Location:  at the picnic shelters near the Childrens’ Farmyard & miniature train.  Take the #19 Stanley Park bus on Pender Street or park in the nearby lot. 

Bring a chair or blanket to knit in the sun or sit on the picnic benches (cushion advised) under the shelter.  Laura P. generally provides refreshments for this event but this year she is moving her house and business.  That being the case, this year will be “pot luck” so please bring some finger food/beverages. 

Stay an hour or stay all day.  Consider joining the Guild to knit with us every month and enjoy the perks such as a 10% discount on purchases at most LYSs (Local Yarn Shops).

Friday evening Susanna will talk to us about Knitting in Norway: Past and Present or What did Napoleon have to do with the Fana Cardigan? We’ll have refreshments and a chance to schmooze with Susanna afterwards.

The Saturday workshop will be Bohus Stickning. Susanna will supply kits with specially imported, hand-dyed yarns from Sweden for us to work with. Come prepared to knit with small needles and fine angora blend yarns. Susanna will also give us presentation on the background of the Bohus garments and cottage industry.

On Sunday we’ll learn about the mittens from Rovaniemi while we work on an intriguing intarsia-like technique to create the distinctive sawtooth design that appears on the back of the mittens of that region. The unique technique is like none I’ve ever heard of before and I, for one, can’t wait to learn more.

Susanna comes highly recommended. Just read some of her reviews on other people’s blogs such as The Yarn Harlot, Yin & Yarn, The Intrepid Fiberwizard and Spinning My Life Away.

You might also want to scroll through The Yarn Harlot’s February 2007 archives for glimpsed of the beautiful gold Bohus sweater that Stephanie Pearl-McPhee knit after taking Susanna’s workshop. I had the honour of seeing that actual completed sweater being worn by Stephanie last year when we chatted at the Victoria Knit-Out. It is truly beautiful.

The workshops are open to Guild members and non-members alike. There is an earlybird rate so register early to secure your spot. You have the choice of taking one workshop, both workshops or just come to the Friday evening presentation.

Read more about the Birth of a Logo in the July/August 2008 issue of West Coast Knitters’ News.

Holli Yeoh
“I brought completed samples of some of my Bee’s Knees Knits designs knit in new yarns that I carry. These samples will be going with me to the Victoria Knit-Out and I’ll have kits available for sale in those colourways.
Kieran is knit using Opal self-patterning yarn and an Opal solid yarn. Kieran is a pullover with a solid-coloured body and the sleeves, collar and button placket are all knit with the self-patterning yarn. The colours are light brown with highlights of golden yellow and a subtle purple in the striping. It will look lovely on a little boy.
Chloë is a cardigan with an intriguing stitch pattern. The solid-coloured stripes in the self-patterning yarn and knit in reverse stocking stitch and the jacquard sections are knit in stocking stitch. The effect is a bit like corrugated cardboard or the Michelin man. I used Opal’s Prisma in red and white with black flecks and paired it with a solid black Opal.
The last sweater was actually knit by my Mum who is a great help to me with my business. Lucy is a colour block sweater with red and orange on the upper bodice and sleeves. It’s paired with an energetic self-patterning yarn in reds/oranges/yellows/whites and dark greens. All yarns are by Opal.”

Joan T. knit herself a beautiful multicolour shawl from the Folk Shawls book – the pattern is called ‘Peddlers Shawl’. She chose Koigu yarn because it gradually shades from one colour to the next. Her main challenge was doing a lace pattern again which we saw she accomplished very well.

Janis W. has been very busy creating knitting/shopping bags from plastic. You all know that plastic bags collect at an alarming rate and Janis has shown us a great way to recycle them using crochet. Her challenge was finding a strong enough crochet hook and the work out it was for her hands. Janis is donating all these bags to the Oakridge Seniors Centre.

Margaret V. is assembling 25 knit squares into a beautiful multi-coloured blanket. The lucky recipient is a widow who is moving to Edmonton – this should help chase away those chilly nights.
Margaret also had over a dozen hats which were knit by Pat L. for Lydia H.

Paulette L.
When Paulette attended the 10th Anniversary of the Okanagan Knitting Retreat she brought back a beautiful souvenir. Her Cutting Edge Thread Cutter Pendant was designed by Celeste Culpepper from Nelson and was knit in Hand Maiden Seasilk green with gold seed beads. All attendees were presented with an Altoids tin to store their pendant. The pattern/kit is available from www.celesteknits.ca.

