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