Hi Everyone
I’ve now heard from Court Moor School, and we definitely won’t be able to meet in September. The jury is still out for October onwards so we’ll just have to wait and see. It really depends on how things progress (or not!) over the coming weeks.
My understanding is that the current guidelines allow for groups of up to 6 people from different households to meet together outside so long as they socially distance. So if anyone would like to meet up under those conditions then please let me know and suggest somewhere to meet. Depending on the response it might be possible to arrange something.
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Before I move on to anything else I must pass on an important message from
The Knitting & Crochet Guild
This has been an unconventional year. It’s over four months since we were able to hold normal Branch meetings. We have had to cancel two dates for the Convention, and it is still not clear whether the rules around planned return of business meetings and conferences in October will allow gatherings like our Branch meetings.
These unconventional times have led us all to adopt unconventional ways of doing things, and having to cancel our main event – Convention – for this year has left us with a big gap to fill. So, we are keeping up the theme of the year and holding an Un-Convention.
Our Un-Convention will be held online from Wednesday 9th to Tuesday 15th September and has three primary aims:
1. to give something back to members in this unusual year
2. to show the wider public what the Guild can offer
3. to leave a legacy of digital material that can be used by Branches and members in the coming years
We realise that not all members will have the facilities to take part, but many will. And with public libraries re-opening, even those without internet connections at home will have access to some of what we do.
During the seven day event new content will be released every day and, where the provider of the content allows it, we will keep it available for as long after Un-Convention as we can.
Un-Convention will be open to all yarn lovers but interactive sessions will available to Guild members only. The event will include:
· presentations by keynote speakers (that will be recorded)
· videos prepared especially for Un-Convention that cover a wide range of topics about crochet, machine knitting and hand knitting topics
· interactive workshops that will allow people to learn new skills
· new demonstration and information videos that people can view when it suits them
· discussions with members in the Face book Group and Instagram
· Show & Tell
· an area for members to link to their own web pages and for those without one to share their ideas through the Un-Convention web site
· recognising that these are difficult times, there will also be an area for members with yarn-related businesses to link to their business websites
· the AGM on 12 September
Sally and I have both recorded videos of machine knitting so we hope you will pop in to the Un-Convention and watch them. When I last looked there were 7 keynote events, 15 or so interactive events, and over 30 videos to watch during the week long event. You can check what’s happening and when either via the KCG website events page or http://b.link/kcg-unconvention. Participation at the interactive events is limited to members and you must register to take part. Things are being added and updated all the time so expect changes between now and then. I’m sure you’ll recognize other names there too such as Erica Thomson and Anne Lavene and Jane Harrisson.
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We may have decided not to holiday abroad this year, but we can take a quick trip around the world of knitting without the need to quarantine on our return!
How many techniques are named after a country? I found an Icelandic bind off, a German heel and a Japanese heel for socks. There is also a Dutch knitting stitch and Dutch Pyramids stitch plus plenty of others if you look for them.
Many countries and areas have particular styles of knitting names after them. Nordic counties (Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, and Norway ) as well as Latvia, Spain are just some of them. Portugal has it’s own style of knitting which is different from both English and Continental.
Islands around Great Britain and Ireland have their own unique style of knitting and there is plenty written about them. Search for an island and knitting and you’re sure to find it’s subtly different to other islands.
We mustn’t forget French knitting. Did you have a colourful wooden dolly, or an old cotton reel and 4 nails bashed into it? And why is it called French Knitting? It can sometimes called spool knitting, but is it the same as i-cord knitting? The techniques have been compared here.
As I was looking for the links for this I found a website that indicates that the Dutch also knitted ganseys for their fishermen that are very similar to the ones knitted for our fishermen. This website is about English ganseys. I’d need to do a bit more research to work out which came first!
We mustn’t forget crochet on our trip! Did you know that Tunisian crochet probably didn’t originate in Tunisia? The some of the books referred to in this article can be found on line in the Southampton Knitting Library/archive that I’ve linked to before.
Morocco has a crochet stitch named after it, and there is also an Alpine stitch.
In almost every country that I virtually visited, women knit as they walk, tend their animals and wait for their men to return.
Weighing yarn
Not a problem for balls and skeins but many of us use coned yarn and often have some left when a project is completed. So how do you know if you have enough for another project? In an ideal world we’d have weighed the first completed project before washing (including the scraps to be thrown away), done our sums by taking that weight away from the weight of the yarn purchased and written the amount remaining inside the cone. But how many of us actually do that? Not many I suspect.
We can put yarn that isn’t on a cone onto your kitchen scales and get a reasonably accurate weight but when the yarn is on a cone how much should we take off for the cone itself?
Do you just guess, or do you want something more specific? Jane Stafford Textiles has weighted a variety of cones and put the results (metric and imperial) on her website. Now all we need to do is identify the type of cone and do the sums. Jane is a weaver but the information is relevant to us machine knitters too.
Browsing the World Wide Web
Crafting Fashion with Olgalyn Jolly has lots of useful information about cut & sew for both hand and machine knitters .
