Word of the Year West Coast Knitters’...

WEST COAST KNITTERS’ NEWS

Recently, I have encountered several Word of the Year articles; some for a word that stands out in the year past and others to select a word of inspiration for the year to come. This got me thinking about a word of the year for the 2011 knitting community. A lot has happened this year that was a carryover from the year before. Socks are still a big hit (Sock would be my word for 2010), as are shawls and shawlettes. Charity knitting is still an activity for most knitters. The attraction to hand dyed yarns is still there. The increasing number of knitters can easily support a variety of interests but none of these really stands out.

Digital is my word of the year for the 2011 knitting community. In the digital world, the old and the new have merged very well. The number of e-books and apps available in-creases daily. Knitters Magazine, Vogue Knit-ting, our newsletter are now available in digital subscriptions, new knitting e-mags are popping up, and many of our favourite books are being digitized so knitters can carry their knitting libraries on their laptops.

The Internet has been a fantastic means of communicating for knitters around the world but, apps at your fingertips for knitting needle

collections, for calculating the amount of yarn required for a garment, for keeping track of projects, and apps for all things knitting are just too good to ignore.

Where will we go from here?

Happy Knitting and Crocheting New Year!

Word of the Year

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Editor: Paulette Lane 604-730-4628 [email protected], [email protected]

Contributors: Anna Knowlson, Valerie Pollock, Mariela Johansen, Y Emmons, Bev Gray, Agnes Mertin

Distribution: Janet Crawford, Stephanie Langley Published 6 times per year. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

January 2012

Volume 14 Issue 1

Whole number 78

President’s Message 4

Show and Share 4

Sweet Georgia Yarns 5

Nova House Needs 6

Yarn Swapping Part 4 7

Guild Members Charity Knitting 8

Woollen hotel room 9

Our Back Pages 10

Why We Knit 10

Calendar of Events 11

Baby Sweater with Button-on Bib 12

Overview of November Meeting

What’s Inside

Courtesy of Anna Knowlson Mariela welcomed 53 members and guests: New member, Joanne Westman, her second time here, has been knitting since the age of ten, and is glad to be in a room full of knitters. New member, Karen Holden works at Three Bags Full and has been knitting since the age of nine or ten. Guest, Shirley Milligan from Nanaimo, was visiting family in the area and dropped in to say “hello”.

The Purple Cap Knitting Campaign saw over 5,000 caps collected in BC putting BC among the top three leaders in contributions! Utah was

first with 6,866; North Carolina was second with 7,500; and we were third with 5,078. Kan-sas ranked a close fourth with 5,000; and Ore-gon was fifth with 4,300. There is more infor-mation on the Click for Babies website: http://clickforbabies.org/ The Children's Hospi-tal sent the Guild a thank you letter for participating.

Mariela received a request from Judy Bulengier for someone to mend or re-knit a stocking inher-ited from her Grandmother. It needs about eight

(Continued on page 2)


West Coast Knitters’ News is published 6 times per year. Contributions are welcome and encouraged. If you have read a good knitting book or magazine, have an interesting story to tell about your knitting or travels with your knitting or another knitter's knitting, or how you found the WCK, if you have a knitting tip or learned something from a book or another knitter that enlightened you, or if you have an idea for the newsletter or a complaint, I would like to hear about it. If you have something knitting or fibre related to sell, you can reach all the members with a free ad in the newsletter. If you have a fibre related business, we accept advertising from members or fibre related shops for a nominal fee.

To make a contribution, ask a question or ask for assistance in preparing a contribution, contact Paulette at 604-730-4628 or [email protected]

Deadline for submissions is the 15th of the month previous to publication:

December 15 for the January newsletter February 15 for the March newsletter April 15 for the May newsletter June 15 for the July newsletter August 15 for the September newsletter October 15 for the November newsletter

The Guild meets the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 pm in the Oakridge Centre, 41st and Cambie, Vancouver in the Seniors Room. Annual Membership: $25 per year September to August. Associate Membership is $12 per year to receive the newsletter and registration notification for workshops. [email protected] www.westcoasknitters.org

President - Mariela Johansen

Past President - Bev Gray

Vice-President - Edita Michalek

Treasurer - Lorna Brown

Secretary and Recorder - Anna Knowlson

Membership - Jane Stringer

Newsletter Editor - Paulette Lane

Distribution - Janet Crawford, Stephanie Langley

Web Editor - Anne Walsh

Members at Large - Elizabeth Purves, Mary Scott, Janet Crawford

Workshops - Holli Yeoh, Edita Michalek

Show & Tell - Valerie Pollock

Door Prizes– Eileen Kitamura

Executive -The following members volunteer their time to make the guild better.

inches of re-knitting.

Another request comes from George Pearson Centre. The residents are always cold because of their physical condi-tions. The request is for good patterns for arm and leg warmers, and recommendations for suitable yarns. Please send suggestions to Mariela.

Margaret Ventakaya and her team of knitters created over 80 caps for the Seaman’s Mission, and about 160 for the Union Gospel Mission. Margaret expressed heartfelt thanks to the knitters for this generous contribution.

Bev Gray brought the balls of yarn and general pattern in-structions for the green and off-white Afghan planned for the Knitters' Guild 20th Anniversary Afghan. Bev will as-semble the squares that members knit.

Holli Yeoh reminded us that the Donna Druchunas Work-shops are only a short week and a half after the November meeting! We were reminded that the Friday evening lecture is included in the workshop fee. But the lecture alone is $10 in advance or at the door. Another volunteer is needed for that weekend – please see Holli or Edita – for volunteering you will get a lunch and be able to eavesdrop on a work-shop, and get 25% off the fee. Someone is needed to make coffee in the morning, at lunch and in the afternoon. Sup-plies are available.

Bring books for Donna to sign. Needle Arts Books has Donna’s books in stock.

