Possibly Starting Back up in the Spring, 2018

We had such a great turnout for the Knit-In last weekend, and Kelly and I were pleasantly surprised to see so many faces, both old friends and new!

Now that the library renovations are complete and the staff are settling into the new digs, Karen and I have begun talking about starting back up. We are thinking that April or May would be a good time to start, having a night in April, May and June, then a summer break (or summer movies if it's going well) and back up monthly in September.

We'd love to get some feedback on suggestions for topics and themes. I'm going to get a hold of the binder of old posters and see if I can get some inspiration on some of our most popular topics from years past.

Library Reconstruction

While the Peterborough Public Library is being reconstructed, the Kniterary Nights will be on hiatus.

Scheduled to end in the fall of 2017, we look forward to starting up our Kniterary Nights once it is complete.

Sorry about the hiatus...

There has been a serious lack of monthly entries (April and May...what?), and Monica will take all of the blame for that. She has been considerably busier with her day job and has found very little extra time in the evenings to keep up.

But, she is promising to make a better effort, and without further ado...

April was the Destash fundraiser, where members brought in their unwanted stash, perused the stash of others and purchased some great yarn for very reasonable rates. All of the proceeds went to the YWCA Cross Roads Shelter for Women, and we raised over $80!

May was Bring a Friend night. In the hopes of bringing up our dwindling numbers, we invited members to bring a friend to Kniterary. We wanted to bring some new faces out, spread the love of knitting and maybe teach those faces a new skill. The award to most friends dragged brought to Kniterary goes to Mary Charles who introduced a veritable baseball team to our midst!

June will be a first for Kniterary. Teaching Kids to Knit will be a rowdy night of fun knitting activities. Not to worry, though...these activities will be fun for everyone, not just the youngest members. We will have finger knitting, team and solo arm knitting, loom knitting and more. We are hoping that some of our youngest members will help us, but we really want to see some new young faces out. School ends on June 26th, so Monday the 29th is not a school night...no excuses for not coming out for this evening!

And on that note, we should address a major problem with our dwindling numbers. Over the last few years (we have been meeting since November 2009!), we have seen nights when there has been as few as six or seven people, and as many as fifty-five. But recently, our numbers have been holding steady at 20ish, give or take, and we'd like to see more people filling up those chairs. We are going to take a short break for the summer, rather than hosting movie nights, to concentrate on getting the word out about Kniterary Nights and hopefully drum up more interest. Get the word out and encourage people to come out....tell them how much fun it is, tell them how important a skill it is, just tell them to come out. We will see you again in September, when we will plan another great night; suggestions for topics are very welcome. Just comment on the blog, or email Monica or Kelly with ideas. Keep checking back as we will update our Upcoming Nights page with more information.

March 2015 - meeting notes

Knitting Olympics: A Case of Serious Hand Puns!
We hosted another great night at the Kniterary Nights last night. We think we may have scared a number of members away with thoughts of an evening spent in competition, but all who turned out had a blast!

The first event was Speed Knitting. Each contestant was instructed to cast-on 20 stitches, then to knit a single row. Then with the timer armed for one minute, we raced to complete a row...with Jenn finishing first handily!

The second event was Blind Knitting. Rather than use blindfolds, we trusted the honour and integrity of everyone (as well as Kelly's referring abilities) and simply closed our eyes. Using the same piece from the first event, we all tried to blindly complete another row, which is far more difficult than it sounds! But again, Jenn beat us all hands-down!

Continuing, yet again, with the same piece of knitting, we turned the blind knitting up a notch and placed our hands behind our backs to try Derriere Tricoter, not only without our eyes, but also with contorted arms. Not a single person disconnected their shoulder joints, but Jenn seemed to be an old hand at these amazing games!

For our fourth, and final event, we paired up and tried our hands at Tandem Knitting. With one person holding the left needle and their partner holding the right needle, our pairs tried to speed their way to a finished row. Partners who both knit in the same style (Continental or English) may have thought they had the upper-hand, but everyone found their own rhythm. True to form...Jenn clearly showed us that in her case the left hand really DOES know what the right hand is doing!

We had some great prizes, including a Bee Knitting Nancy, lots of yarn, a selection of chocolate and treats. A huge thank you to two local businesses who generously donated gift certificates for our competition. First, the UK Shoppe in the Market Plaza (a great selection of UK imported foods and gifts....check them out before their Easter stock is gone!), and from By the Bridge on Water Street (a fantastic lunch restaurant specializing in healthy and delicious sandwiches, soups and salads!). 

