F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 1

Tidewater Knitting Guild of Virginia

P r e s i d e n t ’ s M e s s a g eFeb. 7 MeetingMeet and Greet, 7 p.m.

Business Meeting, 7:15 p.m.Program will be

F ix i n g Mi s t a k e s.

We meet the first Monday of the month (except for holidays) at Westminster Canterbury, 3100 Shore Drive,Virginia Beach.

Check tkgv.blogspot.com to confirm the meeting date. We may use the lot of the church next door as overflow parking. Questions? Please email us at

tkgv1@yahoo.com.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR

MARCH NEWSLETTER: FEB. 15

Please send your questions, comments, suggestions, ads,

photos, stories and patterns you’d like to share to editor Sonja

Barisic at snbarisic@gmail.com or 734 Delaware Ave., Norfolk,

VA 23508. Thank you, and happy reading and knitting.

Dearest Knitters, I have a little story I want to share with you this month. But before I do I want to let you know two quick things: 1.  The meeting on Feb. 7 at Westminster Canterbury will feature Lora Marin teaching us about twisted stitches and cables and her daughter, Andrea Riddle, showing us how to repair mistakes in our knitting. It is going to be a GREAT evening. Please join us. 2.  Plans are moving forward for our October program with Sally Melville. By now you should have received a survey that has a list and brief description of some of the classes she can present. We need your feedback so we can set up the classes that you would most enjoy. Please fill out the survey and send it back. In March we will be able to let you know the schedule of classes and the cost for the classes we will be offering. Now on to the story . . . I sat with a woman today who told a story about how she went to a nursing home where her mother was being cared for and knit every day so the women at the home could watch her and feel the work and remember their own knitting or crochet projects. Many of the women had Alzheimer's disease and her work would bless them and allow them to remember things and talk about them. This woman was a new knitter. She only really knew the purl stitch at this point. But she noticed the response of the residents and she decided to come every day and knit so they could gather around her in their wheelchairs and watch her and feel her work. I was moved by the generosity of this woman's heart. There is something so peaceful about the process of knitting stitch after stitch. Many women (and men for that matter) have so many memories of wonderful times spent knitting with or watching prior generations of knitters knit. The women in the nursing home were unable to knit any more but the feel of the yarn and the sight of someone knitting made them happy. It was nice to be reminded that our craft has blessed and currently is blessing many people of all ages in a wide range of ways. I count it as my honor to get to continue to make memories and knitted items with all of you. Have a great month. Allison Hun t

M e m b e r B i r t h d a y s T h i s M o n t h

Mark Your CalendarsGuild meetings start with Meet and Greet at 7 p.m., followed by the Business Meeting at 7:15 p.m.

Feb. 7 Meeting – Program: Fixing Problems. Andrea Riddle on issues such as dropped stitches and Lora Marin will teach us about twisted cables and stitches. Members, bring your questions and projects with mistakes.

May 7-8 – Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. Information at www.sheepandwool.org.

Please email Trink Dahl-Prince at trinkdp55@yahoo.com if you have suggestions for programs to present at the monthly meetings in 2011. All ideas happily accepted.

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Charity Fund: $277.60 General Fund: $2,932.21 Total Funds: $3,209.81

T r e a s u r e r ’ s R e p o r t

T r e a s u r e r ’ s N o t e : W h e r e t o S e n d D u e sBy Kathy Brown I suspect that some members that have not been able to make it to meetings recently are unsure where to send dues.  I am collecting dues for the 2010-2011 membership year.  If you would like my mailing address, please feel free to call me at 757-515-3922 or email me at kjbrown@nyl.com; I don’t want my home address published in this forum, but am glad to give it to you.

Kathy Brown, Feb. 4 Jeanette Gouldsmith, Feb. 9 Judy Marx, Feb. 16

Is your birthday missing or listed incorrectly? Please email Sonja Barisic at snbarisic@gmail.com to make sure we set the record straight. Thanks.

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N a m e Y o u r N e w s l e t t e r Thank you to the creative thinkers who submitted ideas for what to name our monthly Guild newsletter. What do you think of these suggestions?

The Loop Purls of Wisdom

Please email Sonja Barisic at snbarisic@gmail.com with your choice. The person behind the winning idea will receive a knitting-related prize.

Check out the TKGV Group on Facebook Be sure to check out the TKGV group on Facebook. If you access Facebook (www.facebook.com), simply search for us under Tidewater Knitting Guild of Virginia, or click on http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_147279678658247.

Join the National Knitting Guild

By Allison Hunt Are you a member of the national Knitting Guild Association? If you answered

"no," please consider the many benefits of being a member:

• Four issues per year of CAST ON magazine. 

• The Knitting Guild Association Correspondence courses.

• The Master Knitters program.

• Free entry into The Knit and Crochet Shows at TKGA conferences (one will be held in Greensboro North Carolina on September 23-25, 2011).

• Members’ discounts on classes and events at the Knit and Crochet shows.

• Member password to access the members-only website area online, with bonus patterns, lessons and masters technique articles.

Please Support the national Guild by becoming a member today. Go to www.TKGA.com to join.