Nigel P. has been knitting socks again. This beautiful pair are knit from a Cat Bordhi cable pattern in Noro Kureyan sock yarn and are for him.
He has also knit himself a seamless hybrid sweater with shirt yoke. The pattern is from Elizabeth Zimmerman and is knit in Cascade 220 (purple heather) and one ball of Rowan Pure Wool DK in orange. There were a few intricacies to the pattern on the hems, the yoke back, underarm and yoke grafting which he overcame superbly.

Mariela J. has been a very productive knitter and brought in three items for Show and Tell this month. The first is a blue cardigan knit from Schachenmayer yarn a wool/acrylic blend and Patons classic wool. She designed the pattern herself and found her only challenge was in getting the sleeves exactly the way she wanted them because this sweater is for her.
Her next two projects are for the Guild sale. The first is a blended mohair and acrylic yarn knit into a hat. Mariela used the pattern that came with the yarn.
She also designed and knit a multi-coloured cardigan from kroy sock yarn.

Judy D. had chosen a pattern from a Patons book – Bazaar Items to knit her Mom a warm and cozy pair of slippers.

Pat D. did a fun and fast project knitting the Little Sky Sock a sample from the Cat Bordhi book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters using Big Ben sock yarn.

Janis W. has been most busy knitting baby booties, and wrist warmers in addition to all her toques. She used Moda Dea yarn from Coates & Clark and is generously donating them to the Oakridge Senior Centre. Her main challenge was matching stripes.

Wendy E. modeled her project at the meeting. She had completed the Marion Toppings ‘Yellowknife Vest.’ A very happy completion from the UFO portion of Wendy’s knitting bag – good work.

Debbie M. had chosen the Bee’s Knees Knits glove pattern to make herself her very first pair of handknit gloves. She used the Opal self patterning yarn for her project. A great way to assure warm hands for next winter.

Eleanor M. It was great to see a living model of a Kaffe Fassett sweater. Eleanor knit the Fassett split diamond pattern in Rowan yarn for her daughter Judy D. who modeled it for us. Her main challenges were matching the diamonds and all those ends – great to see.

Marjorie N. knit ‘The Sheep Tote’ from a Fiber Trends pattern in Fritidsgarn Multi yarn by SandnesGarn. Three times was the charm to get the right density for the felting and it then became a very beautiful and useful bag for her.

Valerie P. chose Sirdar Baby Bamboo for knitting a baby sweater for a colleague’s baby. She used the Debbie Bliss classic baby sweater pattern. She triumphed over confusing collar directions to make a very cute sweater.

Joan T. had been to a very interesting workshop. Using a knitting machine and 2 skeins of dyeable wool a swatch was knit, then painted. This swatch will now be unravelled and reknit to make a most unique and colourful garment.

Holli Yeoh brought three skeins of hand-dyed yarn.
“I participated in a hand-dying workshop at the Fun Knits Spring Retreat on Quadra Island in April. We watched Judy MacLean demonstrate her method of dyeing:
The bamboo/merino blend skein was dyed in silvery purples.
The merino/nylon blend skein was dyed in pinks and oranges with a touch of yellow.
Then we had the opportunity to try hand-painting. We were given three colours (red, yellow and blue) to paint onto our skein of cashmere/silk. I’m not thrilled with the colours of the hand-painted and I’m considering overdyeing it. Perhaps I’ll knit it up first to see if I like it and then overdye the whole project if I need to.
I also brought my project from the recent WCKG Spring workshops. I took Carmen Craig-Martin’s workshop on embellishment. She provided hat forms which we were able to embellish with knitting, crochet and embroidery. I chose a grey one and found some lovely yarns to complement it. I also brought some Noro Silk Garden Lite and used that to crochet flowers and embroider stems/branches for them. When I was looking at the yarns I chose to use they made me think of an ice queen because they were all muted greys and icy whites. I chose to create a frozen, wintery garden feel. I finished the hat just in time for a weekend trip to Whistler.”

Saltspring Island Knitting Retreat runs over two separate weeks (June 12-19 or June 22-29) full of knitting and relaxation in a large three-storey log farmhouse. The theme is Modular Knitting. Learn to incorporate these shapes into your own knitting designs, create a notebook of samples, complete several small projects or one large one. Contact Alice at trueman@uniserve.com.

Mary S. not only had a great holiday in Mexico, she also came back with a new pair of hand knit gloves using Holli Yeoh’s Guess Who glove pattern. She made her gloves from multi-coloured Regia super soft sock yarn with cherry red accent yarn.

Janis W. has been making more hats/toques for the Guild Sale in November. She has paired heavy crafting yarn with some of the novelty yarns available to make very furry, warm hats.

