Purls of Wisdom

August 2011

Purls of Wisdom

T I D E WAT E R O

Knitting on the Bias.

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.

Questions? Please email us at tkgv1@yahoo.com.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

4 Treasurer’s Note, LYS Ads

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Nationally known knitting designer and teacher Sally Melville is coming to Tidewater this fall to share her expertise.

Melville, author of books including “The Knitting Experience” series and “Warm Knits, Cool Gifts,” will be teaching several classes on Oct. 22 and 23 at Westminster Canterbury, 3100 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach.

Find out more at the Aug. 1 Guild meeting. Learn more about Melville at www.sallymelvilleknits.com.

Meet and Greet, 7 p.m.

Business Meeting, 7:15 p.m.

Program will be

3 Historically Speaking, LYS Ads

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G U I L D

Learn from Sally Melville

AUG.1 MEETING

2 Member Birthdays, Calendar

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K N I T T I N G

Melville will be teaching the following classes: • • • •

Oct. 22, 9 a.m.-noon, Borders and Buttonholes, $45 Oct. 22, 2-5 p.m., Emergency Measures, $45 Oct. 22, 7:30-9 p.m., Making the Most of Your Yarn Collection, $35 Oct. 23, 10 a.m.-noon, Knit to Flatter and Fit, $35

Non-Guild members will be charged a one-time fee of $20 (to cover membership) in addition to their class fees.

D E A D L I N E F O R S E P T. N E W S L E T T E R : A U G . 1 5 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. Items submitted after the Aug. 15 deadline will be held until the following issue. This is the only way to get the newsletter to members in a timely manner. Thank you, and happy reading and knitting. Sonja

Member Birthdays This Month

Ruby Roberts, Aug. 9 Sonja Barisic, Aug. 24

Carol Cowan, Aug. 28

Helen Prestipino, Aug. 16 Gloria Bownas, Aug. 25

Mark Your Calendar s

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

Aug. 1 – Guild Meeting. Wanda Gunnoe will teach “Knitting on the Bias.” Note: This is a programming change.

Aug. 13 – Knitting on the Porch with The Knitting Guild of Tidewater, Gloucester County History Museum. Bring whatever you’re working on, a chair and (if desired) a beverage and a snack or lunch. This is a rain or shine event. 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Contact blcallis@yahoo.com.

Aug. 20 – Stash Bash, Heathsville Farmers’ Market. Rent a table for $20 inside the Transportation Museum Building and sell excess supplies, UFOs and/or forsaken hobbies. Call (804) 580-3377 to reserve your space.

Aug. 25-28 – Stitches Midwest, Schaumburg, Ill. See www.knittinguniverse.com/stitches/midwest/.

Sept. 3-4 – Labor Day Art Show at The Tides Inn, Irvington, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. both days. No fee to participate but there is a 30 percent commission on artwork sold. Show focuses on upscale art, jewelry and crafts. Applications due Aug. 20. Contact Kathleen Kehoe at (804) 438-4440 or retailshops@tidesinn.com.

Sept. 12 – Guild Meeting. “A Celebration of Sally.” Get ready for Sally Melville’s classes with a fashion show of her garments. Members and visitors are invited to bring Sally items you have knitted for a special show and tell. We will have notecards available for the name of the pattern, the yarn and any particulars of your knitting experience.

Sept. 21-25 – The Knitting Guild Association conference, Greensboro, N.C. Information at www.tkga.com/conference.shtm.

Sept. 24-25 – Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival, Berryville. See www.shenandoahvalleyfiberfestival.com.

Oct. 1-2 – Fall Fiber Festival & Montpelier Sheep Dog Trials, at James Madison’s Montpelier. See www.fallfiberfestival.org.

Oct. 3 – Guild Meeting. Guild birthday celebration and election of officers. If you have interest in any of the offices, please let Allison Hunt or Trink Dahl-Prince know and they will advise the nominating committee.

Oct. 20-23 – Stitches East, Hartford, Conn. See www.knittinguniverse.com/stitches/east.

Oct. 21-23 – Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair, WNC Agricultural Center, Fletcher, N.C. See http://saffsite.org.

Oct. 22-23 – Sally Melville classes, Tidewater Knitting Guild of Virginia, Westminster Canterbury, Virginia Beach. More information on the Guild’s Facebook group page.

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

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Historically Speaking

By Karen Richardson Did you know that in the 1800’s Canadian knitting and crochet were referred to as “Home Work? That’s because creating your own knitted or crocheted articles of wearing apparel was considered an enjoyable, artistic and useful pastime performed in your own home.

