Hat Contest 2011

Here are my 100 hats (on a bed with toys because I forgot to remove the toys!)

Linda Williams of Country Knitting of Maine News&Views magazine has been having a hat contest each year, with the hats sent in to be donated to charity (homeless, schoolkids, etc.). For the last couple of years she has also sponsored a "Hat Challenge" to knit 100 hats and send them in with the Hat Contest hats.  I have sent in 100 hats last year and again this year.  Kathryn Doubrley first issued the 100 Hat Challenge, promising a free pattern to whoever sent in 100 hats.  Cathie Sanders  joined her in promising a free pattern to whoever sent in 100 hats.  Linda joined them in promising a prize for 100 hats. ....So I figured I couldn't lose....just send in 100 hats and be guaranteed a prize!! Three prizes, to be exact.

So I cranked up my knitting machine (machines to be exact) and got started. When I traveled, I used my trusty hand knitting needles to keep up the momentum. I tried out hat patterns from the internet and from various patterns I had bought over the years. I tried different color combinations and different techniques. I used the standard knitting machine, the Passap, the midgauge machine and the bulky. To make sure the hats were usable, I tried each one on on my head....if it were a bit tight (but DID go on my head) I figured it would fit someone....if it were a bit loose, it would still fit someone.  These hats were for school children and for adults, mostly.

I selected my best hats from the 100 to enter in the contest with the big prizes. I was very lucky and I did win some big prizes!

My first place hat won 6 months of Machine Knitting Monthly

My second place winner, most unusual technique, won  a gift certificate to Knit it Now

My third place prize winning hat won a big box of yarn from Peter Patchis

No, I did not enter all of the 100 hats into the contest. I chose what I considered the best of the bunch (maybe about 10 or so hats). Hey, the more I entered in the contest, the greater my chance of winning!

This was a lot of fun...some personal pressure to finish 100 hats and on time...and I do plan to try again next year for 100 more hats!  I hope many of you will join me in making and donating hats next year.

More Toyota photos

Someday I will learn how to manage this blog....I promise!

Toyota knitting machine for sale

Another person has contacted me about selling a machine locally.
The photos are in another post from today.
Here is what Lisa said:

My mother purchased this knitting machine, but recently passed away and I don't have a need/use for it. It is a Toyota KS787 model, and comes with a ribber, stand, lace carriage, other miscellaneous attachments, and some patterns. It has been used only half-a-dozen times.

Lisa lives in Hillsborough, NC. She is asking $500 for the Toyota KS787 , ribber, stand, lace carriage, and other miscellaneous attachments. She will include some patterns too.

The 787 is a punchcard machine and from what I can find on the internet a very sturdy, reliable machine.

If you are interested contact me, Rita, at    fmcelroy@aol.com and I will put you in contact with Lisa.

Toyota Knitting machine for sale photos

Machines for sale

I frequently run into people with machines to sell.  None of us want to pack the machine for shipping.  Today a friend named Edith phoned that she had 2 machines for sale.  She bought them new some years ago and they have been used only slightly and have mostly been in air conditioned storage. She would like to sell both of them together.

What is she selling?  Passap e6000 with motor and stand and lots of accessories. Also a brother 940 with lots of accessories, books too.

How much for all of this?  $1700 for both machines and accessories.

Where is she? Durham, NC...remember this is for Pick Up Only.

If interested contact me, Rita, at fmcelroy@aol.com

Knit-In

Last weekend, well really from Nov. 10-13, our Triangle Machine Knitters went to "camp".  We took our machines, bedding, and food to share to a camp which is used for autistic children during the summer.  We booked the dining hall (for eating and knitting) and one bunkhouse (which had 7 single rooms, each 6 ft. square!!

Those rooms were not much bigger than the beds!!!

Kathy and Sue

Jo knitting a pillow cover

new machine knitter Kathy

LuAnne

Stephanie and Ann

and a common room with bunks for 20 or more people).  Around 10 of us spent one or more nights at the camp, and another 5 or 6 of our knitters came only during the daytime.  We knit and talked and encouraged each other during this time.  We had a great time.  Most of the people brought simple machines (LK150 mostly) but some brought brother bulky machines (260) or standard machines ( brother 970, 965i, 940, Singer 700 are the ones I remember).

Sandra's Entrelac skirt on dress

Valeria's sweater for grandson

Rita's hats

We knit hats and bags for charity, socks for Christmas presents, a dress for a granddaughter, a sweater for a grandson, part of an afghan for a present, swatches of different techniques and other items I cannot remember.  I saw Mary using her linker to finish a lovely double bed jacket. We even found out that the same punchcard could be used on the Singer standard and the brother bulky machines.  The hats were similar, but each had their own appeal.

