Beg.

Born in England and raised in Montreal, Rachel vacationed in Vancouver as a teenager and fell in love with the city.  Vowing to return, she moved here as a young adult, and after a brief stint back in Montreal to attend school, she’s now a North Vancouverite.

Casting on:

Mostly self taught, Rachel attributes an English vacation to visit her grandparents as the catalyst to her love for knitting.  With undivided attention from her Grandmother, who showed her the basics, and armed with Dell’s “100 Knitting Stitches”, Rachel taught herself to knit over that summer.  The hobby taken up as a young teen has blossomed into a passion for all things made with knitting needles!

PSSO:

A busy home life with hubby and two children plus a full time job with the District of North Vancouver keeps Rachel’s life pretty full.  She is an avid reader (she’s making her way through the Canada Reads list) and enjoys travels with her family.  They’ve gone to Europe together and mentions a trip to the Maritime provinces as especially memorable.

Knit Knowledge and Know How:

“I love the Interweave family of magazines”, she says.  An avid Raveler she is more of a “looker” than a “poster”.  After taking a WCKG workshop with noted knitting guru Donna Druchunas , she fell in love with sock knitting and the basic principles of their construction.  She sees them as various interchangeable parts.  Rachel is definitely not a member of the “only one sock finished” club!

Cables & Lace:

A beautifully fitted green cotton vest is her one of her most satisfying (and envied) projects.  The pattern from Knitter’s magazine, Fall of 2008, is called Candy Apple.  It fits perfectly and one of her coworkers has suggested that if she ever wants to rid herself of it, just toss it her way!

Steeks, Tinks & Frogs:

After having purchased the yarn in England (in shades of blue) and settling on a pattern, Rachel eagerly started a cardigan over two years ago.  Realizing that it was full of too many cables and ribs to her liking, the sweater is awaiting the rip it, rip it of Senor Frog!

Dye Lots:

Rachel loves blues & blue red combinations in yarn.  Merino is her most frequent choice and sock weight yarn seems to be what’s on the needles these days.  Patterns with short rows are  what she most often looks for when selecting her next project.

Fibre Fantasy:

The Peasy  cardigan, found on Ravelry, has caught her eye.  She says she can visualize it the Donegal merino in greens & blues she’s bought for the very purpose of making “Peasy”. She loves the style of the top down design, which appeals to her sense of organic style knitting.  Organic, to Rachel, is being able to “change on the fly”, something that top down patterns are particularly suited for.

Guild Gauge:

Rachel joined the WCKG in 2007.  She especially loves the fact that she and her mom, Mariela  (who is WCKG past president) have further nurtured their mother-daughter bond with the mutual joy they find in knitting.  Rachel is the Guild’s membership co-ordinator, and you can often find her at meetings greeting new members.

Purls of Wisdom:

Rachel says she can knit anything with the magic loop method and is a self professed convert and addict.  She admits that once she discovered the magic of magic loop, she’s never looked back!  Maybe we should all give it a try!

Beg.

Edita immigrated to Canada as a young woman from Bratislava, Slovakia.  It was a challenging time for an 18 year old when she, along with her mother & siblings, joined her father in Vancouver.  Determined to “fit into” a new culture, she improved her English language skills and eventually secured a position at the main library at the University of British Columbia.  She’s worked at UBC, with a brief interruption, ever since!

Casting on:

Her mother taught her to knit at a very young age, but she says that she was a “knitting klutz”!  She knit on and off during her youth & resumed again in more earnest when she came to Canada.  Edita says that knitting has always been her strength when she is stressed or feels challenged and in the first years in Vancouver, the knitting needles provided a “sense of normalcy”.

KFB & PSSO:

Edita is a past president of the WCKG.  She’s also been the Guild’s secretary and vice president and feels that being part of the executive has been very fulfilling as well as challenging.  When she doesn’t have needles in hand, her passions include golf (where she captains her team), reading & being a new grandmother!  She teaches “beyond beginner” knitting classes at LYS, Wool & Wicker twice weekly and has studied under fellow WCKG member Jean Wong.  Edita also enjoys being part of the UBC library annual afghan project.  Knitters are recruited among the staff members and the completed afghan is auctioned (proceeds going to Covenant House) at their Christmas luncheon.

Knit Knowledge & Know How:

Edita uses Ravelry, as well as favourite knitting magazines such as Vogue Knitting & Interweave Knits for inspiration.

Cables & Lace:

These days projects such as socks & hats that can be quickly finished are on the needles, but her most satisfying project was one she completed several years ago.  Wanting to knit an Aran sweater, Edita navigated her way through an English pattern soon after she arrived in Canada.  It gave her a wonderful sense of pride and accomplishment and she remembers that sweater very fondly.

Steeks, Tinks & Frogs:

A sweater intended for her husband has been sitting in a basket, waiting for the neckband for 3 years!  A complicated Gansey (fisherman’s knit) design from Vogue knitting, she has lost all interest in completing it.  Maybe someday?

Dye Lots:

Edita loves to knit on small needles with lace weight yarns.  She finds the beauty of lace patterns fun to knit, especially in mauves and greens.  The colour combinations of Noro yarns are a particular favourite.

Fibre Fantasy:

She would love to knit one of Lucy Neatby’s double knitted afghans or something from designer Kaffe Fassett.

Guild Gauge:

A member since 2005, Edita joined after she received a brochure from fellow WCKG member, Y, while shopping at Wool & Wicker.  After attending her first meeting, she knew she was “home”.  She feels that the Guild has helped to widen her circle of friends and has provided her with inspiration.  She says she always has felt a sense of community within the Guild and has enjoyed time spent on the WCKG executive.

Purls of Wisdom:

“Knitting is life.  It combines creative, artistic, colourful challenges.  You do math.  You do it with your hands.  I’m amazed that 2 needles and a piece of yarn combine to make something.  It’s fascinating!”.