Inspiration

Claudia, who is new to Stitch and Chat, has a contagious enthusiasm for knitting. She's nearly done with her first project. She left us speechless with her progress. When we met today she shared with me a book on knitted bags called 25 More Bags to Knit: Beautiful Bags in Stylish Colors.Claudia asked if the one she had flagged (Daffodil bag) was right for her. Not only was it just right, we all liked it and I think this will be our first group knit-a-long (kal). We're all bag ladies at heart. We like to make them, use them, and give them as gifts. You can never have too many bags. (As evidenced by the reaction to Theresa's doctor's bag). We'll start the kal in about two weeks. If you're interested in the kal, let me know and we can get the books ordered and I'll let you know what supplies you need (you can add a comment to a post or email me).

We had a long talk about knitting resource books and some of the smaller ones that you can take along with you.

A portable book Mary likes is the The Knitting Answer Book: Solutions to Every Problem You'll Ever Face; Answers to Every Question You'll Ever Ask . We both like the Maran Illustrated Knitting and Crocheting (Maran Illustrated) , however it's not portable. A new portable resource book I've come upon is Knitting VISUAL Quick Tips (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer) . At Knitting Central Cynthia brought in a very interesting book called Knitspeak: An A to Z Guide to the Language of Knitting Patterns .

Robin bought two skeins of Noro Silk Garden to make a seed stitch scarf. We played around with the yarn, learned the difference between seed stitch and ribbing, and had a refresher in casting on! :) When we were done, I think she was happy with what was happening with the scarf. You might want to practice the Continental style knitting on left over yarn, rather than your scarf.

Michelle brought in her husband's cable scarf. Which is, as i said before, magnificent. She did a little loopy knitting to show Mary just how "unfun" it is. What do you say Mary, are you going to give it a try? Michelle started a wallaby type sweater for her step-daughter in a variegated supermerino yarn by artyarns. We agreed with her that it would be more classic in a solid.

Mary finished her sock class at Knitting Central. Once the gauge issues were resolved, the knitting was working out fine. Socks done in stockinette are easy to knit with the exception of the heel and toe. That will come with practice.

Lynn joined us today and had a refresher in casting on and the knit stitch. Next we'll have a go at the purl stitch and fixing dropped stitches.

I showed the group my soon to be felted bag so they can see the difference after I felt it. I'm also working on a pair of cashmere gloves for myhusband, if he gets them!