Yvonne J. has been experimenting very successfully with scarf patterns. The first scarf, which will be a birthday present for her sister, was a Brooklyn Tweed scarf, a simple but effective pattern.

The second was a multi-directional scarf. Both scarves were done in Noro Silk Garden Lite.

Valerie P. overcame many challenges to produce the beautiful white cotton baby sweater she knit for a colleague. She used the pattern, April in December, and chose very feminine pink ribbon flowers for the trim.

Nigel P. - Pink socks for Holli: Yarn by Sweet Georgia (Handpainted sock yarn 100% merino, colour: Slayer). Designed by Nigel, and knit toe-up using 2.5 mm Addi Turbo lace needles.

Brown socks for himself: yarn was Smooshy by Dream in Color purchased in Portland at Knit Purl last October, 4-ply merino, fingering weight. Nigel’s top-down pattern which he named “Toesy-Turvey” because they are knit using toe-up ideas. Knit on 2.5 mm Addi Turbo lace needles.

Mystery Stole (Swan Lake pattern by Melanie Leesburg). Stunning lime-green Baruffa Cashwool, 2-ply lace weight yarn purchased at Close Knit in Portland. Used 3.75 mm Addi Turbo lace needles.

Our guest speaker for March was Carmen Craig-Martin of MelonHead KnitWear and she gave a presentation regarding herself and her business. She also brought some wonderful samples of her work.

Carmen finds it fun to talk to knitters and welcomes them where she works. (Granville Island, Farmer’s Markets, Filberg, Whistler market)

She describes herself as a fibreholic. She said that it is a slow process to become a fibreholic but one of the symptoms to be aware of - is not being able to shut the closet door because the closet is too full of yarn. A fibreholic needs a support group, a ten-step program and professional help. A sale is an excuse to buy yarn.

Carmen has been knitting for years; ten years for a living. She loves knitting. Originally, she worked for an insurance company and found it very stressful. She had a three-hour commute on the TTC line when she was working for the company and would knit during that time. She said that people on the bus would avoid sitting with knitters, especially herself, as she had a self-taught technique which required a lot of arm movement. The benefit of the commute was that she could knit a hat during that time and she was able to make Christmas gifts and birthday presents. Then the company sold out to a bank – she lost her job – the severance pay bought yarn. She found that losing her job was the best thing that happened to her….. it was the beginning of starting her own business.

She said that craft shows pay for the yarn but don’t bring fame. She related her experiences in the business world. A business advisor helped her with a business plan. One of her adventures into business was a four-day trade show at which she received orders from 30 stores and had to fill orders for 1000 hats in three months. She had to hire five people help her knit. Wholesale was not the best way to go, she said, but it was great to see her work in stores. The down side was that she wasn’t knitting anymore and she enjoyed doing the knitting herself. This led her to another venture, knitting her own designs and selling them. She explained that in business, sole proprietorship, is misleading because you need help with setting up, having drivers to transport items and people to help cover emergencies. It takes a year for her to knit her stock and she is a fast knitter who knits 14 hours a day. She wears out bamboo needles causing them to splinter. Selling wholesale in small amounts works but she really enjoys selling her designs herself because she gets feedback.

She moved to Vancouver four years ago and her current designs are inspired by nature (mountains, water, and flowers), blown glass, and jewelry. Her tall and pointy hats were inspired by the mountains. The curves in her work come from crocheted surface embellishments. But, she said that just because she thinks a design is great doesn’t mean that everybody wants to buy it. There was the story about the Ugly Hat Contest and the Bok Choy hat.

Carmen was an interesting, fun speaker and her stories were humorous. It was a very enjoyable presentation.

Pam W. wore her beige alpaca and wool crocheted jacket with coloured cross-stitch embroidery on the front panels and an exciting motif on the back (a very effective way of making a boring space interesting a la Janet Armstrong!). Pam also showed her very first knit project, a pull-over done in Noro’s Earthtones!

Valerie P. found an online pattern for an exquisite little elephant toy. She used Borroco’s self-striping Lullaby for maximum effect. Her pre-teen son loved it!

Mary Sue F. showed a room felted entrelac tote bag with a star pattern on the bottom made from four soft colours by Lopi. The pattern was Suki’s Entrelac, found on the internet.

Joan T. brought a beige popcorn-stitch pullover with brown stripes that she knit for her husband at the time of their engagement! Joan also showed her Brooklyn Tweed Scarf using contrasting light and dark variegated Noro Kureyon yarns thereby creating a scarf of many colours with two balls of yarn!

Anne K. used an Italian self-patterning cotton yarn, Trend by Salvatore, in a soft yellow and avocado stripe to make a lace scarf.