What students have been doing this summer

Tuesday Sept. 22 was the last day of summer and the last summer knitting clinic. I hold these each summer for students who want to continue to get knitting help and be with other knitters during the summer. This summer I had 4 clinics, 2 morning ones and 2 evening ones. Each group met once a month.

Summer clinics provide an opportunity for students to make new friends, see what students from other classes are doing, and in general have fun! Two of my summer clinic students who are in different classes during the fall and spring, discovered they both live in the same neighborhood and now walk together several times a week. How neat is that...knitting "begets" exercise!

Several groups from the spring and fall classes decided to get together for lunch during the summer and graciously invited me to these get-togethers. Lots of good food and conversation!

Don't let anyone tell you that knitters don't knit during the summer...my summer clinic students have been very busy this summer with their various projects. Here are some pictures:

Ann has been working on a cardigan with an "antler" cable running down the fronts and sleeves. She's occasionally "butted" heads with those antlers but has persisted and is doing a great job!









Ebbie has been making the "learn to knit Fairisle" pullover that I designed a few years ago. At first she was pulling the unused yarn too tightly across but has now mastered the right "Fairisle touch" and it is looking so beautiful!

P.S. You'll have to ask Ebbie the "secret" to having so many colors without too many yarn ends to deal with!





Ellen has started the "Panels Baby Blanket". The yarn and colors are so soft and sweet...and she is doing so well as a fairly new knitter!

I designed the "Panels Baby Blanket" because so many students were having trouble with blanket patterns that called for a large number of stitches (think 120 and up...)with a pattern stitch. When they would make a mistake and need to fix it, they would have to pull out a zillion stitches and get very discouraged. So I designed the pattern to try out different stitches in "smaller doses". Each panel has only 30 stitches...not so over-welming when a mistake is made. 4 different patterns can be used, one in each panel, or one pattern stitch can be used for all 4 panels. Several other students are working on this pattern and seem to like it. I have even made just 1 panel for a scarf. Here are some pictures of my first Panels Baby Blanket:





Emily has been working on a pretty afghan with alternating blocks of knit and purl stitches. She's making headway in what I'm sure will become a family heirloom.






Merry has been working on the "Big Needle, Little Needle" afghan. It looks so wonderful in the varigated yarn she is using and she is doing a marvelous job!











Marion and Jean have been making the "Cable Pullover":

Jean knit the shoulders together in class this week and Marion started sewing the side and sleeve seams. They both look excellent!

So, dear knitters, summer knitting is alive and well in Baltimore!

Mary, who is now "revving up" for fall classes and lots of knitting!

Hospital Comfort Knitting

Recently I was in the hospital for several days after surgery. The first couple of days I was pretty groggy but by the 3rd day I woke up WANTING to KNIT! I had not brought any knitting with me because I knew I'd be hooked up to an IV and with every surgery I've ever had, getting the IV line into my tiny veins has been a real pain...literally! So, I was afraid to move the hand that had the IV in it too much. But...I REALLY WANTED to KNIT, figuring it would be soothing and a nice diversion from being in "not one of my favorite places". (Not that the nurses, doctors, techs, etc. weren't wonderful...they were all very efficient and caring.) But then, who ever wants to be a patient in a hospital??

So, I asked my nurse if she thought I would pull my IV out by knitting. She guaranteed me that it was in there securely and even added some more tape to secure it even more and told me to get my knitting! So, I called my dear Max and described which knitting bag to bring over when he came that afternoon.

Oh, the comfort and joy of picking up those needles and yarn! I have to believe it helped in my recuperation! Of course I couldn't knit for hours on end because I had been told that the quickest way to "get home" was to take lots of walks in the halls. And, I definitely wanted to get home to my Max, my kitty Mittens, my I-pod touch and computer and ALL my knitting projects! So, I happily alternated between walking and knitting with some reading thrown it. I had even brought a small MP3 player that I had put some knitting podcasts on and listening to those was delightful also.

So, what was I working on while in the hospital? The "Remember Cardigan" a free pattern on the Berroco website: http://tinyurl.com/nrjg3n . Picture below:
At the bottom of the body of the sweater and the sleeves I started with a scalloped edging to "dress" it up a bit and give it a "Mary" touch:

While you're on the Berroco website ( http://berroco.com/ ), check out their free patterns by clicking on the patterns tab. Also, they have a great weekly newsletter that you can sign up for that usually has a free pattern. I've made several of their free projects : the Wedge scarf ( http://tinyurl.com/m7hu3x ), the Toshiko scarf which one of my students is also currently making ( http://tinyurl.com/mfgjrc ), the Strozi necklace (http://tinyurl.com/l76e9m ) and the Pilar sweater ( http://tinyurl.com/lylk88 ).

Well, I'm happily home and pretty well recovered, although I may have to have another surgery in a few months. I will be sure and pack some "hospital comfort knitting". Dear knitters, have any of you experienced "hospital comfort knitting" either while a patient or to relieve the stress of waiting for a loved one to have surgery or other procedure? Tell me your comfort story, please. Either post a comment or email me at: notesfromknitclass@gmail.com . I'd love to hear from you.
Mary, joyfully knitting and computing from my porch by my pond (see photo at top of this post)---a very soothing place to recuperate.

A P.S. to yesterday's post--discovered some new videos

I discovered after posting yesterday and "poking around" on the Jimmy Beans website (http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/ ) that they have some neat videos. So, I've added them on the left bar on "knitting videos for you to watch".