We had plenty of food and really enjoyed ourselves!

We are eagerly looking forward to our next knit in.

Our Passap Meeting

Today, Saturday, Nov. 5, we held our local Passap meeting.  Elizabeth and I met at Tatiana's home. We shared info about the Passap which we had gleaned from various internet sites and old magazines.  We had a great snack, then settled down to business.  
We went to Tatiana's e6000 and knit a hat.  We used the pattern devised by Mary Ann Cutler 
( http://cutlermac.wordpress.com/sock-yarn-circular-hat-on-Passap-knitting-machine ) 
with the changes Rita had made to accommodate Rita's yarn (Sensations by Deborah Norville). 


It was an interesting experience for Tatiana, as she is a new Passap knitter.  Rita did the cast on, then had Tatiana do all the "hard work" of pushing the lock for the many rows of circular knitting.  I even made Tatiana do the decreases for the top of the hat (my own addition to Mary Ann's hat) and gather off the top.  
That yarn made a really pretty hat with a rolled edge.  
Tatiana hopes to knit another hat, by herself, tomorrow...before she forgets how to do it!


Keep knitting. 

Our local Triangle Machine Knitters schedule

The Triangle Machine Knitters  hold their monthly meetings at a church in north Raleigh.  email me at       

fmcelroy@aol.com  for exact location. 

We meet from 10 am to about 12 noon.  Many of us go out to lunch together afterwards at a Chinese buffet.  You are welcome to join us or to join a new friend and eat somewhere else or to just go off on your own.  

 Usually we have a demonstration of something being knitted on a machine (or a technique) or maybe a video which is knitting machine related.  We then have a show and tell time when we show our completed items, items in progress, items we've had a problem with, or just swatches we like or do not like.  If we have time, we even show off our handknitting or other fiber arts work. 

Here is our schedule of proposed topics for our meetings for 2011-2012:

                           

NOVEMBER 19:  (1) Bring any more knitted toiletry bags. All who can,

                        please plan to arrive by 9:30 am to help stuff the bags. We want

                        to get as much done before the "official" meeting starts.

                        (2) Demonstration of the knitleader by Jo

  

DECEMBER: Party! (do we need a planning committee??) date and location to be announced  

JANUARY (the third Saturday): Donna Seitzer video,shown by Rita

FEBRUARY(the third Saturday): Intarsia, Sandra 

MARCH(the third Saturday): More (and more) hand-manipulated stitches, Elizabeth 

APRIL (the third Saturday): Fixing mistakes, finishing, Rita and Ann 

MAY(the third Saturday): Shortrowing, Mary 

JUNE (the third Saturday): Circular knitting incorporating tuck, fairisle, lace, Teena 

JULY (the third Saturday): (1) Buy/Sell/Swap anything and everything 

            (2) Bring your favorite book or pattern and tell us a little about it.

AUGUST (the third Saturday): Planning, planning for next season

Most of us knit on brother or Silver Reed (Studio/Singer) machines but some of us also use Passap machines.  There is a special meeting for Passap knitters usually held monthly at another location.  Email  me if you want info. 

fmcelroy@aol.com

Our local Triangle Machine Knitters

Although the Carolinas Machine Knitters guild seminar is over, our local group, the Triangle Machine Knitters, continues to meet monthly in Raleigh. Check out our website:

http://trianglemachineknitters.webs.com/

We will be updating our schedule for the upcoming year (Sept-July) in the next few months.

Rita

Cathie Sanders at the machine in her class. See the new Mark II added to the garter carriage.
This is Mary Anne Oger's class in the big room. She is showing some of her knitted garments.

Our great seminar

Well, I have been working all day to try to upload photos of our seminar. Let's try again..... Here is our seminar location at the church among the pines.The lady measuring someone is Ileen Levy, one of our demonstrators.I don't know why the photos are in the wrong order and not where I put them.....Maybe someday I'll learn to work this blogging site.

Seminar update

I am so excited about the upcoming seminar!  The organizing seems to be falling into place.

We have almost 50 people coming to the seminar, 5 demonstrators, 3 vendors plus  what the demonstrators are selling.  There are about 33 people planning and paid to attend the Dinner with the Demonstrators at a private dining room at the Casa Carbone restaurant.

At the Casa Carbone, each diner will have a choice of one of the 5 preselected entrees.  She or he will also have a house salad, a soft drink, and a dessert.  The tax and tip are included in the $20 that each person has prepaid.  If someone wants wine with the meal, that is okay, but she or he must pay for that personally, it does not come out of the $20.