Next Month
After a quick discussion, Kelly and Monica decided that in the spirit of spring cleaning, the Kniterary Society would host a destash party. Clean out your closets, bins, baskets and bags of stash, decide with which yarns you are willing to part. We will buy and sell yarn at a $1 per ball or skein...all proceeds from the evening will go to CrossRoads Shelter in Peterborough.

CrossRoads is a shelter run by the YWCA that helps women and children in emergency situations. The Elegant Spider knitting group, and the Kniterary Society have contributed to this worthwhile cause in the past, and we encourage you to check out their website for more information on donating to their cause. You can give in many ways (money, time, sponsoring a family and more), but we particularly like their Wish List which is a list of practical items of which they are always in need.

World Wide Knit in Public Day
For ten years, knitters around the world have come out of their living rooms in June in order to spread the word and love of knitting to those in public spaces. In Peterborough, we have participated each year by knitting in many places around the downtown core during World Wide Knit in Public Week. We have knit on the benches of Hunter Street, in the shade of trees in Del Crary Park, and even in the hideaway space of Millennium Park.

This year, the organization has narrowed the focus to one day, Saturday June 13, although they encourage everyone to keep up the celebration for ten days to honour this anniversary. In Peterborough, we wanted to find a central location that still offered us high visibility, so that we could share our passion with as many passersby as possible. Management at Peterborough Square has kindly agreed to let us loiter lounge on their space, so we'll be setting up lawn chairs at the rear entrance to the mall located at the corner of Water and Charlotte...maybe even the front entrance at the corner of George and Simcoe, if our numbers swell enough. See you there!

February 2015 - meeting notes

Denise Powell - Where Do You Get Your Inspiration ?

It’s true - knitters never fear the cold!

Despite the frigid temperatures we had a number of our steadfast knitters come out last night and they, in turn, were rewarded with an inspiring presentation by Denise Powell. She shared with us her Interpretations designs and described how and from where she draws her ideas and creative imaginings.

She explained her long love affair of traditional textiles, and both historic and cultural clothing from around the world.  She brought a wonderful selection from her Interpretations design line including a hip-length kimono with a lovely cherry blossom embellishment some Egyptian jewellery inspired knit collars, an exquisite and detailed homage to an Edwardian ladies jacket and an African inspired tunic and many many more.

 

 

 

She explained her creative process and how she became a designer and described the process in which one creates a design and gets it published. We thank her for answering all our questions. The Peterborough Public Library does have a subscription to the magazine that Denise mentioned last night;  A Needle Pulling Thread, but we only have two issues thus far.

 

We really enjoyed her talk and she left us with a challenge to find our own inspirations however and wherever we may find them. If you can dream of a rose teapot cover than why can't you make one?

 

Also a special thank you to the lovely one (you know who you are) that shared some candy with the group, I promise will try to bring the remainder of them to next months meeting.

NEXT MONTH
We are so excited to ramp up for the Knitting games, which will feature the following competitions:

• The Two Row Dash - Speed Knitting
• Derriere Tricoter - Behind-the-Back Knitting
• Blind Needles - Knitting Blindfolded
• Tandem Knitting - Knitting with a friend...one hand each!

Get training and we look forward to some great fun!

January 2015 - meeting notes

The first Kniterary of 2015 saw about 20 Kniterary members brave the extreme cold for another great night.

The Return of Kelly

Our fearless leader has returned and none too late! Although Monica enjoyed organizing our evenings in Kelly's stead, she is very glad to share the pain joys of Kniterary with Kelly, once again.

Kelly and Monica have also started planning this year and have come up with some fun ideas for 2015, including:

February - Denise Powell will talk about Inspiration and Creativity: Where Do You Get Your Inspiration?

March - Knitting Olympics, with competitions in Speed Knitting, Behind the Back Knitting, Tandem Knitting and Blind Knitting. We may even have prizes?!

July & August - as always we will be enjoying some movies; some suggestions include

We also have Veronica in talks with Kelly about doing a third evening of Knits that Fit. Veronica has hosted some incredibly informative and interesting evenings on achieving perfect fit in your knitting. Veronica's first evening talked about altering patterns to get a truly flattering and effective fit. The second evening she demonstrated how and where to take your own measurements. This third evening will be even more discussion of altering patterns for your perfect fit, and we look forward to it immensely.

Our Gallery

One of the pages that we would love to get filled is our Gallery page. We would love to feature photos of members projects. Don't feel like they have to be masterpieces. We want to feature the variety of crafts that our members enjoy...knitting, crocheting, spinning, embroidery, or weaving! We may be called 'Knit'erary, but we want to recognize all of the crafting that our members do!