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K E E P K N I T T I N G T H O S E C H A R I T Y I T E M S We continue to tally the number of items knit and donated to any charity by a Guild member. Let Jackie Scott (jackieknits@cox.net) or Debbie Henderson (hendersonjb@cox.net) know of your charity items so they can be counted. Include “charity knitting” in the subject line of your email. Also, a sign-in list is available at every meeting for you to register your charity count.

Knitting for Nerds: iPhone Apps Maybe it’s all that math, but knitters tend to be a technically inclined bunch. And while, sure, it’s easy to use sticky notes and a pencil to keep track of where you are in a pattern, where’s the fun in that? So, here’s a sample of apps for the iPhone. You can find more by searching for “knitting” or “crochet” on the iTunes store.

Knitting Daily: Read the latest Knitting Daily blog posts from Interweave and watch videos to learn the latest tips and techniques. Free.

Vogue Knitting: Track and plan your knitting projects. Includes project notes, row counters, needle and hook inventories, yarn stash inventory, knitting terms glossary and a stitch library. $3.99.

Knitting Help: One of the most helpful knitting websites is now available on the go. Access all 150-plus from the website right on your phone, without needing an Internet connection. Apple recently featured this as a new and noteworthy educational app, for good reason. $4.99.

KnitMinder: Bills itself as a replacement for all those paper scraps, notebooks and row counters you use to keep track of multiple projects in progress. A bit less elegant than the Vogue Knitting app, but useful. $2.99. There’s also a free version, KnitMinder Lite, that limits the number of projects, yarns and needles you can store.

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H i s t o r i c a l l y S p e a k i n g Submitted by Karen Richardson. The full version of this article, by Ann Richards, appeared on Knitty.com, at http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEsummer05/FEATtopten.html.

T O P 1 0 M E N I N K N I T T I N G

HRH The Prince of Wales, Edward VIII (1894-1972) The Prince made a big impression, and not just by abdicating the throne in order to marry American divorcée Wallace Simpson. The knitting world was less interested in his personal life, and more impressed with what he was wearing. And, starting in 1921, the Prince was wearing Fair Isle sweaters. According to the grand doyenne of Fair Isle, Alice Starmore, the Prince of Wales wearing a Fair Isle pullover "was undoubtedly the single most important event in the commercialization of Fair Isle knitting."

James Norbury (1904-1972) James Norbury was a true Renaissance man in the world of knitting. He was a knitwear designer, a television star on his own BBC knitting show, author of such books as “The Knitter's Craft,” “Knit with Norbury,” “Knitting is an Adventure and the classic “Traditional Knitting Patterns,” still available today. He was a knitting historian, knitting teacher, and head designer and spokesman for Patons.

Kaffe Fassett (1937- ) Kaffe Fassett could be James Norbury's doppelganger. Also a multitalented knitter, Fassett is first and foremost an artist. After learning to knit from a stranger on a train, Fassett applied his knowledge of color and aesthetics to knitting and in doing so built a knitting empire. An established teacher and designer, Fassett, like Norbury, publishes prolifically and hosted his own knitting show on the BBC. Unlike Norbury however, his emphasis is not technique, but rather color, creativity and variety.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) Who is the most famous fictional knitting character in Western literature? Madame Defarge, no doubt.A creation of Dickens' fertile mind, Madame Therese Defarge appears in his classic novel, “A Tale of Two Cities.” As a leader of the Jacques during the French revolution, she used pattern stitches as a code and knit a list of the upper class doomed to die at the guillotine. Dickens was inspired by the "tricoteuses," women who attended the National Convention in which the fate of the unfortunate rich was debated during the French revolution, knitting while they listened.

James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan (1797-1868) The Earl of Cardigan is described variously as “vain,” “contentious,” “hopeless” and “a notorious rake.” Regardless of his character flaws, the Earl of Cardigan was a natty dresser, and he made sure that the brigade he took charge of in 1857 was well dressed, sporting woolen button-down jackets. Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding and an apparent lack of common sense, Cardigan lead that same well-dressed brigade into a disastrous cavalry battle against the Russians at Balklava during the Crimean war. Over half the men were slaughtered, and the event was immortalized in Tennyson's poem, “Charge of the Light Brigade.” His name is used today to describe a knitted sweater that buttons down the front similar to the original woolen jackets worn by his ill-fated brigade.

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H i s t o r i c a l l y S p e a k i n g , c o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 5

Uncle Sam (1776- ) In the last 100 years the most influential events in convincing men and boys to knit (and many, many women for that matter) were the World Wars. Governments around the world, not to mention the Red Cross, encouraged civilians to assist in the war efforts by knitting garments for the troops. During the first half of the 20th century, wars were primarily administrated and fought by men, so it stands to reason that there must be a man somehow involved in leading the knitting efforts, yes? How about the head of the Red Cross? Although the board of the Red Cross was predominately male, during WWII it was the lone female on the board who organized and encouraged the stateside knitting efforts. The theme of the campaign, however, was "knitting for Sammy," a reference to Uncle Sam.