We will be among the first in the USA to view the new Mark II two color garter carriage.  Cathie is holding a special class just for this!  I am sure we will have lots of questions for her.  Northtipton, her company, will start installing the Mark II sometime later this summer.

Many people are selling used machine knitting equipment through our private for sale list.  These are bargains to be picked up at the seminar, so no shipping charges are added!  When you register for the seminar, you are invited to join the for sale list.  Then you can sell or buy or browse as you wish.

If you suddenly realize that you want to come then check the guild website
www.carolinasmkg.org  and go to the page with the Paypal button to sign up.  We are always willing to squeeze in just one more!!

I can't wait to meet all of you in person!!!

Revised schedule of classes April 13

	Mary Ann's Classes	Ileen's classes	Marjorie's classes	Cathie's classes	Frank
Friday	Friday	Friday	Friday	Friday	Friday	Friday
8:00 Registration
9:00-10:00	The Ribber Rules	How to Take Accurate Body Measurements	different fabrics for different purposes	Introduction to the new Mark II Garter Carriage, a two color gc		9:00-10:00
break	break	break	break	break	break	break
10:30-11:30	Ribber Rules part 2	How to Take Accurate Body Measurements part 2	special cast on and cast offs	Introduction to Standard Garment Styling and Original Pattern Drafting  DAK	Dr. Frank's Clean Sweep	10:30-11:30
Lunch , business meeting and parade of knits	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1:30-2:30	. For the ‘Crochet-impaired!’	Knitting with Cotton Spandex Yarn	One pattern number many different techniques	Double Bed Jacquard Four Ways		1:30-2:30
break	break	break	break	break	break	break
3:00-4:00	. Sideways Knits	The Importance of Swatches and Blocking	Using sewing machine and serger to assemble garment	Hand Manipulated Cables and Lace		3:00-4:00
6:00 Dinner at Casa Carbone--OPTIONAL	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	6:00 Dinner at Casa Carbone--OPTIONAL
Saturday	Saturday	Saturday	Saturday	Saturday	Saturday	Saturday
9:00-10:00	Darting Around	Buttonholes	Special cast on and cast offs	Introduction to Stitch Designer and Interactive Knitting  DAK	Dr. Frank's Garter carriage Maintenance
break	break	break	break	break	break	break
10:30-11:30	. Buttonholes, in anything, anywhere!	Cables and More Cables	One pattern number many different techniques	Rolling on the Ribber: racked bed techniques and other patterns for the ribber
Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1:00-2:00	. Double Bed Edges and trims	Basic Machine Cleaning & Maintenance	Blocking	Knitweaving
break	break	break	break	break	break	break
2:30-3:30	Starting Right to Finish Perfect	Tips & Techniques	The Secrets to Garment Fitting	Machine Embroidery on Knits
	Mary Ann's Classes	Ileen's classes	Marjorie's classes	Cathie's classes	Frank

DAK classes at the CMKG seminar can be "hands on"

If you bring your laptop with DAK already installed, you may follow along with Cathie as she teaches how to use DAK.  If you have a problem there, she can help you right away!!

We will have tables for your laptop to be set on.

if you want an "official registration form" here it is

   

 Carolinas Machine Knitters Guild Seminar

April 29 and 30, 2011

Copy, print and mail this registration with your check

Seminar Location: St. Giles Presbyterian Church,

                             5101 Oak Park Rd., Raleigh, NC, 27612

Hotel: Comfort Inn & Suites,

6209 Glenwood Ave., Raleigh, NC

 919-782-1112.

  Please contact hotel directly.

 Ask for Carolinas Guild price of $65 per room

Make checks to Carolinas Machine Knitters Guild

Payments include 2 days of classes and lunches Friday and Saturday

               Early Bird Prices, before March 10, for both days:

 Carolinas Guild members $80                                                                       $_________

 Non members $100 (includes complimentary 2011 membership)                      $_________

                Regular price, after March 10, 2011

Carolinas Guild members $100                                                                      $_________

Non members $120 (includes complimentary 2011 membership)                      $_________

Optional Dinner with the Demonstrators  $20     (Casa Carbone restaurant,     $_________

                    choice of entree, salad, non alcoholic drink, dessert, tax and tip)

                                                           TOTAL INCLOSED                       $_________

                                    

Name______________________________________________________________________

Address____________________________________________________________________

             _____________________________________________________________________

Phone number _______ _________  _____________

email address for accessing CarolinasKMGuild site on yahoo groups (our newsletter and chat list)  _______________________________________

Print this and send it to: to Treasurer, CMKG, PO Box 14254, New Bern, NC, 28562