The Tangled Skein Meet • Knit • Learn The Newsletter of the Ottawa Knitting Guild April 2012 In this issue: Meeting Preview .......................................................................................1 Event Listings..........................................................................................1 Knitting Challenge ...................................................................................1 Jana’s Gems............................................................................................2 Knitting Links Roundup ..........................................................................3 Book Reviews ..........................................................................................4 Charity Knitting.......................................................................................5 Yarnbombing in Ottawa ...........................................................................6 March Meeting Recap ..............................................................................6 March Show and Tell ...............................................................................8 Knitting Challenge Submission Form ..................................................... 11 Meeting Preview April 16: Elwood Quinn and Pam Heath of Rare Breeds Canada will give a presentation on rare and heritage sheep breeds and how a rising interest in fibre arts is helping to create a valuable niche mar- ket for the wonderful products Canada’s rare- breeds sheep producers have available for the fibre arts community. May 14 (NOTE : earlier than usual because of Vic- toria Day): Renowned designer Cat Bordhi will be the guest speaker. Event Listings Stitch Doctor Have you succeeded in knitting a project that turned out to be perfect? Most of us do not! There are some easy and some more difficult ways to turn our projects into things that look “store bought” and not homemade! Best of all, it is super great when a completed garment fits. Come to Stitch Doctor to find out about new ways of doing things and addressing common problems you may en- counter as you knit. Your knitting experiences will become more fulfilling and rewarding! Bring some waste yarn and needles and come to the Stitch Doctor from 7:00 to 7:30 PM (before the Guild meeting) in the Friendship Room, off the main corridor near the back of the church. You will discover new ways of doing things, suggestions for overcoming problems, and your knitting will take on a new professional look April – A demonstration and review of the more complicated knitting stitches including those used in lace . Learn how to wrap a stitch, why it is done, and how to understand what is meant by many more advanced abbreviations. With a mastery of such stitches, one would be able to confidently use advanced patterns and start to knit lace pat- terns. Bring questions you may have regarding strange maneuvers to you. Submitted by Elizabeth Payne Upper Canada Village An update on the Fantastic Fibres/Quilt Show weekend at Upper Canada Village: our contact at the Village would like to confirm the list of volun- teers by April 30, so if you're interested in volun- teering for this event, please let a member of the executive know. The event will take place the week- end of June 16 and 17, and activities will run from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Submitted by Shauna McNally Knitting Challenge Knit Any Cat Bordhi Pattern: Entries due April 16 Just a reminder that, if you’re intending to partici- pate in this year’s Knitting Challenge, entries are due at the April 16 Guild meeting, and the winners will be announced at the May 14 meeting. (Continued on page 3) Guild meetings are held monthly at Woodroffe United Church, 207 Woodroffe Avenue. The Banquet Hall opens at 7:00 p.m. for networking, with the formal program commencing at 7:30 p.m.
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The Tangled Skein
Meet • Knit • Learn The Newsletter of the Ottawa Knitting Guild April 2012
I discovered this book while I was poking around in our lovely library
at the last meeting.
I was surprised because I hadn’t re-
alized that we had books other than
those specifically about knitting. I have always been interested in the
prehistoric life of humanity, the earlier the better.
(1000 BCE is getting a little too recent.) When we
think about or read about the artifacts of Paleolithic
and Neolithic times, we usually think of stone ar-
rowheads and spearheads and such; rarely do we think about the more perishable objects of life like
clothing because, of course, those items do not
usually survive the rigors of time. This book is
about those artifacts.
The author, an authority on prehistoric textiles, shows us the signs of the earliest forms of fiber
used as clothing. There are carved “Venus” figu-
rines that have string skirts incised over the figure.
To have textiles we must first have fibers of plants
and later animals formed into string and threads
and yarns. Making string from fibers of plants such as flax was a tremendous innovation that could be
used for such diverse activities as tying together
bundles for carrying and making nets for fishing
and clothing. Probably the earliest clothing was the
string skirt forms which can be traced down to the 20th century. According to Barber, textile making
quickly became a major part of “women’s work”
again lasting in one form or other into the 19th and
even the early 20th century and widespread across
world cultures as well.
She describes the processes of weaving and the ways that textile work fitted into women’s lives and
social interaction and even religious practices and
rituals. One of the most interesting and significant
themes she deals with is how women’s work came
to be determined. It was never a case of capacity but rather what communities and families needed
to be able to rely on in order to survive.
Although this book has very little about knitting, it
is nevertheless most interesting to understand how
very hugely women’s work has impacted and influ-
enced the course of social and economic develop-ment. There are wonderful descriptions of Minoan
women’s matrilineal, horticultural society in Crete
and the active and productive business women of
ancient Sumeria.
Reading this book has given me a much greater ap-preciation of the continuity of life that we are par-
taking in when we pick up out needles of to make a
scarf or sweater. I very much recommend this book.
It is available in our library and probably the Ot-
tawa Public Library and it can be ordered on Ama-
zon which is what I have done.