Are you a Dr Who fan. If so you might like this page from the BBC America webpage for the Dr Who Knitting Circle
In Issue 5 I mentioned that hand knitting needles made from different materials will affect your tension. Interesting article from Knit Darling giving the results of an experiment Alexis carried out with four different sets of needles
For machine knitters – this a blog from Charm Knits with some rather nice edgings.
If you’ve got time to spare then visit the Knitting Machine Museum. Maggie has a vast collection of machines, many in working condition and regularly used. Don’t forget to read her blog where she tells you about them.
If you’re asked to knit socks for others then this page from MyJewelThief Knits could be useful as it gives charts for lengths for shoes sizes.
How do you join in a new ball of yarn? This page from CreateLaughGrow shows you how to do a magic knot.
We all carry water bottles when were out and about. Little House in Colorado has a crochet pattern for a bottle carrier that can be adjus
ted for most water bottles. Ideal for children too.
Show and Tell
Just two items to show this time! And both came in just as I was finishing writing this edition. Maybe it’s been too hot to knit.
Nina emailed with a photograph of her latest garment. She said: I've finally completed the latest jumper! It's knitted using my standard knit radar pattern and the yarn is The Terry Look by Sirdar. It's a balled yarn that I picked up at one of the clubs a while ago! So not sure how old it is. It's a nice texture and I'm sure it will be well worn although probably not until it's a bit cooler.
I will look forward to seeing you wearing it Nina
Carole send a photo of dungarees and wrote: Not knitting but a project that has been waiting a repair. Not a very good photo I’m afraid My current project is a crocheted cardigan for me and it is not going well but I shall persevere.
Thank you both. Please keep sending me your photos and a description of your knitting, crochet and craft projects. We all like to see them.
Show News
With the autumn shows approaching the situation is changing almost by the week. Organisers are make decisions now for shows scheduled for the remainder of this year and into 2021. Here’s a quick round up of what I found:
The Southern Wool Show at Newbury has been cancelled. The dates for 2021 are 4th & 5th September.
· Bath & West October Show - 15th to 17th October 2020 - Postponed
· Bath & West April Show - Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th April 2021 with more halls and areas being used
· Westpoint, Exeter Show – the February 2021 show has moved to Thursday 29th April to Sunday 2nd May 2021 (adding an extra day).
Crafting Live all shows cancelled/postponed till next year. The 2021 dates are
· Sandown 23 & 24 Jan (since writing this has changed - see website)
· Doncaster 11 & 12 July
· Peterborough 15 & 16 Oct
The Knitting and Stitching Show Special Edition is currently planning to go ahead at Alexandra Palace, but very differently to previously. Timed tickets for morning or afternoons, a limited number of stalls and if you sign up for a workshop you don’t get automatic entry to the rest of the show. Dublin and Harrogate 2020 have been cancelled.
Create-It at Farnborough in mid-September is still not confirmed and tickets are not on sale.
Creative Craft Shows will either be on-line in September or by am or pm ticket at shows in October and November according to their website.
Some of the shows are planning towards going on line so even though you wouldn’t normally visit Yarndale you might be able to virtually visit it.
Not a great deal to show for the last few weeks, but I’ve been busy! I’ve spent lots of time planning and recording a video for the Knitting & Crochet Guild un-Conference. I recorded it in 4 parts and then Dave helped me edit them together and add titles. Luckily I’d said that I was going to stop the camera and reposition it so it all joined ok but it was a learning experience for us both! We did draw the line at adding music to the introduction though! All in all it took over 50 goes to get the various parts recorded satisfactorily! I stuttered, dropped stitches, mumbled, forgot what I was supposed to say or there was a loud noise in the back ground! Still I got there in the end. It was definitely an experience, and I won’t be quite so apprehensive if I do it again.
I did find that the hot weather limited most activity. We have learnt from past experience that keeping windows and doors open in the hope of catching any breeze is not the best way to stay cool. We not lovers of fans either as we find them noisy and you need to sit close to feel any benefit (or maybe we aren’t willing to buy the best for just a few days a year!) So early morning we opened every door and window we could, and let the cooler air from outside cool the house as much as it could. As the sun rose and the air warmed everything was closed up and curtains drawn to keep the sun out. It worked - we managed to keep the house up to 7o cooler that outside. We opened up again late evening when it cooled outside! The only drawback was that it was not bright enough in doors for crafting and I didn’t want to turn lights on as they can be hot! But I’m not sure that I really wanted to craft in the heat anyway.
One thing I did make was a band to go round my rather plain crochet sunhat. What I forgot was that it was under tension as I wove it and once off the Inklette it was a centimetres or so shorter than I’d measured in work! It will go round the hat when not on my head but if I put it on it’s rather too tight for comfort. I’m not sure I like the contrast of the navy and jade with the cream now, so I’ll have another go with different colours and use this band for something else.
I’ve also continued making cards as that’s also something I can sit quietly and do!
Now, let us take a deep breath
and forge on into the future;
knitting at the ready.
Elizabeth Zimmerman
Until we meet again
Keep Calm
and carry on
Knitting or Crocheting!
Stay Alert, Control the Virus, Save Lives
Stay Positive, Keep Active - We will meet again