Lorna Brown talked about the Dunbar Fall Craft Fair. There

will be over 120 tables of hand-made craft work that has been selected by jury. We will be in room 212 upstairs and need people to sign up for two-hour shifts. Lorna reminded us that this is our major effort to raise funds for the Guild’s annual Nova House donation. A representative of Nova House will receive the cheque at our December meeting. Members can buy items remaining from the craft sale at the December meeting.

Y Emmons reminded us that there is a crochet group at Wool and Wicker on Tuesdays at 7 pm. She also recom-mended a book for learning crochet, called Teach Yourself Visually Crochet by Cecily Keim.

Special guest, Felicia Lo of Sweet Georgia Yarns gave a very interesting presentation. Aren’t we glad she decided to dye yarn instead of bake bread?

Reminder that the December meeting is our annual Pot Luck Social. Please remember that it starts a little earlier, at 6:30 pm.

Thought for the month: With regard to a workshop: “One woman had the good sense to bring a hiker's head-lamp so that she could keep a sharper eye on her work. This genius stroke was mitigated by how fiercely others were blinded when she looked up, but every great idea has some bugs to be worked out.” - Adrienne Martini, Sweater Quest: my year of knitting dangerously



Overview of December Meeting Courtesy of Anna Knowlson

Mariela gave a special thanks to all those who so generously helped to make two recent events such successes. In particu-lar, Holli Yeoh and Edita Michalek for their hard work in pulling together the November workshops and Lorna Brown for organizing the Dunbar Craft Faire sale.

Lorna Brown brought items that were left over from the sale for members to purchase at the beginning of the meeting.

The Seymour Art Gallery, FibreEssence & WAVe (Wearable Arts Vancouver) will present The Art of Fashion. This is a call for entries by December 14th and participation in the second Art of Fashion show and sale, to be held at the Artemis Studio Gallery and The Seymour Art Gallery in Deep Cove, North Vancouver, on Sunday, April 1, 2012. A designer will choreograph the fashion show. Show and sale to take place between 2 and 4:30 pm, and refreshments will be served at both locations. Any questions please contact the show committee: Joyce Redford, [email protected] Ros Aylmer, [email protected] www.vgfa.org/NewWebsite/callArtofFashion.htm

FibreEssence call for entry - Cherry Blossoms: a Textile Translation. April 17 to 29, 2012 at the Silk Purse Gallery, 1570 Argyle Ave, West Vancouver. Entries can be 48 inches wide or smaller, and follow the cherry blossom theme using anything from real petals to the suggestion of pink in an abstract design. Original work only; functional pieces as well as wall pieces are welcome. Deadline, March 19, 2012. For more detailed information, contact Judy Villett at 604-215-8537, or [email protected]

Mittens are needed for a lady dying of cancer. Mittens were chosen from the sale items brought back from the Dunbar Craft Sale.

At the Donna Druchunas workshops, Elaine Yee was re-sponsible for the food, Edita Melchek hosted Donna. Loraine Matsuo and Bev Grey also played important roles. Holli tells us that there was an excellent turnout and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. It was a great work-shop. Participants said that it was presented as advertized, it was a good venue, the information was useful, the notes were good, refreshments were good and the catered lunch was appreciated, and that we learned more than we ex-pected. Eighty-five percent of attendees were Guild mem-bers. We think that Donna would be an excellent Honourary Canadian.

Holli reminded us that our workshop fees were an excellent deal in comparison to similar workshops. The Madrona Winter Retreat is coming up in February at twice the price. The Sock Summit charges $75 per class.

Holli hopes that Lucy Neatby will be a possibility for a workshop in the Fall of 2013.

Holli announced that one of her patterns is the leading pat-tern in the coming issue of Knit Simple magazine.

Regarding the Craft Sale, Lorna reported that although the weather, the room and the people were the same as last year, sales increased by $600, for a total of $1,500. The yarn, the work, and the creativity were big pluses in addition to the materials and labour donated by members! Other factors may have been the prediction of cold weather by the mete-orologists, and that we knew in advance what would sell well and members contributed accordingly. Popular items were Christmas ornaments, Portage and Main hats, and toys.

Special Guest, Rebecca Avendano, Director of Develop-ment and External Relations, Nova House comes to this po-sition after being in the Community Education Program for six years. She answered questions about Nova House and received the Guild’s cheque in the amount of $2000.

Nova House is a ten bedroom shelter for women and chil-dren fleeing violence. It is a unique service in Richmond. Women can stay thirty days; advocates and support workers help them find jobs and housing. They have programs for the prevention of teen violence. Newcomers to Canada sometimes find themselves in a position where they are earning more than their husband, which can add to the stress the family is already experiencing as newcomers.

A member wanted to know how many women go back to a troubled relationship. The answer was that for some women it is very difficult to break the cycle of violence. They might return to Nova house as many as six times. They may have to leave the area entirely, which means leaving behind an extended family and community as well as the abuser.

A member asked if Nova House was still working with sen-iors. The answer was that yes, Nova House is still helping seniors file papers, deal with disability applications, etc.

Thought for those who are madly knitting to finish pre-sents: “The only place where knitting comes before house-work is in the dictionary.” Anonymous

Knotted Tail Measure—Before cutting the cast-on tail, tie knots at milestone lengths for an instant ruler. For example. bottom border is 2.5 inches, knit 4 inches plain, start decreasing, and work until piece is 10 inches from cast-on edge. Tie a knot at 2.5, 4 and 10 inches.


November Show & Tell by Valerie Pollock

Y Emmons shared the rose pink cuffs that she made for her sawed-off boots. She has been working sleight of boot magic with her crocheting: practice, practice, practice! She is mastering the single crochet, half double crochet and the astoundingly quick double crochet. In the future, she wishes to crochet in circles to make flowers.