Submitted by Belinda Forsee Belinda would like your recommendations for a good history of knitting! Send your suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected] and we’ll put
them in next month’s newsletter.
Died in the Wool
By Ngaio Marsh
If you're an enthusiast of the fibre
arts, particularly spinning, and also
enjoy mysteries, this book is a good way to combine the two interests.
Set in New Zealand during the Sec-
ond World War, the plot is a "cold
case" of sorts, or at best lukewarm.
New Zealand MP Florence "Flossie" Rubrick, whose husband owns a
wool operation called Mount Moon,
goes into the wool shed to practise a
speech, and is never seen alive again. She is found
three weeks later at an auction, packed inside a
bale of Mount Moon wool. One year after she is found, Inspector Roderick Alleyn is sent to Mount
Moon at the behest of Flossie's protégé of sorts, Fa-
bian Losse, who wants Alleyn to get to the bottom
of the murder. Officially, Alleyn is there in a
counter-espionage capacity, but there is nothing stopping him from asking a few other questions as
well.
Overall, this was a very good mystery. The part
where Flossie was actually found was very sus-
penseful, and I was kept guessing as to the identity
of the murderer throughout. The beginning was a bit choppy, but once Alleyn came on the scene, the
pace became more consistent. There were some
good descriptions of the wool processing operation
and even a small technical section on Fabian's in-
vention, an aerial magnetic fuse, which is a bonus for any WW2 enthusiasts out there. The dialogue is
lively and for the most part feels natural (Marsh,
being a playwright, has a knack for dialogue), al-
though there is a slight tendency to long speeches
as the various characters tell Alleyn what happened
leading up to Flossie's murder. But I did quite enjoy the book and would definitely recommend it.
cause it enhances the ability to focus, brings math skills into play (such as algebra and ge-
ometry), and improves hand/eye coordination
and spatial senses. As has been widely reported
in research and the media, it is important to
keep the brain active in order to stave off dis-
eases like Alzheimer’s.
Knitting relieves tedium and teaches patience: A
person who knits a sweater is engaging in a very
long process for something they could easily
have bought. The psychologist Mihály Csíkszent-
mihályi devised a theory called flow. Flow is the
ideal state where the skill level of the individual and the difficulty of the task are perfectly bal-
anced. Knitting also teaches you to set goals and
work toward their completion. Victor Frankel, a
Viennese Jewish researcher, was a survivor of
the Auschwitz concentration camp. After the war, he wondered why some people survived and
others didn’t. He posited that the survivors were
unexceptional in themselves; the common factor
among them was a prime motivator, a sense of
purpose. Knitting may not be your life’s purpose,
but it teaches you how to set a goal, identify the steps for achieving it, and solve problems along
the way.
Knitting makes you happy: Researchers examin-
ing the causal link between material wealth and
happiness in recent years found that before the
recession, people were inclined to report that their happiness depended a great deal on their
income. After the recession, however, when in-
come decreased across the board, people were no
less happy than before. They had found other
ways besides money to make themselves happy.
As the philosopher Nietzsche said, “Little makes
up the best happiness.”
We knit for clothing: This is increasingly not the
case, particularly in first-world countries like Canada. Canadian knitters by and large knit for
the process, not the product. Sally recounted an
anecdote from a cruise she took in Norway. She
and a group of other women were knitting on
deck when a Norwegian woman passed by and saw them. The woman remarked, “I don’t have to
do that anymore.” The Norwegian woman had
knitted her own clothing out of necessity, not
from any inclination. Once she became suffi-
ciently affluent to be able to buy her clothes, she
stopped knitting. Globalization has led to in-creasingly cheaper machine-made clothing and,
simultaneously, increasingly more expensive
yarn, as retailers market yarn as more of a lux-
ury item for people with disposable income and
plenty of free time. Today’s Canadian knitters knit to produce very original, creative gar-
ments—which are then often set aside and rarely
worn! Sally’s advice is to knit what you wear and
wear what you knit. This means drawing a con-
nection between your hobby and your wardrobe.
Some knitters only want to make interesting, “experimental” items. But the true way to hon-
our the craft of knitting is to make garments you
can and will wear in public. For example, the
most well-worn item in the typical woman’s
wardrobe is a plain grey sweater. Sally suggests knitting your own durable, beautiful grey
sweater instead of buying a dozen cheap ver-
sions from the store. As Sally says, “Knit the grey
sweater—your life will be better!”
Submitted by Julia Yeung
(Continued from page 6)
Knit Lit In the midst of this angry justifying of herself, tramping up and down the long room, she stopped suddenly and looked about her; where was her knitting? Her thoughts were in such a dis-tracted tangle that the accustomed automatic movement of her fingers was imperative. She tucked the grimy pink ball of zephyr under her arm, and tightening her fingers on the bent and yellowing old needles, began again her fierce pacing up and down, up and down. But the room seemed to cramp her, and by and by she went across the hall into Nannie's parlor, where the fire had sprung into cheerful flames; here she paused for a while, standing with one foot on the fender, knit-ting rapidly, her unseeing eyes fixed on the needles. - Margaret Deland, The Iron Woman (1915)
Submitted by Julia Yeung
8 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca April 2012
Show and Tell
Peggy Holton showed a pink sum-
mer sweater. The pattern was from a Patons book. She got the jumper-
weight wool from the discount bin
at Jamieson and Smith of Lerwick,
Shetland, on a Joyce James tour
two years ago but didn’t get around
to actually making the sweater until visiting Shetland for a second time,
just this past year.
