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