The WCKG has put to rest the myth that you can’t knit in the summer because it’s too hot. Although we have had one of the best summers in my memory our guild members have outdone themselves with an amazing array of creative, beautiful projects. Read on.

Carol S. chose Luxury Diamond Merino yarn to create a beautiful baby shrug and beanie for her daughter’s friend who has a new baby. The pattern from Debbie Bliss had only one challenge and that was working the second colour up the edges when increasing and decreasing. Lucky baby and Mom.

Naomi R. modeled the beautiful shawl that she created from stash yarn and a hank of Colinette Ribbon.
Making up the pattern as she went along, Naomi started with a rectangle sewn end to to side and added a moebius ring at the neck to pull it all together. While turquoise is the main colour, there are vibrant oanges, pinks and maroons.

Cat L-S has been experimenting with needle felting and shared some sucessful examples. She used yarn that she purchased while in Estonia for this fun project.
Cat also had a baby blanket knit from KnitPicks washable cotton. The multi-colour blanket pattern came from Knitty.com and the umbilical cord hat pattern is from “Stitch ‘n Bitch”. The only challenge was not falling asleep while knitting – blankets can do that to you. The lucky recipient of these last two items is her tap teacher’s baby.

Using a cotton/acrylic/linen blend yarn from Spain – Katia Pisco, Mariela J. knit herself a white sweater. Her only challenge was the buttonholes.

Do you remember that intricate, delicate grandchild baby blanket Jane S. showed us at the last meeting? Alas that is now only a memory – and the base of Jane’s UFO project pile. Jane came to this meeting to share her disaster with us. Knitting disasters can happen to any of us – what a great place to get support from fellow knitters. And like a true knitter Jane is on to other projects.

Jean W. was wearing a true work of art she designed and taught at the last Madrona Fibre Arts Retreat. The inspiration for her vest was quilting. The back is done in two pieces with the shaping and the colours of the variegated yarn matched perfectly along the centre seam line. The challenge with the project was this perfect matching – finding exactly the right colours for each section. Great work.

Debbie M. has taken up the challenge of lace knitting this summer. Her first project was the Wool Peddlers Shawl knit in Koigu – 5 different colourways and Indigo Moon for the border. She is keeping her first lace success for herself.
She tried Malabrigo Silky Merino for her second lace project using the Swan Lake Shawl pattern in natural. This shawl was a bit more challenging to knit and block as the ‘wing’ was knit on the bias. This one is also a keeper.
Her husband was next on the list and Debbie took on the challenge of knitting him a sweater in denim yarn. His black denim sweater is knit from Den-M-nit for Elann.com using the stitch pattern from “The Knitting Man(ual)” by Spurkland. As Debbie was drafting the pattern she had to allow for 20% shrinkage in the yarn. She was successful and is already planning another sweater for that lucky man.

Nigel P. is maintaining his title - the sock guy. The first pair was knit in Lorna’s Laces rainbow dyed in an entrelac pattern from the book “Socks, Socks, Socks”. If you have ever tried entrelac you can imagine the challenges of knitting it in the round. Nigel is keeping the socks.
His next pair of socks proved a little frustrating/challenging because of the wool. Nigel used Fleece Artist yarn bought on a trip to Kelowna to make these toe up socks for himself. The challenge was getting two socks to look the same colour. His first sock was almost black – not so the second sock. He had to knit two more from the same ball to get a matching pair of socks. He succeeded and they do look warm and cosy.
And versatile guy that he is Nigel has knit a deliciously delicate Cobweb Doily. The pattern by Marilyn Van Keppel – Gathering of the Rose was knit in copper Fiddlesticks Zephyr Wool silk. The most challenging – by pleasureable part of the project was the edging.

Holli Yeoh’s first project this month was a pair of ‘Plain Jane’ top down socks which she knit for herself in a Opal wool/silk blend – a perfect accessory for blue jeans.
Her vacation project was a Hand Maiden Scarf Kit. She combined one strand of silk boucle with one strand of kid mohair lace weight in a simple YO, K2tog stitch pattern. She finished it quickly to keep her warm and cosy for those chilly days on the beach during her Oregon travels.
Her final accessory was a sample of the ‘Guess Who’ gloves pattern in Opal self patterning yarn. This is the kit that Holli donated as draw prizes at both the Victoria Knit-Out and the Pic-Knit event in Surrey this summer. What a great prize for those lucky knitters.
Holli’s biggest project this summer was the launch of her newly redesigned website. If you want to check out her new site, it’s www.holliyeoh.com . You will see her new logo and business name (i.e. Holli Yeoh).

Valerie P’s first project was a sweater for her son Stewart. She chose Elsebeth Lavold silk wool in a rich green and used Debbie Bliss’ Denim Ribbed sweater pattern. Although Valerie did a guage check, the pattern was oversized thus the sweater is too big for him (even with 20% yarn shrinkage).
Valerie’s sister is going to be 50 soon and to celebrate Valerie has knit her a beautiful off white sweater in Philosopher’s Wool using Norah Gaughan’s Bark Texture pattern. Her only challenge was patterning around the joining of the shoulder seam. Her sister has tried it and it’s a perfect fit.
Knitting for herself this time, Valerie chose Mission Falls 1824 in green for a shawl using Annie Modesitt’s Backyard Leaves pattern. Joining the two halves was the challenge as there are fewer stitches at the cast-on edge which makes for a narrow join.

Joan T. has been knitting ponchettes this month. The first she showed was in black linen and is for herself. The second was knit in cream hemp for her non knitting friend Maria.

Lorna B. was so busy at the meeting taking in donations for the Guild sale that she wasn’t able to show us her the beautiful gift she has made for a relative in Calgary. The lucky recipient will be receiving a reversable wool hat knit from Custom Woolen Mills which is rough spun with weed chaff. Lorna chose a soft grey for one side and a dark charcoal for the other. This will definately be a great head warmer for those cold Calgary days.

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