Anna Knowlson was preparing for the Donna Druchunas workshop by practicing a lace pattern from her Arctic Lace book. She decided she needed to create a chart holder for lace patterns, which she made fro repurposed computer parts! She used on side of an optical drive and the tiny strong magnets found on either side of the lens of an optical drive – and voilà! Lace chart holder extraordinaire.

Mary Scott showed us some of the very cute dinosaurs in multi-coloured purples, blues and blue greens that she has knit for the craft sale. The Knoon pattern dinos were knit in wool alpaca.

Holli Yeoh shared the Sock Monkey Halloween costume that she made for her son. Using men’s grey, white and red woolen work socks, she pieced the costume together based on instructions found at instructables.com. Using Peruvian Highland yarn from elann.com, Holli knit a scarf and finger-less mitts for her sixteen-year-old niece. She adapted an ex-isting scarf pattern, and used the chart from the Rowan Un-ion Jack scarf chart at the bottom, backed by a pocket to hide the back side of the colourwork. Using the chart again, she threw together the mittens on the fly! The colours she used for this great project were Slate, Garnet, Indigo and Bisque. We also got a sneak peak at an upcoming pattern for Entrelac gloves that Holli will be publishing soon. Knit in Noro Silk Garden Light in turquoise and copper.

Linda Hull had two projects to show us. The first, Rose’s Caponcho by Emma Fassio is a free pattern on Ravelry.com. The caponcho is knit from the top down with a long cowl

increasing for the shoulders and to the end of the garment. The original pattern is knit in stocking stitch to the bottom, therefore has a rolled edge. Linda preferred 4” of single rib at the bottom as per the shop sample at Three Bags Full. The points can be worn in the front or to the sides, but Linda prefers wearing the points to the side. Knit in grey Aslan Trends King Baby Llama and Mulberry Silk, holding two strands together, it took exactly four balls. Linda started off with 8 mm needles and then went down to 7 mm for the rib-bing. It seems a bit loose, but the softness of the yarn is to die for. She couldn’t put the project down, so many other projects were sidelined. She has some Americo Dehaired Llama that she had planned to use for a second caponcho, but after finding some interesting variations of the poncho on Ravelry she might use some stashed yarn instead. Emma Fassio has a new poncho called Ginevra Caponcho, which may end up with the Dehaired Llama.

The second project that Linda showed us was one of three knit by Carole Szabo. Linda, Bev Gray and Lorraine Ma-tsuo modeled their off-white lace fichu/capelets in soft mo-hair. The pattern was by Debbie Bliss, and the lace was light and airy.

A few heartfelt thanks.

Many members of the Guild participated in the very well received workshops presented by Donna Druchunas in Novem-ber. The workshops were extremely informative and introduced us to new techniques and novel ways of thinking about our knitting. Thanks are especially to Holli Yeoh, who took the lead in organizing the sessions, and Edita Michalek, who handled registration and hosted Donna. We are also grateful to Elaine Yee, Bev Gray, and Lorraine Matsuo for helping behind the scenes with coffee and refreshments.

The annual craft sale at the Dunbar Community Centre was a great success, much of it due to the hard work done by Lorna Brown. As in years past, she took the lead in getting it organized, overseeing our table, and keeping track of the finances. On the day of the sale she was helped by Deirdre Arscott, Polly Evenden, Irene Martin, Anne Patterson, Eliza-beth Purves, Mary Scott, and Lynn Westwood. Two Guild members, Margaret Davis and Janice Waller, knit up a storm and contributed a large number of items for the sale. Our thanks go out to all of them for their collective efforts, which raised a grand total of $1521 from sales at one modest 4’x8’ table! Plus an additional $173 was collected from sales at the Christmas meeting for a grand total of $1694. The costs were $151.68 for a profit of $1543.32.

President’s Message


Felicia Lo gave us a wonderful slide-show presentation of her work, complete with an abundance of yarns and many samples of knitted work.

Felicia runs Sweet Georgia Yarns, an artisan yarn company that she launched in 2005. At present she has twelve kinds of yarn or fibre, and fifty-six hand-dyed colours.

Initially, Felicia went to the Vogue Knitting Conference in San Francisco. She began writing a knitting blog, and things grew from there. In 2005 she started learning how to dye her own yarn. She is passionate, relentless, and unapologetic about her interest in yarns, colours, spinning, weaving and dying. She has found that she learned so much more when she learned to dye the yarn herself.

The name “Sweet Georgia” was originally what she would have called her bakery, if she had continued to develop her interest in baking. Instead she went further in the direction of yarn dying, and used the name for the yarn company.

Vancouver is her inspiration for colour. That is, as winter approaches, we need more colour to off-set the winter greys. She mentioned that Kaffe Fassett also said that when work-ing in London, he had to conjure colour out of the greyness there. Interestingly, Felicia's father is an academic and a painter from Toronto. He came to Vancouver to paint the water and mountains. This leap of faith was an inspiration to Felicia, who actually has a degree in Pharmaceutical Science from UBC. She admired her father's passion for his own art, and that has helped her to pursue artistic interests, too.

While at UBC, Felicia became obsessed with Ballroom Dancing, and competed for six years. She says watching Ballroom Dancing is like watching racehorses in action: every detail is perfect and exquisite. The vivid ballroom cos-tume colours inspired her choice of colours for the Sweet Georgia yarns.

In September of 2005, she began learning to dye by wrap-ping the yarn in saran wrap, and then blogging about the experience. People wanted to buy her yarn. In November of

2008, she opened her studio in a working studio-apartment. on east 4th Avenue. At present there are five people in the 750 square foot studio and store. To visit the studio, you must buzz the number at the entry-way and go up to the apartment on the fourth floor, #401-228 East 4th Avenue near Main.