Knitting Help

Last night at Kniterary, a member was starting her first lace project and had a few questions. The first issue was how to do a provisional caston. This caston provides you with a row of live stitches that are held while you continue with your knitting, until they picked up and used within the pattern. They are especially useful in symmetrical shawls or scarves, sleeves or hems, and even on button bands. In this particular pattern, they were to be used in a garter tab to start a shawl, and we decided to forgo the provisional caston because it would only be using 3 stitches and would not alter the look of the pattern at all.

If we were to have used it, here are a couple of great videos to help you create this very useful caston.

Provisional Cast On with waste yarn

Provisional Cast On with a crochet hook

She also wanted help reading the charts in her pattern and there are some great articles out there, including this one from Knitty.com.

Please feel free to send us any crafting questions you might have, and we will answer them on our next Kniterary Night, as well as writing up any help we provide here on the blog.

Vintage Knitting

Without belabouring the entire presentation, for anyone who would like to look through the presentation again, here is the PowerPoint.

And here are the presentation slide notes.

You can also view the handout (with Google instructions, and link list).

 

December 2014 - meeting notes

We had a quiet afternoon of knitting, enjoyed our cookies and tea

We look forward to a great new year and can't wait for Kelly to return to our midst!

Check out the Upcoming Nights page to see what we have in store.

As always, feel free to contact us if you have any projects you'd like to share, if you have any ideas for upcoming nights, or if you have any questions that you'd like answered at the next Kniterary meeting, or even here on the blog.

November 2014 - meeting notes

Preparing Wool for Spinning
If you aren't inspired to start spinning after the other night, then you'll never be inspired to spin! Mary Charles presented a fantastic evening on preparing wool for spinning. We learned about the various kinds of locks and roving, how to clean and preparing wool for carding and the current trends in spinning.

The Pass-It-On-Project
Monica had the PIOP for the final Kniterary month. As you can see, this monstrosity, er masterpiece, has grown considerably. Click the "Pass It On Project" tab above to see its evolution.

The project will now be making a migration to the Spinners and Weavers Guild of Peterborough, with Mary Charles and we will stay in contact to see its future transformations.

FIVE FRIGGIN' YEARS!

Five years ago this November, Kate Siena and Kelly Plunkett had a brilliant idea to create a space for the Peterborough community to learn knitting and crocheting, and to socialize with other crafters. You can read the whole original story on the Examiner website.

To celebrate we enjoyed a wonderful cake, crafted especially by Lisa at Black Honey on Hunter Street...

Kelly made a rare trip out (cursed babies!) to help us celebrate, and recounted the story of the creation of Kniterary.

A great shot of the Kniterary members who came out to celebrate!

Then Monica read a great title by Tomie dePaola (thanks for the recommendation, Christina!), about shearing, carding, spinning, weaving and sewing a new cloak...from sheep to cloak in just a few pages. Very appropriate title after Mary's fantastic presentation!

Charlie Needs a Cloak by Tomie dePaola

- available from the library

September 2014 - meeting notes

Social Knitting
Last night, after a slight misunderstanding, turned out to be a great social night. We completed a lovely roundtable "Show and Share" and welcomed some new faces. We spent the evening enjoying  some social knitting, helping each other out with some minor knitting problems and issues.

Up for discussion was the topic of "How many projects do you have on the needles at any given time?"  Feel free to comment here and let us know what your UFO stash looks like!

Fixing Some Issues
The first pattern brought to Monica's attention was for a lacy, long-sleeved, seamed bolero. The issue was the instructions for the front panels, specifically the increases along the button edge. The instructions were to increase one stitch just inside the button-band. The confusion was in incorporating the single stitch increase into the pattern stitch (which was a three stitch pattern) while still maintaining the 1x1 rib of the button band. After some reading and knitting through the rows, we began to understand that the stitch count for the pattern stitches would be off for most rows, until the increase was incorporated correctly into the count.

The second issue was a new member who brought in a cardigan that had been in her UFO stash for some time (maybe years?....who can't identify with that?!). With the back completed but still on the needles, we needed to figure out what the other two pieces were, and where exactly she had left off in the pattern. After a little reading, counting stitches on the needles and laying out the pieces together, we figured out that she had nearly finished the right front panel, and had only the armhole shaping to complete on the left front panel. We'll be sure to get a picture of the completed project and post it to our Gallery...and speaking of the "Gallery"...

The Gallery
We are still looking for contributions to our Gallery page. If you have any projects (either by yourself, or by a family member or friend) please email them to Monica and we'll make sure to get them featured in our Gallery. Make sure to note whether you'd like credit or would rather remain anonymous.

