Chick-Fil-A Cows

Sometimes we go crazy around here. Last year Frank and I decided to dress up for Chick-fil-a Customer Appreciation Day, because those dressed in some sort of cow costume got free food.....a complete meal if in complete costume or an entree if you wore a hat or a shirt or a mask, etc. with a cow theme.

As you can see we went all out. Yes this is knitting related!! I created the pattern for the cow hat and knit it. Here you can see it: Sorry I don't have a photo of it alone!

Since I gave away the cow hat from 2015, I had to knit another one for this year's Customer Appreciation Day. This time they changed the rules, so no matter how much you dressed like a cow, you got only the entree, not the drink or the fries too. Oh, well. We dressed up pretty much the same, but my new hat is a bit different. It still needs improvement, but I am getting there....and I do remember to keep a record of what I do! 

Here is how it looked on me this noontime at the mall!

Some of us will do anything for free food!

Seminars

I had a lovely time in late May and in early June at two seminars. I attended the Jan Richards 2 day seminar in Alcoa, Tennessee and had a great time. Jan had come all the way from Sydney Australia!

 Jan showed us a variety of garments which she had knit using a gc (ha, inspiration for me!!) and knitting them sideways. She also knit with lurex, which added a nice touch to the everyday short sleeved sweaters she was showing and wearing. She also showed us how to hang the cast on comb so that the tines faced me instead of facing the machine. She said this made the comb hang better and not fall off so easily.

I loved her designs and bought some of her patterns, but I still have to knit them. Shame on me  

The very next weekend I attended a 2 day seminar near Raleigh where Sandee Cherry showed us a variety of her garments and patterns and methods of knitting them. Once again I was looking at sideways knitting (think someone is trying to tell me something??) and once again a demonstrator was showing how much better it is to hang the cast on comb with the teeth facing me

Once again I was impressed and inspired to knit. Once again I bought a bunch of patterns

Now I have been reminded that I CAN knit for myself and not just for charity.

I have been practicing hanging the cast on comb in the way that both these demonstrators advised. I think maybe they are right.....alright, they are definitely correct in that the comb is more stable, seems to catch on all the stitches, and makes hanging a hem much easier. I have been practicing on my charity hats, and on a garment I knit for myself, see below.

After the Sandee Cherry seminar I searched my yarns and found just the right one to knit her sideways top (Book 48, Fun With Sideways Knits). It was an easy knit of just 2 rectangles. She used either needle out of work, or knit stockinette and drop certain stitches to run later. I did the drop stitches technique to make a more openwork fabric for our hot summers. I mostly followed her instructions and pattern. I prefer a slightly longer top, so there is no gap in the back waist when I bend over So I planned my rectangle to be an inch longer than her pattern. 

I am so pleased with the result!! I got that garment knit and put together in the  days between the seminar ending on Saturday and our TMK meeting on the next Saturday!!  I used a dress yarn in a taupe color. I wore it over black slacks and a black tank top. I looked classy......even my sister-in-law in Florida was impressed when we saw her later the next week. Next time I put it on, I will have Frank take my photo so I can post it!

You can get the pattern for yourself (remember it is pattern #48) from  http://www.sandeeskwikknit.com/   Sandee does write patterns for those of us who are a bit bigger than the average lady

Hi Everyone. A lot has happened since my posting in January about my working to clean my garter carriages. I had some successes and some cleanings that did not help.

I have 9 garter carriages. Some were working okay, some with minor problems, and some with major problems. I managed to work on almost all of them.....I did not tackle the two which had been adapted to 2 color gc's. One of these works okay as a one color gc, so I did not mess with it as I did not want to cause problems with its delicate workings.....and I could not get it apart with the extras glued onto the top of the carriage. The second one has had the glue let go from the attachments on the top, so I did not mess with that one either.

Of those I worked with, I was successful with 6. One I kept thinking I had working okay, but it would keep stopping at odd moments, so I gathered it to send off to ASK JACK.

One gc had had a major problem from January 2015, when it was running but managed to throw out an axle and  stop with a loud noise. We had replaced the part, but the machine would not work. I took the gc apart to fix it....no luck. After a few weeks I was sure I could fix it, but when I took it apart I could not even get it back together......OH NOOOOO!

So that gc also went off to ASK JACK, in parts......what a mess. I had better take out a second mortgage or hope that Jack tells me it is not reparable at all.

So that is where I stand with my gc stable.....I have 6 gc's that can work well (and I need to get the km's cleared off so the gc's can work). I have one gc waiting here for me to work on it (a two color one). And I have two sent off to ASK JACK (theanswerlady's husband). Jack plans to take his time and work on all the repairs the Triangle Machine Knitters handed over to him in the spring at our Knit in. He will return in the fall to give us back our machines which he has repaired (and maybe even the unrepaired ones, if my projects prove too difficult for him).

I have started to knit a summer sweater for me with Cotton Tale 8 coned yarn using my gc....or one of them I have to knit in the mornings and stop everything in the afternoon and evenings since we seem to have thunderstorms every day!! The front is knit and now I am ready to try the back. 

Sorry, no photos today.