theraineysisters knitting and so much more

I went to the Knitters Guild meeting tonight.  The guest speaker was Inger Fredholm, Swedish knitting designer.  She has an exhibit starting this weekend at the Swedish American Institute in Minneapolis.  I signed up for her European Lace class on Friday afternoon.  She is a lovely woman and appears to be very talented.  I am really looking forward to the class and the reception/exhibit opening that follows.  Her book is called “Knitting with a Smile.”  She had them for sale at the meeting, but I’ll get 20% off on Friday so I decided to wait.  More on her, the book and the class later.

As you may remember, the mitten exchange was also this evening.  MANY of the knitters (most of the knitters) expressed the same level of frustration that I felt in trying to make their mittens.  One woman did not finish her mittens, did not come to the meeting and sent the unfinished mittens with a note saying she would never come back (?).  We figured she became part of the Knitter Protection Program for people too embarrassed by their knitting problems to be seen knitting in public again :(.

I received a gorgeous pair of mittens in the yarn I submitted — Rowan Tapestry.  The knitter (and I am sorry that I do not know her name) also expressed frustration with the yarn I gave her — she said it was thin and rather too soft.  It is DK weight I think and is very soft.  It is a fairly new yarn and I had never knit with it before so I didn’t really know how it would knit up.  She lightly felted them and I LOVE them!  They were my favorite mittens of the night and I am very happy with them.

So, now, as promised, here are pictures of “the infamous mittens.”  I’m sure you will just say to yourself, “Oh.”  There is nothing special or un-special about them.  They are plain old, seen ’em before, whatever !? mittens.

A close up of the “embellishment:”

The mittens aren’t that special but I fell in love with pompoms!  I made these little cuties with the following new tool:

They are beautiful AND easy, just like it says on the package.  I may go crazy for pom poms or pom pons or pompoms (your choice).  My husband could not see the attraction, but I told him they are so out that they’re in.   

So, there you go – I am now off the hook and feelin’ fine, never to do a mitten exchange again.  If you ever hear me say even in jest that I want to participate in a mitten exchange, please call the Knitter Protection Program without delay!! ;) 

 

I finished both mittens last night and did an embellishment that I think took the mitts to the next level (of Dante’s Inferno?!?).  They are done, and now I can move on to other knitting.  I plan on working on Oregon this afternoon, as it has been neglected terribly the last few weeks.  I am so close to the armhole steek that it is a shame not to press onward.  I will post some pics soon.  We have not had any long posts or pictures in a while!

 to Sterling today :).

Knit Out 2006 is history and what a fun day it was!!  As Patsy Fisk (the main organizer) put it, on a scale from 1 to 10 it was an eleven!  Patsy worked tirelessly to make the event a success.  Brookdale staff went out of their way to be gracious and accommodating.  The rotunda has a huge dome which brought in a lot of natural light.  There was a lot of foot traffic and many curious passers by. 

Most of my pictures did not turn out, but here are a couple more:

This is a picture of the Yarn Garage Booth.  They were the only shop that brought their wares, and I do think other shops made a mistake by not having a presence at the event.  They had so much fun stuff to look at and buy.  Very creative people.

There were fashion shows on the hour and thank goodness Lori Ihnen took the reins and handled that part of the program.  Here is Lori modelling Sally’s Debbie Bliss “Lara” cardigan:

It looked great on Lori — she added the knitted flower.  The coral color of the shell she was wearing made the Lara cardigan pop.  Very nice!  You may know Lori’s name because she is a published author and knitting designer. 

I don’t have her book (yet) but I know it is wonderful.  I’ve seen the trunk show.

Emily M. of our Thursdays at Four knitting group won the fastest knitter contest — way to go, Emily!!  She won a free Knitters Guild membership.  Her “picker” opponent was a very young and talented girl named Maddy.  She may have been all of ten years old, but she beat out the other pickers!  She was thrashed by Emily in the stockinette round, however.  Good job, Maddy — maybe work on your purling for next year.

Other Thursdays at Four attendees included Birthday Girl Linda, Deb, Lynne, Mary, Idonis, Barb, and Deirdre — I hope I did not leave anyone out :(.  We were also joined by my St. Paul knitting peeps: Julie, Mary and Marilyn.  Plus many other familiar faces, old friends and new.  It was a wonderful day of networking and basking in the warmth of the knitting community.  Wow! 

See you next year!!