Just click on the video you want to watch and it will open up right on the blog.

When you're finished watching click on the words "I'm done watching this" at the top of the video screen. That will close that video so you can then watch another one!





Lynn, our favorite "weaving in ends queen", this one is for you!!!












There are so many wonderful videos about knitting techniques all over the internet, so dear students, now you can keep learning in between classes...and maybe teach the teacher ( me! ) a new trick or two!
Mary

Look what I found!

I just put this nifty little gadget on my sidebar: a calculator to figure out how much yarn you will need for various projects.
Look for it on the left bar and click on it to take you to the calculator.
When you get to the calculator, just click on the various "arrow heads" to choose your options, then click on "Calculate".
Here's a picture of it "in action": (Click on the picture to see it more clearly)


It's on the Jimmy Beans website: http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/. A really neat website!
While you're on it, check out the "free patterns". Isn't "Huck's Hat" adorable?

Let me know how you like this new feature I've put up. Any questions about it, feel free to email me at: notesfromknitclass@gmail.com .

Happy Labor Day knitting!
Mary

Beach knitting, free pattern, and student vacation knitting

We just got back from a lovely week at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
One morning I happened to wake up to see this lovely sunrise so I quickly grabbed my camera, ran out to the balcony, snapped some pictures, then jumped back in bed for a couple more hours of sleep!




One of my favorite things in all the world to do is to sit in a low beach chair close to the water and knit...one of my ideas of what heaven must be!! So, here is the photo Max snapped of me doing just that:
One lady who was staying in the same building that we were came up to me and said "I see you every day because you are in the background of my favorite picture of my daughter at the beach". She showed me the picture she took last year and yep, there I was sitting and knitting at the water's edge!

So, what was I knitting on? Some hand-warmers for 2 special young ladies who go to my church. I have told them that the hand warmers have Rehoboth sun and sand knit into them to keep them especially warm this winter! They are perfect for beach knitting since they are small and not too "thought provoking" (hopefully not "provoking" for you at all!) You can click here to download my free pattern:

http://bit.ly/19xWtdc

One of my students who is vacationing in the "wilds" of Maine emailed me this:

"Today we went to an alpaca farm and saw them raising 11 of the cute little guys. They have such sweet faces! I took some pictures which I hope to share with you.

Then we went to a yarn shop in another little town and I purchased enough yarn to make a really cute top. I fell in love with the color - cobalt blue - ; I got the yarn and also the pattern. The yarn is alpaca wool from Bolivia. Alpaca is the theme of the day."

So, dear knitters, be sure and let me know about your vacation (or "staycation") knitting! Remember you can post in a comment or email me (see my email address on left-hand sidebar).
Happily "sandy" Mary

Rosebud Baby jacket and class and a brochure

This spring I made a little jacket and cap for a friend at church who was having a baby girl. Many of my students have requested the pattern and for now I will only provide it to students who have taken one of my "Rosebud" classes. So, I have scheduled a Rosebud class for July 8, 2009 at 10 am. The cost will be $10 a student. We will be making a little purse with the Rosebuds on the flap so that the stitch can be learned on a small amount of stitches.

Everyone who takes the class will receive the pattern for the baby jacket and cap plus a pattern for a Rosebud Scarf.

If you'd like to sign up email me at

notesfromknitclass@gmail.com

Also, I have put a brochure on the left sidebar with information about my classes. You can download it at http://bit.ly/19xWtdc and print it out. I am offering my current students a $10 rebate if a student they have referred signs up for one of my fall classes. So, my dear current students, you can use the brochure to "lure" a new student in and get your rebate!

Knitting hugs from Mary, who is currently making another baby sweater for another new baby at church and calling it "Eat Your Peas and Carrots". Summer Clinic students can see it in progress and fall students will get to see the photos since little babe is due the end of July!

Travel knitting

My DH Max and I took a road trip down to Florida for my nephew's wedding. There were lots of festivities at beautiful Florida houses as friends of my brother and his wife hosted some fun parties. Here are pictures I took at the "Cocktails on the Beach" party at a lovely home right on the ocean and the fun "Bluegrass and BBQ on the Banks" at a wonderful home on the Intercostal Waterway.
I especially love car trips because my DH really likes to drive which leaves me free to "knit my way" to where we're going! On this trip one of things I worked on (and finished!) was this:


A little crocheted purse for a specific purpose: I like to walk around the house listening to music on my much loved Ipod Touch but I'm not always wearing something with pockets to stick my Ipod in while I'm listening. So....the little Ipod Neck Pocket was born! I started out writing down what I did as I did it, but kept adding little finishing touches that I didn't write down so unfortunately don't have a finished pattern to share. The cord starts out as a chain but I added stitches and several inches of single crochet where it lays against my neck which makes it very comfortable. I put the Ipod in upside down so I can reach the on and off buttons easily. Here are some more photos:


Here it is being worn around my neck:

















And, here is a close-up with Ipod in it. The X is to safeguard the Ipod from falling through the opening!











All in all, I'm a happy little camper wearing it, as strange as it may look!!

Oh, also on the trip we listened to the Audio CD of "The Number One Ladies Detective Agency". We loved it and we're looking forward to our next long car trip to listen to the next book in the series: "Tears of the Giraffe".

Let me know what you are reading, listening to, knitting and crocheting this summer...
Mary