Felicia dyes natural fibres using wool of different breeds, mohair, silk, cashmere. Although, there is some nylon in the sock yarn. Specific wools come from Britain and New Zea-land. Spinning is also taught at the studio, although these days most of the studio space is used for drying yarn and preparing warps for weaving. Felicia uses so much room for the yarn that she no longer has space to do her own weaving. The kitchen of the studio apartment is used purely for dying yarn! After the yarn has been soaked, dyed, heat set and rinsed, it takes an afternoon in the summer and two days in winter to properly dry the yarn or fibre.

Felicia showed us slides of a third generation Indigo dyer in Japan, and talked about alternative fibres, and hand-painting natural dyes onto fibre. Hand-painting is a time consuming process, but the results are wonderful.

Sweet Georgia offers a yarn club, a sock yarn club, and a fibre club. Members get a surprise every month – this pushes everyone to try something different. Felicia showed us a “Wet Coast” Winter Colour Way done for the Olympics. She did custom dying for the film “Little Red Riding Hood”, which had hand-crafted props on the set. She also does cus-tom dying for weddings – for instance she showed us a bride's wedding shawl, which required six skeins of cash-mere-silk lace weight yarn. The free pattern is available online.

She has designed scarf and hat patterns while waiting at the border to go to Ballard Washington for dying workshops. She designs lovely patterns such as Creekside Cables Hat, North Wind Hat, and the Ballard Slouch Hat, all seen online at her beautifully designed website. www.sweetgeorgiayarns.com/ Twitter: HeySweetGeorgia

Sweet Georgia Yarns Anna Knowlson

President: Mariela Johansen [email protected] Vice-president: Edita Michalek [email protected] Membership: Jane Stringer - [email protected], Newsletter editor: Paulette Lane [email protected] General information or comments [email protected] Comments can also be posted on the guild website, www.westcoastknitters.org

Guild Contact e-mails


Guild Friendly Yarn Shops offer 10% discount on yarn to guild members.

Show your membership card before making your purchase.

Baad Anna’s, 2667 East Hastings, Vancouver BC V5K 1Z5 604-255-2577 Beehive Wool Shop, 1700 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC V8W 2G7 250-385-2727, 1-888-334-9005 Black Sheep Yarns, 88 Grant Street, Port Moody, BC V3H 0B6 778-355-9665 88 Stitches, #602-21183-88th Ave, Langley, BC V1M 2B5 604-888-6689 Gina Brown Yarns, 3424 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6R 2B3 604-734-4840 Grand Prix Hobbies 3038 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC, V6K 2H1 604-733-7114 Homecraft Importers, 2348 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6K 1P1 604-738-2614 Knitopia Wools Company, #1411 Hillcrest Mall, 1457 Johnston Rd, White Rock, BC V4B 3Z4 778-294-5440 Maiwa Handprints Ltd., #6 1666 Johnston St., Granville Island, Vancouver, BCV6H 3S2 604-669-3939 Needle & Arts Centre, 910 Island Highway, Campbell River, BC V9W 2C3 250-287-8898, 1-888-588-7834 Pagan Yarns, 112 Hilchey Road, Campbell River, BC V9W 1P4 250-923-2780 Penelope Fibre Arts, 16055-8th Avenue, Surrey, BC V4A 1A1 778-292-1282 Shan's Needleworks, Suite 101-624 Columbia Street, New Westminster, BC V3L 1X6 604-526-2637 Three Bags Full, 4458 Main Street, Vancouver, BC V5V 3R3 604-874-WOOL/604-874-9665 Unwind Knit and Fibre Lounge, #8, 1161 Sunshine Coast Highway, Gibsons BC V0N 1V4 604.886.1418 Urban Yarns, 4437 West 10th Avenue, Vancouver, BC V6R 2H8 604-228-1122 Wool & Wicker, #120-12051 Second Avenue, Richmond, BC 604-275-1239, 1-877-966-5949

Nova House Needs Nova House is a transition house offering safe shelter, advo-cacy, emotional support and information for women and their children, who are escaping violence in intimate relationships. It was opened by CHIMO Crisis Services in 1981.

CHIMO Crisis Services has been providing services to in-dividuals and families since 1973. CHIMO grew out of the results of a needs assessment in the early 1970’s. With Richmond’s increasing population and diversity, it was clear that local crisis and suicide intervention services were needed. Today, these include volunteer staffed crisis lines in English, Mandarin and Cantonese and professional coun-seling to children and adults of all ages.

CHIMO is funded by the provincial government but with-out the financial support of community groups like ours, they would not be able to offer the current depth of service.

Women and children often arrive at Nova House with noth-ing but the clothes they are wearing. On arrival, during their stay, and on departure, the residents are provided with personal items of necessity.

Arrival packages (the first gift a woman receives on arriv-ing at Nova House) - slippers (all sizes), housecoats (all sizes), shampoo, deodorant, and other personal care items, nightwear, underwear (new), towels (new), socks, gloves,

scarves, children's toys or games (some of these are given as birthday gifts during a child's stay at the house).

Support packages (to help a woman get back on her feet) - bus tickets, food vouchers, drug store vouchers, multi-vitamins, coffee coupons, movie passes, restaurant cou-pons, taxi coupons, shoulder bags, lunch totes, backpacks, umbrellas.

Departure packages (the gift that lasts) - totes and bags as above, luggage, food vouchers and gift certificates of all kinds, linens (new), flatware, cleaning products.

Packaged, non-perishable food items, including special Asian and South Asian non-perishables such as rice are also needed.

Many of these items cost little but make a big difference. Next time you are in the grocery or drug store, or see a good sale for any of the items listed above, pick up one of two items for Nova House and deliver it to the address below.

CHIMO accepts donations all year not only at Christmas. Financial donations receive a tax receipt—win/win.