Eugene Bourgeois (contemporary) Eugene and Anne Bourgeois are the Lunt and Fontaine, the Ball and Arnaz, the Torville and Dean, of the knitting world. In each of these cases it's hard to see where one

partner leaves off and the other one begins, but it is perfectly clear that each individual is talented in his or her own right. In the Bourgeois case, while their collaborative efforts built the Philosopher's Wool company, it was certainly Eugene's academic background that influenced the company's name (he has an M.A. in Pythagorean mystical philosophy). According to his description of their journey toward founding a wool/yarn/knitting business, it was Eugene's interest in raising mushrooms that led to an interest in sheep dung fertilizer, that led to an interest in sheep, that led to an interest in fair market prices for wool, that led to producing yarn (that would be a chain [stitch] effect.) It was Ann's knitting that then brought them full circle to providing high quality yarn, patterns, books, videos and knitting lessons.

Izo Matukawa (dates unknown) In her 2002 article on the history of knitting, Yoshimi Kihara describes the importance of Izo Matukawa on Japanese knitting. Converted to Christianity in the 1880s, Matukawa learned to knit from a missionary. This was apparently not uncommon. As western styles and culture became more popular during the late 1800s, many Japanese students learned to knit in missionary schools. However, according to Kihara, Matukawa took the craft to another level. It was he who first thought of the idea of adapting knitting patterns along the lines of the markings used on canvas embroidery patterns." In the mid 1800s, he led a number of workshops to teach knitting.

Barry Klein (contemporary) I round out the 10 most influential men in the world of knitting with a man whose career is in its early stages. Barry Klein is the owner of Trendsetter Yarns and is a past president of the National Needlework Association. He has designed patterns for Vogue Knitting, Interweave Knits, and Knitters Magazine among others. His books include “The Ultimate Knitted Tee,” “Knitting with Novelty Yarns” and “The Knitters Template,” all co-authored with Laura Militzer Bryant. He once knit for 36 hours straight, making sweaters for Wes Craven's “Nightmare on Elm Street.”

Knit Your Heart Out: Pattern Roundup Looking for a last-minute gift to knit for your Valentine (or, for yourself, because you absolutely deserve it)? Check out these free patterns:

Heart Tape Measure Cover, by Susan B. Anderson: http://www.spudandchloe.com/blog/2010/01/heart-tape-measure-free-pattern/

Heart on a String Hat, by Susan B. Anderson: http://www.spudandchloe.com/blog/2010/01/heart-on-a-string-free-pattern/

Heart Headband, by Sarah E. White: http://knitting.about.com/od/accessories/p/heart-headband.htm

Valentine Heart Socks: http://www.soxie.com/valentine.html

Heart Dishcloth: http://www.pagebypage.com/dishcloths.php

Your Baby Blanket Pattern Could Be a Winner

The website MakeBabyStuff.com is holding a baby blanket pattern contest. Submit your entry, including a photo of your handknit (or crocheted) baby blanket for a chance to win a $25, $50 or $100 gift certificate from Knit Picks. The website is looking for original designs, but designs inspired by existing patterns are welcome. The contest ends

Feb. 15. Details at http://www.make-baby-stuff.com/baby-blanket-knitting-pattern.html.

Jacob’s Blanket of Many Colors, one of the entries in the baby blanket pattern contest.

Ahhh … the holidays are over. You can relax now, right? No! There's knitting to be done! Only now, it's knitting for YOU. Come in and plan your late-winter and spring knits! Maybe something quick and flattering from “Modern Top-Down Knitting”? Kristina McGowan's new book has taken the best of Barbara Walker's techniques and made seamless stylish. Or were you lucky enough to get sock yarn for a gift? How about “Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders”? Great ideas for quick accessories that make the most of those single skeins. Or maybe your resolution was to learn a new technique? Get on it with Andrea and her sweater class! Or try one of our Saturday mini-courses and update

your skill level! And don't forget: There's a major football game coming up soon. Feb. 6, actually. But if you aren't doing anything, you might want to consider stopping by the store in the afternoon and picking up something on SALE … I'm just sayin'.

Please support our advertisers, as they help defray the cost of this newsletter.

 

yarn patterns notions classesall in the company of friends.

945 Providence Square Shopping Ctr Virginia Beach757-495-6600 knitwitsyarn.com

Knit the rainbow in 2011. This is the year of colors. In stock for your knitting and crocheting pleasure we have new colors of ladder/railroad yarns, new types of metallic yarns and knitting calendars. We are continuing the clearance of older yarns at 25 percent off or more! If there is something you would like to have covered in a $5/$10 workshop, please let us know. We will be happy to cover any subject requested. Upcoming classes include Entrelac, Feb. 19 at 1:30 p.m., and I-Cords, March 19 at 1 p.m.

NEW CLASSES! We will be having Wednesday Workshops every week to help improve your technical skills. Workshops are $10 each and will be held at 10 a.m. and at 6 p.m. so you can choose which one fits your schedule and not miss out. Feb. 9: Casting On - learn at least four ways of casting on, including provisional cast-on. Feb. 16: Fixing mistakes. Feb 23: Binding off - learn several methods for binding off and when to use them. Preregistration is required. Hope to see you there!

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