Pass-It-On Project
Ciobhe will also hold on to the Pass-It-On Project, as she completes her amazing multimedia addition to the monstrosity, er, masterpiece.

Upcoming Nights
We look forward to next month's presentation, from Veronica, on "Knits that Fit" part II. Veronica will expound her vast knowledge of altering knitting patterns to fit and flatter your unique and beautiful body!

This is an interactive workshop, where Veronica will help us learn how to take and record our own measurements.

Everyone coming should:

• come with a buddy, with whom they feel comfortable taking body measurements
• wear a close-fitting shirt, over your best-fitting bra (if you wear one)
• bring a good, un-stretched measuring tape with which to take accurate measurements
• a pen or pencil to record your measurement (on sheets that will be provided)

PLEASE REMEMBER that because of the municipal election, our meeting falls on OCTOBER 20TH, the penultimate Monday of the month!

November will now see Mary Charles presenting on Preparing Wool for Carding and Spinning, and December will be our annual Panic Knitting on the first Saturday, the 6th, in the Computer Lab. See you there!

August 26, 2014 - meeting notes

The smell of popcorn was in the air, as we enjoyed the talent of the Rat Pack (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.), Bing Crosby and Barbara Rush in the 1960's classic Robin and the Seven Hoods. Music, dancing and laughs...complete with a thug who loves, and occasionally loses, his knitting!

Pass-It-On Project
Last month, Pam volunteered to take the Pass-It-On project, and we all were waiting with baited breath to see what she would add to our monstrosity piece of art. Not only did she add her own flair for garter stitch, but she nearly doubled the size of the project!

Next month, we look forward to seeing what Caoimhe, one of our youngest members, will add to it.

Gallery
Monica has also come up with a potentially great idea to showcase our members favourite completed crafts. Knitting, crocheting, weaving, spinning, embroidery...our incredibly talented members have created some amazing artwork over the years and we'd love to see it.

Please take photographs of your favourite projects (anything made since December of 2009!!!) and email them to either Christina or Monica and we'll add them to the Gallery.

Upcoming Dates
Next month (September 29) - We will hear again from Mary Charles. Mary's expertise in spinning is known to most of us, but how do you go about preparing wool for spinning. Mary will share everything she knows about preparing and carding wool.

October 20 (NOT the last Monday of the month because of Elections scheduling) - Veronica will conduct the second part of her series on Knits that Fit. Learn more about perfecting your knitted garments to be the most flattering and most attractive clothing you can create.

November 24 - Have you ever flipped through vintage knitting patterns and been baffled by the terminology and instructions? Have you ever wondered how do get a hold of some of the oldest and rarest knitting patterns? Monica will take us through the great history of published knitting patterns and everything you need to know to decode, read and knit from them.

December 6 (first Saturday) - Our annual Panic Knitting will take place in the computer lab in the basement of the library. Enjoy some uninterrupted time to get some holiday knitting complete. Computer access is helpful for looking up patterns and clarification, cookies and tea and coffee will help keep up your energy, and the friendly faces of our Kniterary members will be a welcome comfort as we head into the holidays!

July 28, 2014 - meeting notes

As part of our regular summer season, the Kniterary Nights played host to the first of two summer movies. Dolly Parton, Lilly Tomlin and Jane Fonda, along with Dabney Coleman entertained us to no end in 9 to 5. Such a great classic 80s movie and kudos to those who caught the knitting reference!
(psst...it was a knitting rabbit in the Lily Tomlin/Snow White sequence)

Next month, we will enjoy a Rat Pack favourite with Robin and the Seven Hoods. Enjoy this trailer as a sneak peak tease!

June 30, 2014 - meeting notes

With summer fast approaching we had one last night of regular Kniterary before our movies night of summer. Our Pass-It-On project is going strong, but Lou was not in attendance, so we'll have to wait for next month to see her contribution. In the meantime, we learned exactly what Zentangle is!

Zentangle Drawing

Anne Gallant joined us tonight for a fabulous introduction to Zentangle Drawing, a relaxing and focusing way to expand your creativity and create beautiful pieces of art at the same time.

Anne gave us a wonderful talk about the why's and how's of Zentangle, then walked us all through the steps of creating our own pieces.

Appealing to both sides of the brain, Zentangle has easy-to-follows rules and steps, while allowing your hand to lead you into a level of creativity vastly different from knitting.

Lynn brought along Dean last night, who has some experience with Zentangle. They both showed off their skills, along with some other Kniterary members.

Summer Movie Nights

We look forward to seeing everyone for our summer movie Nights!