CHIMO Crisis Services 120-7000 Minoru Blvd, Richmond, BC V6Y 3Z5 270-4911, Fax: 270-4915, TTY: 270-4900 www.chimocrisis.com [email protected]

“She picked up her knitting and went to work putting her single daily stitch into a sweater that had gone out of style twenty years ago...” Who Censored Roger Rabbit by Gary Wolf


West Coast Knitters Guild 20th Anniversary Afghan In celebration of the Guild's 20th anniversary in 2011, members were asked to create 10 inch/25.5 cm squares of their own choice of pattern to be assembled into an afghan. The Guild supplied the yarn, twentieth anniversary emerald green and off white, and Bev Gray will assemble the squares. All the yarn was distributed at the November meeting and al-ready the squares are starting to come in. The afghan will be raffled in 2012 with the proceeds going to Nova House.

Beyond gauge, yardage, and accurate swatches, you must always keep in mind: Does your substitute yarn match the overall look and feel of the original one?

For example, if your original pattern uses a smooth yarn to highlight the pattern's elaborate stitchwork, you want to stick with a similarly smooth substitute.

Yarn Swapping: Tips for Headache-Free Yarn Substitutions This five-part series was originally published online in Clara Parke’s Knitter's Review in January 24, 2002, and was reprised on February 22, 2011. Reprinted with permission. www.knittersreview.com Submitted by Bev Gray

Part 4: Textural and Aesthetic Considerations

Likewise, if the original yarn has any special texture, you'll want to respect this. Examples of textured yarns include bouclé, slubby, thick-and-thin, furry, eyelash, or other nov-elty yarns. Depending on the pattern, even brushed mohair could fall into this category.

If your pattern calls for such yarns, pay extra attention to finding a similar-textured replacement. It will make a difference.

Different Spins Even seemingly simple yarns can produce different surface textures, drapes, and stitch definitions depending on how they are spun. The subjects of twist, ply, and fibers make up the heart of my book, The Knitter's Book of Yarn.

Bottom line: The more plies you add to a yarn, the more rounded it becomes and the greater definition it gives to your stitches. Yarns made up of many plied strands plied together, such as Alchemy Monarch or Prism Merino 12, tend to produce the most spongy fabrics with bright, clear stitches. Yarns with four and even three plies still render your stitches with fullness and clarity.

But when you get down to just two plies, things change. The ply shadows deepen, and your stitches take on a slightly wobbly, cobblestoned look. Pure stockinette in a two-ply yarn—especially one whose plies are tightly twisted almost perpendicular to the direction of the fibers—will not be the same as it is in a smooth three- or four-ply yarn.

Fiber Composition Matching fiber types is only important if you're working with yarns whose fibers play an integral part in their overall aesthetic. Angora, brushed mohair, and baby alpaca are prime examples of fibers that produce a fuzzy effect, while silk, bamboo, and Tencel are all about drape and sheen. Even among the same fibers, if they are spun woolen (as is the wool in Brooklyn Tweed Shelter), they will create a blurrier fabric than would a smooth worsted-spun wool (such as Elsa Wool Company's worsted-spun Cormo).

Even in this realm, however, you have leeway in choosing the precise fiber combination. For example, if your pattern calls for a pricey pure Angora yarn, you can substitute a less-expensive angora/wool blend and still achieve a similar visual effect.

Looking for a member(s) who can periodi-cally write short articles for the newsletter from their own ideas or suggestions, and a member(s) who can regularly edit or work

from existing text (maximum 2-3 hours per newsletter). Please e-mail [email protected]

Looking for ...

100 Yard rule—If a yarn is 12 wraps per inch, the yardage required for a plain knit, size medium adult sweater with 2-4 inches in ease is 1200 yards. This is a good starting figure. A heavily textured sweater needs about 10% more while a lace pattern requires about 10% less.


Guild Members Charity Knitting Project Linus

Mary Scott—[email protected] or Wool and Wicker in Steveston.

The second Friday of each month at Wool and Wicker ( 120 - 12051 Second Ave. Richmond), to fold and pack up do-nated blankets. These blankets are all new, machine wash-able and dryable. Some are knitted, others are crocheted, some quilts have also been donated. All sizes are accepted but larger than 36"x36" up to crib/lap size are the most practical. The Variety Club picks up the blankets and dis-tributes them

New, handmade, washable blankets given as gifts to seri-ously ill and traumatized children, ages 0-18. All sizes and styles of blankets are welcome, including quilts, tied com-forters, fleece blankets, crocheted or knitted af-ghans, and receiving blankets in child-friendly colors. http://sites.google.com/site/projectlinuscanada/

Guild Sale for Nova House

Lorna Brown—[email protected] Items are collected all year: Hats, flap caps, mit-tens with and without fingers, socks, children's garments, animals/dolls/toys to sell in the Fall. Whatever is not sold at the sale is given to Nova House or one of the other charities. Nova House, a transition house for abused women and chil-dren. CHIMO Crisis Centre in Richmond is responsible for funding and managing Nova House. CHIMO relies on do-nations from groups like the WCKG and caring individuals to keep this essential service operating. www.chimocrisis.com/02programs/02novahouse.html

Aunt Leah’s Independent Lifeskills Society Journey with youth to self sufficiency

Mariela Johansen—[email protected]

Throws or Afghans for the resident’s to wrap themselves in while watching TV. Baby blankets and newborn sweaters for teen Moms are also appreciated.

Aunt Leah’s Society helps prevent children in foster care from becoming homeless, and mothers in need from losing custody of their children. To support them on their journey of self-sufficiency, we provide supported housing, job train-ing and coaching on the essential skills. www.auntleahs.org

Union Gospel Mission, Seaman’s Mission

Margaret Venkataya—[email protected]

Meet at Margaret’s home in Richmond to knit toques on the second Tuesday of the month from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Everyone is welcome.