Louise Manship showed
three cowls made from
Aran-weight merino, sub-stituted for the scratchy
Lopi called for by the pat-
tern in Lopi Book 26.
After Louise made one for
herself, she had to make sparkly purple versions
for her daughter and
niece. The purple yarn
had sequins in it.
She completed all three on a single weekend trip.
Belinda
Forsee, a
new knitter, showed a
reversible
pink and
orange wool
scarf from a
Debbie Macomber
pattern
called
Vera’s Lacy
Scarf. She bought the
yarn at ven-
dors’ night
last fall.
She also showed
socks made
for her hus-
band and
thanked an-other mem-
ber, Nancy,
for teaching
her how to
knit socks.
Beth Sneyd made a
Moebius cowl from a
Ravelry pattern. She bought the hand-
spun, handdyed
wool/silk yarn last
June in St. John’s,
Newfoundland, a
city she calls “a ha-ven for knitters”.
She added an ice-
berg-shaped button
that she bought from an
artisan selling handmade Newfoundland-themed
buttons.
She also showed a wool
shawl she made, also
from a Ravelry pattern, to wear around the office.
April 2012 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca 9
Inspired by the
hat Angela showed
last month, Liane Thiry-Smith
made a Capucine
Hat (the pattern is
on Ravelry) from
Loops and
Threads Kaleido-scope bulky wool
from Michaels. Not
being a fan of tas-
sels, Liane opted
for braids instead.
Kathy McEwen normally uses cotton yarn
for dishcloths, but she knitted a Vertical
Lace Top from Patons Grace cotton to wear
on an upcoming trip to Egypt, where it is
necessary for women to be “modestly at-tired” without having to wear heavy clothes.
The pat-
tern was
from the
Patons “Graceful”
booklet.
Stephanie
Apps bought
many purses on her recent
trip to New
York City, but
all have since
been lost or
ruined. So she made herself a
sturdy new
purse with an
organic merino
knitted outside layer, plastic
mesh canvas to
give it struc-
ture, and a
handsewn fab-
ric lining and sash. It’s quite a conversation piece. The pattern was by an indie designer on Ravelry.
Natalie Servant showed her Cloves Shawl,
a shawl of her own design made from hand-
spun merino. The pattern comes in three different shapes: square, vee and rectangle.
The shawl has a shamrock motif and was
released just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
Nancy Moynihan
showed a Sea Lettuce
Scarf designed by Lucy Neatby, made
from an unknown
fibre. The pattern is
very easy, involving
short rows and no
blocking. Nancy plans to make one for
herself, one for a
friend and one for
charity.
10 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca April 2012
Sheila Wein-
furter showed
a shrug made from llama and
silk yarn she
got as a birth-
day present.
This was her
third try at it. She knitted a
rectangle,
folded it in half,
sewed up the armholes, and added a knitted trim from Knit-ting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein.
She also showed
Wingspan, a popu-
lar scarf pattern on
Ravelry being knit-
ted by over 1,000
other Ravelry us-ers. She used
Marks and Katten
Fame Trend. The
pattern calls for a
variegated yarn with long colour
repeats.
Gudrun Klingelstein showed a Nicky
Epstein vest made from Aslan Royal Alpaca. It was an easy knit. Gudrun
says Royal Alpaca is warmer and
stronger than wool.
2012 Cat Bordhi Knitting Challenge Submission Form
This year's challenge theme is "Knit any Cat Bordhi pattern". See submission categories below. Submissions: This challenge is open to OKG members only. Contestants may submit as many entries as they wish. There should be nothing on the entry that allows for identification of the knitter. Due Date: Submissions for the Cat Bordhi knitting challenge are due no later than the April 16, 2012 Guild meeting. Voting for the People's Choice Award will take place and judging results for each category will be announced at the May 14, 2012 Guild meeting. Please fill out this tag - one per contest entry. Submit it with your entry. This is a blind submission: The tag will be numbered and your identifying info (bottom sections) removed.
1. Submission category (check one):
Socks: From a Pattern (remember to include copy of pattern)
Socks: Adaption from a Pattern (s) (remember to include copy of pattern and description of adaptation)
Moebius: From a Pattern (remember to include copy of pattern)
Moebius: Adaption from a Pattern (s) (remember to include copy of pattern and description of adaptation) Other Directions (non-sock, non-moebius Cat Bordhi patterns) From a Pattern (remember to include copy of pattern) Other Directions (non-sock, non-moebius Cat Bordhi patterns) Adaption from a Pattern (s) (remember to include copy of pattern and description of adaptation)
2. Your comments (e.g. pattern source, inspiration, notable details, techniques):