July will be the 80's classic, 9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lilly Tomlin, while August will dig even further back to the 60's Rat Pack classic, Robin and the Seven Hoods, starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr and Barbara Rush.

See you there!

May 26, 2014 - meeting notes

Another great Kniterary Night, but the warm weather kept some of us outside. With a small, intimate group we got underway with a few quick announcements, including this updated blog, some new comment and question sheets and the Pass It On project.

Pass It On Project

Last month, Aisling eagerly volunteered to take the Pass It On Project, which so far has had pieces from Mary Charles, Monica, and Mark. Aisling was quite excited to share her contribution to this community piece and rightly so. She knitted a small cotton rectangle, then added a sparkly black cover with the word KNIT! embroidered on top. What great creativity! The next Kniterary member to volunteer to add a piece was Lou, and we really look forward to seeing what she has to add!

Story Time!

Tonight's theme was Story Time and we had some wonderful selections and a good variety.

First up was Aisling, reading "Socks for Supper" by Jack Kent, an adorable picture book about a poor couple who trade her knitted socks for food and get more in return!

Then, Lisa shared with us the entertaining and timeless story of "Derek the Knitting Dinosaur" by Mary Blackwood. Derek is a knitting dinosaur who at first thinks that his knitting hobby is strange in the community of dinosaurs, but soon learns how necessary his contribution might be!

Kelly, our fearless leader who is on maternity leave, was unable to make it but foresaw this possibility and had provided Monica with her selection. Reading from "Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting" a collection edited by Ann Hood, Monica read The Pretend Knitter by Elizabeth Berg. Berg tells of her love of the idea of being a knitter and always wanting to learn to knit, and her traumatic experience with knitting. Witty and touching!

A night of knitting literature would be incomplete without a selection from the Yarn Harlot, Stephanie Pearl McPhee, and Karen was the one to provide. Reading Failure to Think from  "All Wound Up", Karen regaled us with McPhee's hilarious story of trying to knit a lace shawl and failing miserably at every step...as we all have done!

Next, Siobhan read another great kids picture book, Amos's Sweater by Janet Lunn. Amos is a sheep, who is not impressed with having to be sheared again and left cold. But he learns what a blessing it is!

And last, Monica again read, this time from the timeless classic Through the Looking-Glass, the second half of Lewis Carroll's masterpiece. In the chapter Water and Wool, Alice finds herself suddenly in a tiny, dark shop with a sheep who is knitting with an impossible number of needles. They magically transport themselves into a row boat, where Alice attempts, in vain, to pick water rushes, with the most beautiful always being out of reach.

Although Pam was not able to read from her selections, she did share with us how much she's enjoyed reading the Kate Jacobs books, both the Friday Night Knitting Club, and Knit Two.

We are very excited for next month's Kniterary on Zentangle Drawing, presented by Anne Gallant, who will demonstrate this technique for expanding your creativity. Something a little different for Kniterary, to be sure!

One Llama, A few Horses and a Ton of Sheep!

Click on the photos to enlarge.

We arrived at Hubbert Farms in the damp and chill of noon and were met in the parking lot by Jody.

Jody gave us an introduction to her history with the farm, discussing husbandry, shows & competitions and the basics of running an alpaca farm.

Then she led us to the outdoor paddock which contained the two sheep who had not reproduced this season.

The ewes were incredibly friendly and eager to see us!

The poked their heads through the fence and wanted to be rubbed!

All the while, a trusty alpaca stood guard!

Cathy got a little love.

Jody led us into the barn, where we spent most of our visit. Many of the ewes, alpacas and the Llama were inside....along with the one- and two-week old lambs!

There were both new and experienced mamas, and many different shades of coats.

This ewe was playing 'stepmom' to a rejected lamb, along with her own!

Jackson, the llama, stood watchful guard over the flock!

The alpacas were on their own, and a little more wary of our presence.

Beautiful shades, from white to caramel to chocolate!

Pregnant and waiting.

"Who ARE these people?"

Another small paddock of ewes and lambs.

Once we'd been in the barn for a while, Jody allowed us to pet, and then hold the lambs.

Jody had just fed them grain, but that didn't deter them from nuzzling and rubbing our hands.

Holding the lambs was the highlight of the day...for everyone!

Victoria with baby Jiggy!

This little one really thought she'd get something out of my knuckle!

Jackson still watching over everything!

Judy brought out some handspun alpaca and wool, as well as some fresh fleece!

Outside again, we met these gorgeous beasts!

These beauties seemed to enjoy the chilly, fresh air!

Thanks so much to Jody and Hubbert Farms, for a fun-filled and entertaining tour!