Margaret also collects used postage stamps for Union Gos-

pel Mission. Please leave the stamps on the envelopes or cut a half-inch margin around the stamps. Thousands of dollars are raised for the Mission from donated used postage stamps.

Union Gospel Mission offers hope to hungry, hurting and homeless men, women and children in Metro Vancouver. www.ugm.ca/our-work

Loneliness, danger and separation from loved ones are just some of the problems seafarers face. Around the world, night and day, The Mission to Seafarers provides help and support to those in need. www.missiontoseafarers.org/

Purple Cap Campaign for the Period of Purple Crying

Deadline is October 26, 2011. Newborn-size purple caps will be collected at the October Guild meeting.

Purple cap knitting campaign aims to raise awareness about the Period of PURPLE Crying. Purple caps are distributed to new parents in birthing hospitals across BC along with the PURPLE DVD and booklet during the week of November 22 in celebration of National Child Day, November 20. http://clickforbabies.org/ www.purplecrying.info http://dontshake.ca

St. Paul’s’ Hospital Obstetrics

Bev Gray – [email protected] St. Paul’s currently has enough newborn and baby

items. A request will be made when more items are needed.

Canada Comforts Society

Mary Scott—[email protected]

Knitted items for the needy of the world are required: cloth-ing, hats, scarves, blankets, washcloths for cleaning newborns.

Blanket sizes: Baby: 40in x 40in Crib: 45in x 60in Single Bed: 60in x 72in

http://artofyarn.livejournal.com/21218.html www.crwarehouse.ca

Canada Comforts Drop-Offs:

Vancouver: Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, contact Nancy 604-879-8208 - 800 E. Broadway (east of Fraser St)

N. Vancouver: North Shore Neighbourhood House 604-987-8138 - 225 E. 2nd Street. Leave items in the laundry bag in the Exec. Director’s office

Surrey: Charlotte Phillips 604-531-8712 3838 156B St. (close to White Rock)

Victoria yarn donations: Beehive Wool Shop, 1700 Douglas Street, Victoria, BC 250-385-2727, 1-888-334-9005


Newsletter available electronically If you wish to receive the newsletter electronically, e-mail Stephanie Langley, [email protected], who is managing the electronic distribution. This is an optional delivery method; the newsletter is still being mailed to

members who do not put their name on the electronic list.

Isabel Choat, guardian.co.uk, Friday 21 October 2011

Knitting has long since moved on from granny pastime to cool retro activity favoured by young hipsters. From stitch and bitch sessions – the naughtie's version of the coffee morning – to the more recent guerilla knitting where "graffiti" artists with nicknames such as Deadly Knitshade adorn public spaces with their cool wool creations, knitting is becoming almost as popular as the nation's other favour-ite retro obsession – baking.

Now the Pelirocco in Brighton, a kitsch hotel whose funky rooms are inspired by "sex sirens and maverick musicians" has got in on the act with a knitted bedroom. Designed by Brighton local and artist Kate Jenkins, the room features her trademark knitted food – in a wooly fry-up – a knitted telephone, curtains and toothpaste and toothbrush, not to mention the more traditional knitted bed-spread. In keeping with the rest of the hotel's rooms, Jen-kins' room has its own name – the Do Knit Disturb room. Boom boom!

In a departure from the hotel's speciality as Brighton's "sauciest stopover", Do Knit Disturb is a single room. The Diana Dors-inpired Pin Up Parlour or the sexy Play Room suite might be a better bet for a dirty weekend away, but for sheer novelty value and cuteness – or for anyone with a wool fetish – Do Knit Disturb is hard to beat. Knitting – it's the new rock'n'roll. Next up: the baking-themed room?

01273 327055, hotelpelirocco.co.uk, £55 per night weekdays or £69 weekends

www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/oct/21/knitting-knitted-hotel-room-pelirocco?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038

Thanks to Anne at Wool-Tyme Kingston for the link to this story.

Knit wit: Britain's first, and probably last, woollen hotel room Britain's obsession with knitting shows no sign of abating as the first 'knitted' hotel room opens

The Pelirocco hotels's Do Knit Disturb room. Photographs: Andy Nelson


For the Guild’s 20th Anniversary, this space featured previously printed articles from the Guild newsletter. With only six issues in the year to share some of the treasures, I decided to keep this going for a few more issues. The article below is from March 2002, Volume 4, Issue 2.

Our Back Pages

Nicki:

Knitting is healthy. I like to create, designing is an art.

Bonnie Anderson:

Knits “because I love it”. It’s relaxing; my therapy has be-come almost obsessive. I am knitting a Berroco shrug named Kiana in linen.

Sunny Kim:

When I was 20 something, I knitted for myself many items, because I wanted to make me more beautiful, better looking.

Now, I am knitting for peace. I have a tremendous burden in life. I can’t stop drama in my brain. Now I am addicted.

Wonderful life, feel gratitude, grace, and love etc.

Anonymous:

I knit because I love colour, texture, and must create, fanciful or useful, doesn’t matter.

Empty hands feel like a waste of time somehow.

Anonymous:

• I love to watch the patterns grow on my needles.

• I love to work with colour.

• I get satisfaction from accomplishment - a finished garment. well done.

Anonymous:

- to relax - time for myself - love the colours - love the end product.

Annette:

Why Do We Knit?

1. I love yarn - the colours are therapy 2. I love the “process” - busy fingers. 3. I love the challenge of patterns & construction (garments) 4. keeps my brain active 5. I get to wear my socks!!

Why We Knit… by Y Emmons

Each grouping of reasons has a foothold in the next grouping, like climbing knitting mountain; from relations, to tension reliever to colour and texture. The observation of personal words written, etched in clay, or stone or computer preserva-tion makes me feel like I am glowing/resonating with fellow knitters’ words.

