September Superstar

Our September meeting will feature Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer. Jackie is both a spinner and knitter. She is best known for her HeartStrings line of lace patterns. Jackie is the person you want to see when you have a beautiful multicolored hand-dyed lace yarn and you want to make something in which the lace pattern and the color changes will shine.

Over the course of the weekend, Jackie will be teaching five classes including: knitted lace edgings, multicolor lace knitting, tapestry knitted pillow, doll-sized Faroese shawl, and faux Ikat effects. Knitted lace edgings is an introduction to lace knitting. Multicolor lace knitting includes lace intarsia, good design with color and pattern, and how to hide ends. Tapestry knitting involves multiple yarns and several techniques for how to deal with more than one strand. The Faroese shawl is knit top-down in a doll size. It is a good way to learn the special construction elements of this shawl shape. Faux Ikat teaches how to control pooling effects in multicolored yarns.

If you'd like to see some samples of her work, you can follow these links:
HeartStrings knitting patterns
Jackie's blog
Or look up Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer on Ravelry.

And for those of you who would like to buy her patterns at one of our local Atlanta area shops:
Only Ewe and Cotton Too will have the patterns.
Yarn Grove is expecting HeartStrings patterns within a week.
The Knitting Emporium currently has numerous HeartStrings sock and lace patterns in stock.
The Whole Nine Yarns has several of her wonderful designs on their way!
Needle Nook will have about 10-12 different patterns.

I'll add here that our local shops have not only beautiful lace yarn but also some fabulous shawl pins. You may want to keep this in mind for the upcoming shop hop or for the holiday season.

A pretty show & tell set

If you were at the August meeting, then you saw Donna showing off this beautiful layette set as a work in progress. It is finished! Donna started off with the cute bonnet. Then she thought maybe she ought to work up those adorable little booties as well. And somehow she found herself casting on for the dress. This is for her granddaughter Elizabeth who should be coming into the world around 2 September. The outfit will likely be worn for Elizabeth’s dedication.

Donna was kind enough to supply some technical details. The book is Leisure Arts LA-75012. Donna used size #2 needles with Phildar Coton D’Egypte Sport. She made a slip with cotton fabric. And apparently she hasn't yet tired of this 4-row lace pattern, because she is now working on a knitted bib with the same design for the trim.

As beautiful and adorable as infants are, it is hard to imagine how exquisitely lovely Elizabeth will look in this outfit.

Generosity out and back

One of the activities at this month's meeting was a raffle to benefit the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children. Becky is the committee chair for raffles. She also got help from Susan. Together, they did a great job setting up tables full of goodies. There were many donations to the raffle. Notable among them was yarn from the Yarn Grove, including some Himalaya silk that drew many chances indeed. Other yarns included Joslyn's Fiber Farm, Lorna's Laces, Jitterbug, and Paca-Peds (see photo above). At 50 cents per chance, the guild raised almost $200 to donate to the shelter. Additionally, guild members donated clothing, household goods, and school supplies. It took two car trips -- one from Diana and one from Debra -- to get all the donated goods down to the shelter the following morning. Many thanks to the Yarn Grove, Becky, Susan, Diana, Debra, and all the guild members who donated items or bought chances in the raffle. Your generosity is helping women and children here in Atlanta get their lives back together and get themselves back on the right track.

August meeting

Our August meeting was another opportunity for socializing. We had lots of guild business to attend to, especially since we have superstar Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer coming to the September meeting. There will be little time for announcements at the September meeting, so we'll have to make good use of the newsletter and the blog.

In the photo above (credit: Randie Cowan) our founder, Whit, is talking about her knitting "mistake." We were going to do a program on stashes and also knitting mistakes, but we didn't have many submissions. I guess our membership rips out all their mistakes and reuses the yarn? In this case, Whit felt that the white top didn't turn out as she had hoped. Maybe a little obviously '80s, but still, as "mistakes" go, not too bad? You might also notice the very nice poster hanging from the podium. Debra made those to promote Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer's visit.

There were a number of very stylish items during show and tell. There were a pair of crazy socks made from leftover sock yarn. They had been knit at the same time, so all the crazy color changes and striping matched! There were a couple great lace shawls as well. Ya'all move fast however -- didn't get any photographs of those. The photo at right (credit: Randie Cowan) is a beautiful entrelac sweater knit in one of the Noro yarns. Made for a husband, who claims he will wear it every day this winter. Here's a reason for knitters to stop global warming -- it is reducing the number of days we can wear great knitted sweaters in Atlanta.