I would like to present to you an antique book (available as a free e-book) I found on the website Early Canadiana Online, at www.canadiana.org. The book is entitled “Home Work: A Choice Collection of Useful Designs for the Crochet and Knitting Needle: Also Valuable Recipes for the Toilet,” published by Rose Publishing Company, Department of Agriculture Toronto, 1891.

As noted in the preface, this book was published with the hope that it would give pleasure and help in many homes as well as a guide for all who love to knit and crochet. Knitting starts on p. 250.

The book includes terms used in knitting, such as: N—Narrow, to decrease by knitting two stitches together. Narrowing may be done by knitting or purling two or more stitches together but the term Narrow or its abbreviation is used only for knitting two stitches together.

O—Over. Throw the thread over the needle before inserting in the next stitch. This is done to make a stitch. Before purling, it is necessary to “over” twice to make a stitch. continued on p. 4

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Fall is here at The Yarn Club. New patterns and great new yarns have fallen in with amazing textures and color.

Madelinetosh is taking center stage. The entire center section of the shop is dedicated to these beauties. We now carry the full line. If you do not have Tosh on your needles, you are missing out.

Think BIG! REALLY, REALLY BIG!!! Big is back and The Yarn Club has it. Size 35 needles are on their way to support amazing yarns. Fun, quick knits just in time to start thinking about the holidays. So when your kids tell you on Dec. 23 that they are bringing home a friend for the holidays, you will be ready.

The Club continues to have fun with lots of classes. Check out the Snapdragon Tam class. Ysolda’s hat is a fun knit with lots of great techniques to learn and explore. For details, check out the website, www.yarnclubknits.com.

Happy Knitting, Andrea

240 Mustang Trail Suite 8 Virginia Beach, VA 23452

Big sales this month and next.

August sale: 30 percent off ALL Manos del Uruguay yarns!!!

September sale: 30 percent off all Louisa Harding, Queensland, Ester Bitran, Elsebeth Lavold.

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Historically Speaking:

continued from p.3

Tw—Twist stitch. This is made by knitting from the back part of the loop. The right needle is put in behind the left needle, and passes through the loop from right to left, much the same as in purling, except that in purling the needle is passed through the front side of the loop.

Sl and b—Slip and bind. Slip one stitch, knit the next, pass the slipped one over it. To bind off, knit two plain stitches, pass the first over the second, and so on to the last stitch, always counting the stitch left on the needle as one.

Example: FAGOT STITCH This stitch is used generally for the top of lace patterns. Cast on 6 stitches.

1. Knit plain. 2. Knit 3, over, narrow, knit 1 Section II of the book, “Designs for Knitting in Cotton and Linen,” includes 64 pages of knitting patterns.

If you enjoy knitting antique patterns, I think you will enjoy reading this e-book.

TREASURER’S NOTE: The treasurer’s report will be made at the Aug. 1 meeting. If you need to pay dues and cannot attend a meeting, please call me at (757) 287-3625 or email bevboler@verizon.net and I will send you my address. -- Bev Boler

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

Sally Melville will be teaching at the shop on Oct. 21.

Seats are very limited as she only take 20 students per class, so check your calendars and reserve your seat now.

You may pay half now and the rest will be due in October. Please, if you want to take this class, mail or bring by a check.

Early registration fee is $75.00 per person; cost goes up to $85 the week of the class. Deposit of $50 to hold your seat. Payments plans are available.

yarn Ş patterns Ş notions Ş classes all in the company of friends.

945 Providence Square Shopping Ctr Ş Virginia Beach 757-495-6600 Ş knitwitsyarn.com

Back to school is right around the corner and … stop your groaning … we've got our own class plans filling up. Here's what we're planning throughout August: • We're tackling colorwork as the summit of the Summer Sock Spectacular.

• The addictive and incredibly popular Bucket Bag enters yet a third session.

• Learn how to make brioche – no, not the bread – the easy way.

• Plus, the usual suspects!

Speaking of the Summer Sock Spectacular, from Aug. 2-15 you can vote for your favorites in the Sock It To Us contest!

There's great prizes up for grabs for all the entrants (deadline for entry is Aug. 1), but they can't win without your help. Stop in and cast your ballot – and pick up some great deals on summer-weight yarns while you're at it!

And who knows what we might have up our carefully knitted sleeves for fall, eh?

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