Black Sheep Knitting Guild

What fun at guild tonight! I'll post the pictures that Joanie took later. . .but in the meantime I was reading email from Chris and she'd passed this along. It's a great no-cost way to help out some kids who need a little pick-me-up. . .feel free to copy and paste into your email and send to everyone you know!! -t While watching Ch4 News this morning, caught this story where Wm Beaumont Hospital is in a contest with hospitals throughout the U.S. to receive a Fun Center from the Starlight Starbright Foundation for seriously ill children. All you need to do is click on the link below and choose Beaumont. Then send on to all your friends and families to help Beaumont win. I believe they are awarding 3 all together. We will know by April if Beaumont wins!!! http://www.colgate.com/app/Colgate/US/Corp/CommunityPrograms/Starlight/HomePage/Midwest.cvsp

Several of you have mentioned how shocked you are that I had 41 unfinished projects. Some of them were actually off the needles, but needed ends sewn in, or buttons, or zippers. . .you get the idea. I've been mocked by Camille, who after looking at my neatly typed and categorized list called me "pathetic". Apparently she couldn't wrap her head around the idea that I had time to type up a list, but not to finish any of the 41 items on the list. . . I appreciate Sharon's comments about learning to crochet. . .believe me, I've thought about it. It has been excruciatingly hard not to cast on. I've found that my reward for finishing things has been to cast on. . .I have beautiful sock yarn I bought on Tuesday just waiting for me to work with. . .a new favorite pattern for a neck warmer that only takes a couple of hours to complete. . .patterns calling to me from my book shelf. . .It's been hard not to break down and start something new. Lent is gonna b...

I always knew that the people who “flash their stash” online were a bit nuts. Who really wants others to see what they have purchased but haven’t used yet? I thought Louise was crazy when she was stressing about not finishing her baby booties. Sure, I’ve got some yarn. Sure, I’ve got unfinished projects. But c’mon. No new projects for 40 days? I didn’t think I’d have enough to do. Hello, Kettle? You’re black. Yes, this is my Easter basket. All of my unfinished projects are here. They include a bag, felted and just waiting for handles, a Baby Albert (Einstein) sweater waiting for seams and buttons, a finished sweater that needs to be made smaller, my Master Knitter projects and a whole bunch of other things I’d forgotten about. And Louise? I've got booties too. Forty-one projects in all. Yes, 41. Ouch. Who else is in? Send me your pics and I’ll post them if you want. . . --t

Louise here... I was knitting with some friends last Friday and was thinking that Lent must be coming up pretty soon – I’m possibly the least religious person I know, so to be honest, what I was really thinking about were paczkis (that’s probably not the correct plural, but it’s the only polish word I know) and whether anyone would bring some to the office on Tuesday, etc… There really is a knitting connection here, stick with me. Thoughts of Mardi Gras, Paczky Day, etc lead me to think about Lent and the Christian tradition of giving something up during the days leading up to Easter. Whether or not one practices a particular faith isn’t the point – it’s that good ol’ puritan ethic that “deprivation builds character”. So in the spirit of things I decided that I could benefit from a little deprivation. Here it is folks – I resolve not to cast on any new projects until April 8 th . Until then I will only work on finishing my in-progress projects. I’m hoping that in the next six...

Against my better judgement I bought a spinning wheel from my friend (and absentee guild member) Jane. I knew that another hobby would just suck up more time. I knew that I had piles of yarn and stacks of patterns that I was eager to work on. I knew that this would be another adventure into spending money I don't have on things I don't need to impress people I don't know. . .but none-the-less, in January I became the proud owner of a Majacraft Rose spinning wheel. I have to say, I love it. I love the whir of the wheel as it quietly takes fluffy roving and twists it into a fine strand. I love watching how the color of the wool changes to a deeper hue as it twists into a single strand of something that looks like yarn. I get excited when I ply two strands together and it actually becomes something I can imagine knitting. . .and watching it hang in hanks as it drys when I'm setting the twist makes me smile. My first adventures with the wheel were a disaster. I actually wi...

Louise has promised to add her voice to the blog. . .just as I've challenged myself to make a pair of socks each month this year, she has come up with a knitting connection to Lent. Go figure. Can't wait to hear about it! Maybe she'll inspire us all to become more prolific knitters.

Believe it, or not. Here they are. The camera seemed to take second place to all of the talking and knitting I was doing. I actually brought it to the class I taught (disappointingly poorly attended) but never bothered to take it out of my bag and take pictures with it. (I guess I thought it made a better paper weight at that time). Even more surprising to those of you who know her, is the fact that Joanie was at Knit Michigan, a camera was at Knit Michigan, and we only have a couple of pictures. Shocked? You should be. But in Joanie's defense, she was volunteering at the food area and running home to get supplies I forgot--bless her. Judith's comment after the event was, and I paraphrase. . ."I felt so smart! I never knew I knew enough to teach someone! It was fun!" Camille teaching a beginner. . . Louise not only taught beginners, but later taught many guests and guild members some techniques they were interested in learning. It seems that many of the attendees KNE...

Okay, I've finally gotten around to posting Knit Michigan pictures and they won't upload. I've sat here in front of the computer for at least 20 minutes trying to make it happen and I've lost my patience. Sorry, you'll have to wait for another day. You'll notice even more issues on the top right of the blog. I found an extra cool Michigan knit ring, but can't seem to get us officially linked to them. For now, if you go to the actual site, you may find some interesting bloggers talkin' about their knitting. . .one may be your neighbor! Hopefully I can get that resolved in the next few days. (But can I tell you how proud I am that I actually got the html code to have the stuff posted there?) In the meantime, Kim sent me these links a week or so ago, and I thought you'd all enjoy looking around. Just in case you want to get started knitting your chemo caps for next February's Knit Michigan. . . http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/hats...

You'd think with all this cold weather, and having an extra two days off this weekend due to the frigid temperatures, I'd have the blog updated with the KnitMichigan info. Alas, I've spent my extra time catching up on sleep and knitting in front of the heating vents. (I feel like my cat.) I'll try to upload pictures soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to update you on some sale info courtesy of Kim, from Beaumont. Gifted is having a FEBRUARY INVENTORY REDUCTION SALE!!! Beaumont is changing their inventory system and need to count and sticker every piece of merchandise in the store. In an effort to streamline this process, they're selling out as much as they can before the inventory, and before the new spring yarns come in. . .this means big savings for us! WhooHoo!! From now until the end of February, shop at Beaumont and save on the following yarns: 15% off all 100% wool yarns--this includes Cascade 220 and Manos! Can you believe it? 20% off all cashmere yarns--...