What will I do on the plane if I can’t knit? But you can. So, the airline of your choice forbids knitting needles? It’s not fair. Businessmen are allowed their pens and pencils. These are as sharp as knitting needles.

Well, coloured pencils, sharpened to a dull point on both ends are just the right gauge (7.5mm) for buffalo wool or chunky yarn. Crayola brand are the best. They sharpen smoothly without splintering the wood. Coat the exposed wood with several coats of white glue for the smoothest tips.

I knit almost an entire toque on a recent flight. I also saw a lady in the Seattle airport with a metal crochet hook. How

did she manage that? My aunt is planning to hide a plastic crochet hook (one she won’t mind giving up) in her bra or sock on her next journey through a security check. Or how

about circular needles masquerading as bra under wires?

Knitters are people of ingenuity and persistence, also usually non-violent. We will find a way to

keep on knitting.

Lily Chin goes through security with her plastic circular needles twisted together and worn as a headband. -Ed

A Colourful Solution to Knitting on Airplanes by Judy Daniels


February 16-19—13th Madrona Winter Retreat—Workshops, marketplace, demonstrations, clinics, evening events. Teachers: Jean Wong, Sarah Swett, Deborah Robson, Nancy Marchant, Amy Detjen, Gayle Roehm,Lucy Neatby; Beth Brown-Reinsel; Elise Duvekot, Jane Slicer-Smith; Kris Abshire, Carol Rhoades, Franklin Habit, Judith MacKenzie, Jared Flood, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Betsy Hershberg, Janine Bajus. Hotel Murano Tacoma, WA [email protected] 425-222-3554 www.madronafiberarts.com

May 13-24—Lakes & York Knitters’ Tour with Jean Moss—First five days in the beautiful Lake District near Winder-mere and the last six days in the historic city of York. Workshops will be given by Martin Storey, Carol Meldrum and Jean Moss. Luxury accommodation, visits to off-the-beaten-track yarn producers, places and people that knitters, textile and fibre lovers will relish including the Rowan Mill. Holmfirth, Wordsworth's house at Rydal Mount and Castle Howard. www.jeanmoss.com/tours.html Ravelry Travelers with Jean Moss group. May 25-27—14th Annual Okanagan Knitting Retreat—Knitting Foundations...Skills to build on—Sorrento Centre, Sorrento, BC. Choice of four workshops: Fibre Foundations with Paulette Lane, Lace Foundations with Myriam Dostert, Fair Isle Foundations with Celeste Culpepper, Colour Foundations with Janet Armstrong. Optional Friday workshops are a reprise of workshops from previous retreats. Visit www.janetarmstrong.com for full details and online registration. Contact Janet Armstrong at 250-545-2474 or [email protected].

May 25-June 3—10th Annual Saskatchewan Stitches Conference—Creative classes with renowned fibre and needle work artists that attracts knitters, crocheters, sewers, quilters and rug hookers from across Canada. Watch the website, www.hausofstitches.ca/ for details, sign up for e-mail notification, or follow Haus of Stitches on Facebook.

June 2-16—14-Day Scotland, Shetland & Norway Cruise—Cruise out of Holland to Scotland, Shetland and Norway onboard the beautiful Rotterdam with one of the world's leading Shetland lace experts, Joan Schrouder. Join Craft Cruises as we set sail out of Rotterdam to some of the most scenic cruising areas in the world on a Norwegian coastal voyage that includes Shetland and Scotland. Enjoy the backdrop of dramatic landscapes as you learn new knitting skills and shop for trendy European yarns. Contact Shannon at [email protected] www.craftcruises.com

July 16-22—Fibre Arts Week in Pincher Creek the beautiful foothills of Southwest, Alberta at the Bloomin’ Inn to work with industry-leading instructors and learn new techniques to perfect your skills. Incredible classes, fibre arts demonstrations, interesting lectures every day for one fibre-intensive week. Visit www.fibreartsweek.com regularly for up-dates, or register to be updated by email, [email protected]

June 22 - 29—Fiber week—Olds College and Shuttleworks Ltd—An annual celebration of the fibre arts—Spinning, weaving, knitting, felting. Check the website for workshops and instructors. Registration opens March 1, 2012. Olds College, 4500 - 50th Street, Olds, AB, T4H 1R6 1-800-661-6537. www.oldscollege.ca/programs/ContinuingEducation/fibreweek/index.htm

October 25-February 24, 2013—BAM Biennial 2012: High Fiber Diet—Bellevue Arts Museum: Creative approach to the fiber medium, considering both traditional expressions of fiber art and the fringes of the medium, where concepts of art and craft merge. Intended to recognize the innovative and extraordinary work being produced by contemporary Northwest makers (Washington, British Columbia, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska), and to celebrate the region's distinctive charac-ter. 510 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue WA www.bellevuearts.org/exhibitions/upcoming/bam_biennial_2012

Calendar of Events

29 (31) (33) sts. remain. Dec. 1st at each end of next 5 (6) (6) rows. Cast off 4 (4) (5) sts. At beg. of next 2 rows. Cast off.

Finishing and Neckband: Press all pieces using a warm iron over a damp cloth. Join side and shoulder seams.

Front Neckband: Using No. 12 (2-3/4 mm) needles and with right side of Bib facing pick up and k.21 sts. down left neck slope. k. across sts. on holder at front neck and pick up and k.21 sts. up right neck slope Work 3 rows in rib as given for Back Neckband.

Next row (buttonholes): Rib 2. cast off next 2 sts. in rib. rib to last 4 sts. cast off next 2 sts. in rib. rib to end. Cast

on 2 sts. (in rib) over each buttonhole on next row.

Work 3 more rows in rib. Cast off.

