My visit to Pacifically Passap Seminar

I have just returned from the west coast where I attended the great seminar, Pacifically Passap, which is sponsored by Pat Groves and the Metropolitan Machine Knitters (I think I have that last part right).

There were classes for Passap and for the flat bed machines such as Brother and Silver Reed. There were many great instructors, and it was a shame that  I could attend only a sampling of these classes. Here is what I remember.

I totally enjoyed attending Pacifically Passap this year....and all the previous years I have attended.

As usual I bought a bunch of patterns and even some yarn
I enjoyed the 2 lunches where we had informal modeling. I had to show off my green suit with a self designed waterfall jacket. I also wore my off white top made from the Passap Duomatic pattern book which Pat had for sale. Pat also wore her white top, so for one day we looked just alike....... .well, sort of!
This was the top which was on display on the Krinklespun table and was knit in a deep pink/rose/reddish color. 

I also modeled my garter carriage and lace top from the pattern by Danis (Just for Laughs). It looked really impressive and I got a lot of nice comments. Below are photos of it from the NC State Fair, 2014. 

Okay, I will admit that lots of other people had fabulous outfits to model, in the modeling and for just walking around attending classes. 

I could not attend all the classes, what a shame! Pat had tried to make most of the classes available more than once, which did help a lot when I wanted to take 2 classes which were scheduled for the same time!!

For me, a real eye opener was seeing Sharon Minrath demonstrate how to use the card reader on the e6000. She was just setting up the machine for another demo when I saw this. I did not start Passap knitting when there were dealers nearby, so I am self taught. I had used DAK to download patterns, but had never used or seen used the card reader. I was not the only one who was new to this. We discussed the need for the card sleeve and how difficult it is to find one now. (Sometimes our classes drifted off topic, when there was time. This was a real educational experience. We are so lucky to have such talented demonstrators who can think on their feet and both demonstrate and explain topics about our machines!) 

Billie Hall's class (You Can't do that on a Passap!) was lots of fun as she showed us that we can use the fuzzy yarns and heavier yarns on the Passap. She did her demos on the Duo so we did not worry about setting up the console or even using the deco. I could not believe the heavy hat she knit with 4 strands of 2/24 yarn!

I attended Sarah Etchison' s class on combining lace with tuck and weaving. She used a brother machine and we could easily see what she was doing because she used a camera and a tv screen. It was so clear that one lady in the group could remind Sarah to check for stitches which had caught on the gatepegs!
The lunches were delicious and plentiful. We had chicken the first day and salmon the second. The chocolate cake, almost a cheesecake in its richness, was to die for!!

Beth Bunch had a couple of outstanding outfits to model. One was a Carmen Reuter skirt (in orange) which looked like gathered tiers. The top matched it in color and looked absolutely lovely on her. I even bought that pattern..... .hope I get up the courage to tackle it!!

One young lady modeled a cute tank top she had knit just the night before.....I think they said it was her first machine knit garment. And it fit her well. 

That same young lady and a friend modeled a joke sweater which was hilarious! The dark sweater was very wide (even wider than I am!!), had 2 long sleeves AND 2 neck holes side by side!! BOTH LADIES were inside that one sweater..... sort of like siamese twins!! We kept telling them that they were really too close friends

Helen Koshak modeled various items, but the one which sticks in my mind is a shawl done in short rowing. It was a white shawl with some series of dark stripes. Sorry, my description is so poor, but the shawl was really both simple and eye catching. I think it might have been the one listed on Newton's website in the free patterns (bottom of the page for handknitting and shown in grey and black). That makes sense since Helen is associated with Newtons....a fact that I did not know before the seminar!

I am so inspired by what I saw at the seminar that I have begun knitting again on my Passap. Yesterday I knit 3 simple hats from Knitting with the Lights Off by Billie Hall. I even practiced using my transfer carriage U-100E because I attended Sharon Minrath's class and she showed how easy it was when you pay attention to details!.....I do need more practice  

Update on Machines for sale in or near Raleigh

The 930 which I had listed for sale in November has been sold, but its ribber is still available. Carmen is the owner of this ribber for sale.

My friend Donna has an 860 Studio midgauge machine for sale.

As sometimes happens, one of my knitting friends has died. Her machines will be up for auction (silent auction) with the proceeds to benefit Ovarian Cancer Research. Here is the info.

 The silent auction will be at 7 PM on April 16, at the Craft Center in the basement of the Thompson Theater on the NCSU campus. This is in Raleigh, NC.  We would welcome you and anyone else from TMK who would care to come.  Though we (Marilyn  and other hand knitters) have not yet inventoried all the yarn, I know there are a number of cones of fine yarn and some fine yarn that has been wound into balls, all of which would be suitable for standard gauge machines.  There is also a great deal of heavier commercial and handspun yarn that would be suitable for handknitting or for use on a mid gauge or bulky machine.

WE ALSO NEED TO DISPOSE OF HER KNITTING MACHINES AND ACCESSORIES.  Here is an 
inventory:

Brother knitting machine model 4.3.  (Vintage)

Brother 940 knitting machine with manuals

Brother 850 ribber  with cover and manuals

Brother stand for 940 machine and ribber

Brother KRC-900 color changer with manual

Garter bar

Brother knitleader KL116 in case with manual

Studio linker model DL 1000 with manual

This announcement gives you plenty of time to research what these machines or accessories would sell for, so that you can make an informed bid for them. Remember, the proceeds will go for Ovarian Cancer Research. My friend, Carol, had not even reached the age for retirement. 

Charity Knitting

I belong to an online charity group called All Crafts 4 Charity. In February we sent sweater sets to Bundles of Love, a hospital related charity group in Minnesota, which gives going home outfits to needy newborns.  They especially needed complete sweater sets, meaning a sweater with a hat, mittens, and booties.

I opened my mouth online and put my foot in it by promising to make 8 sets for newborns. Hey, Christmas was over and I had plenty of time for machine knitting these easy outfits, didn't I?

It was a challenge to me (and to others on the list) to promise, and really make and send, these items. We all came through and sent over 100 of these sets, plus many parts of sets, to help these newborns.

I "cheated" a bit by finding sweaters which were almost finished but put in the back of drawers in my house.

Most of my sweaters were from the basic raglan cardigan pattern in Bramwell Baby Book (available for free download from machineknittingetc.com). The socks were from Ricki Mundstock's free pattern (with mock ribbing) or were sort of "created" by me as basic ribbed top socks. The mittens were just socks with only one set of shortrowing. Hats were either ribbing or Ione's hat pattern from Northtipton.

Here are photos of my outfits and a few spares which I sent too.

Whoops, I also see I had knit a double bed white sweater on the Passap, and a Surprise Baby sweater ( pink variegated) and a couple of All in One cardigans (one is yellow and green, and the other is variegated with a blue band),

I was using us a variety of pastel baby yarns, until I got tired of that and switched to bright colors. Not everyone has the same tastes!

I have since knitted two more sets for gifts locally.

I am now trying out more baby sweaters, these with hoods. Some are on the standard brother machine and others are on the bulky. Possibly I will even dig out the midgauge to see if that is the best fit for the yarn I have.