out about the local gathering at the last minute. So only a few of us made it to Shenley Plaza. The weather was not highly cooperative; there were a few good downpours; then it grew colder. By the time for our regular meeting we were cold and damp. But we didn't care because we had a good time.

Lisa and Lisa taught the security guard to knit! And we were serenaded by a singing guitarist. A mouse was crocheted and a cat's head was knitted for his body. A ruana was continued and two socks were knitted at the same time. Projects were discussed and yarn exchanged and new friends made. Everything a knit out should be.

We left vowing that we would have an even bigger group next year.

Some other things

Did you get the email from Stacy? Great pix of the baby afghans with very clever names.

We like to get ideas and inspirations just like everyone else. Here are some of the latest Becky brought in to share.

By the way that small knitted item I believe is a mallard duck and a finger puppet. Darn small; darn cute.

There were more

For just a short while on Saturday we had two more. Julia was visiting with Pat and stopped by to meet the group. It's nice when faces appear to match names.

Since Pat has been talking about the two latest haircuts, Chris and I took a pic with Pat. I lost 10 inches so I guess it was rather a change. Chris has a whole new look due to the beauty shop scissors and weight watchers. She looks great!

Most of the gang's here

This Saturday started off slowly with 4 of us arriving simultaneously. We again got onto the subject of looking for another meeting place because occasionally almost everyone makes it and we kind of take over an area. Summertime isn't generally an issue, but when Pitt is in session, Panera's can be very busy. It's just so centrally located and there's parking and there's food........

As the afternoon wore on, the group grew. 

Yogi brought her sister-in-law Lena for the first time. That's Lena on the left, and Yogi getting afghan advice from Lynn on that diagonal stitch, with Shelli and Theresa working and talking away.

Becky is working on the last round (maybe, until she tries it on), while Joe is hunting for a pattern like Lynn saw to make clothes for grandkids out in California. Tough to come up with the right size when kids are so far away.

Yogi and Stacy are discussing a pair of baby booties that unfortunately came out as two different sizes.

Then Becky and Rebecca enjoyed a light moment, while Chris was talking to Lena (who isn't appearing in this pic).

Like I said we take over an area and that isn't all of us!  

Linda's Tunisian crochet

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Linda has been to several of our meetings, but it's quite a trek for her from Beaver County. She has had additional roadblocks thrown up literally in the form of road construction. But I wanted you to see all the beautiful afghans she has made using Tunisian crochet (TSS). She maps out the patterns herself. Check it out.

Pat's Saga

You've probably been wondering what happened to Pat's project. Well she has a farflung family and disappears occasionally to be with them. This time it was off to Denver for a granddaughter's college graduation. She didn't take her knitting with her which was a good thing because the airlines managed to lose most of her things for several days. 

But she really has progressed nicely with the help of her friend. She's finished the underarm shaping and is now working on a divided top (since she would like to put in a zippered neck opening.) The top has a ribbed pattern just like her favorite sweater. Remember there are no instructions, just following the shape and design of that sweater. If you have a fave garment you would like to have more of, do what Pat's doing.

I'm jealous of her knitting skills, but she's jealous of Joe's. Crazy. huh?

A Crochet Edge

Previously we talked about Joe putting a crochet edge on the slip stitch throw. Now there's a pic! Apparently it was rather tricky because the number of crochet stitches does not match the number of knit stitches or rows.

I mentioned at the same time that his wife Lynn said she was going to make a crocheted throw using the same colors. Here the two are together. 

Rebecca's projects

Here are three of Rebecca's designs. She really does come up with cute toddler designs.

The purple coat has a tricky loopy stitch: not that it's so hard but it really slows you down. The stitch is dense and should really keep a kid warm.

The vest is just so festive you smile when you look at it. We kind of  thought a hat would make a spiffy ensemble. (if there's enough yarn left over). Then there's the scarf. It makes me giggle. Must be that fur. I know the scarf is destined for donation.

Both of these items are made in that diagonal stitch. Shelli is off to a good start on her diagonal afghan and now Chris thinks she might be interested in trying this stitch. Whatever is it's allure?