Using No. 10 (3 mm) hook rejoin yarn to bottom corner at front edge of right front. Work 1 row of firm dc. up front edge. along top of back shoulder and side of back neckband. Work other Side to match starting at top of back neckband.

Rejoin yarn to bottom left hand corner of bib and work row of firm dc. up side. across shoulder and up·side of neck-band. Fasten off. Rejoin yarn to neck edge of right side and work to match left side.

Join sleeve seams. Insert sleeves. Sew buttons onto front, shoulders and ends of back neckband.

(Continued from page 12)


Baby Sweater with Button-on Bib pattern from New Zealand submitted by Agnes Merton

Materials

Sweater: 4 (4) (5) 25 gr balls Kaiapoi 4 ply Baby. Bib: 1- 25 gr ball for one colour bib.

Striped Bib: A small amount of three contrast colours.

1 pr. No. 10 (3-1/4mm) and No. 12 (2-3/4 mm) Knitting Needles.

1 No. 3 mm Crochet Hook (10) 16 Buttons.

Measurements

To fit chest sizes: 45 (50) (55) cm [18 (20) (22) ins]. Length to shoulder: 23 (25.5) (28) .cm [9 (10) (11) ins]. Sleeve seam: 15 (18) (20.5) cm [6 (7) (8) ins].

Tension: 15 sts. and 19 rows to 5 cm (2 ins) measured over st.-st, on No. 10 (3-3/4 mm) needles.

Abbreviations: Alt. alternate; beg. beginning; cont. con-tinue; dec. decrease; fin. finishing; foil. following; ins. Inches; inc. increase; k, knit; p. purl; patt. pattern; rep. repeat; rem. remain; reqd. required; Sl. Slip; sts, stitches; st.-st. stocking stitch; tog. together; dc. double crochet.

Back: Using No. 12 (2-3/4 mm) needles cast on 71 (79) (87) sts. 1st row: K.1. *p.1. k.1 ; rep. from * to end.

2nd row: P.1. *k.1 , p.1 ; rep. from * to end

Rep. the last 2 rows 4 times more.

Change to No. 10 (3-1/4 mm) needles and work in st.-st. until back measures 14 (15) (16.5) cm [5-1/2 (6) (6-1/2) ins] or required length to armholes ending with a purl row.

Shape Armholes: Cast off 4 sts. at beg. of next 2 rows. Dec. 1 st at each end of every row until 53 (57) (61) sts. remain. Work straight until armholes measure 8.9 (10.2) (11.5) cm [3-1/2 (4) (4-1/2) ins] ending with a purl row.

Shape Shoulders: Cast off 5 sts. at beg. of next 4 rows, then 3 (4) (5) sts. at beg. of next 2iows. 27 (29) (31) sts. remain. Knit 1 row.

Back Neckband: Change to No. 12 (2-3/4 mm) needles.

1st row: P.1. * k.1 , p.1 : rep. from * to end. 2nd row: K.1. * p.1. k.1 : rep. from * to end. Rep. the last 2 rows 3 times more. Cast off in rib.

Left Front: Using No 12. (2-3/4 mm) needles cast on 20 (22) (24) sts. and work 10 rows in k.1. p.l rib. Change to No. 10 (3-1/4 mm) needles and work in st.-st. until front measures same as back to armhole ending with a wrong side row.

Shape Armhole: Cast off 4 sts. at beg. of next row. Work 1 row straight. Dec. 1 st at armhole edge of every row until 11 sts. remain. Work straight until front measures same as back to shoulder ending at armhole edge.

Shape Shoulder: Cast off 5 sts. at beg. of next row. Work 1 row. Cast off remaining 6 sts.

Right Front: Work to match Left Front reversing all shap-ings. Mark positions for 6 buttons on each front 1.3 cm (1/2 in) in from front edge. the first 1.3 cm (1/2 in) above lower edge and allowing for a 7th to be placed on back 0.6 cm (1/4 in) below top of shoulder. Space remainder evenly between.

Bib panel: (For striped version work 4 rows in each colour.)

Using No. 12 (2-3/4 mm) needles cast on 43 (47) (51) sts. and work 4 rows in rib as given for Back.

Next row (buttonholes): Rib 2. cast off next 2 sts. rib to last 4 sts. cast off next 2 sts. rib 2.

Cast on 2 sts. over each buttonhole on next row.

Work 4 more rows in rib. Change to No. 10 (3-1/4 mm) needles and work in st.-st. making buttonholes to match mark-ers on 3rd and 4th sts. from each edge as before, until work measures 19 (21.5) (24) cm [7-1/2 (8-1/2) (9-1/2) ins] or 3.8 cm (1-1/2 ins) less than back to start of shoul-der shaping ending with a knit row.

Shape Neck: Purl 14 (15) (16) sts. turn leaving rem. sts. on a holder. Dec. 1 st at neck edge of every row until 8 (9) (10) sts. remain. Work 13 rows straight thus end-ing at side edge. Make a final buttonhole on next 2 rows. Work 2 rows.

Shape Shoulder: Cast off 5 sts. at beg. of next row. Work l row. Cast off.

Slip next 15 (17) (19) sts. at centre onto a holder.

With wrong side of work facing rejoin yarn to neck edge of remaining sts, and

purl to end. Complete to match first side reversing shapings.

Sleeves: Using No. 12 (2-3/4 mm) needles cast on 41 (43) (45) sts, and work 10 rows in rib as given for Back. Change, to No. 10 (3-1/4 mm) needles and work 4 rows st.-st. inc. 1st at each end of next and every following 6th (6th) (7th) row until there are 55 (59) (63) sts. Work straight until sleeve measures 15 (18) (20.5) cm [6 (7) (8) ins]. or required seam length ending with a purl row.

Shape Top: Cast off 4 sts. at beg. of next 2 rows. Dec. 1st at each end of next 5 rows, then every alt. row until


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