Grandma Derbenwick’s lap blanket on the needles
close up
Here are some bits and bobs that haven’t made the blog yet. On Saturday March 2 I taught my first knitting class at Culture Stock, a used bookstore in downtown Aurora. I had a wonderful time testing my methods and my two students left doing the knit stitch. It turns out that they had purchased a few things from me at the Aurora’s Farmer’s Market. Cool. They put the muffatees they bought on the baby as leg warmers. Fun.
Twice I have had the pleasure of joining the women at Esther’s Place in Big Rock for their Guild Meeting. It begins with a delicious potluck meal. Then we worked on our projects. Natasha, who runs Esther’s Place along with her mother Donna are both delightful women. In addition to the store they raise animals for fiber and Donna has a CSA. Thea is a spinner and a teacher at a local Waldorf School. Elise is into infinity scarves. Thea, Elise, and I live on the west side of Aurora. I was pleased to meet all these amazing women who also adore the fiber arts, and I look forward to meeting others who attend the Guild mtgs.
This lap blanket gets its own paragraph and two photos of it when it was still on the needles. I was honored to be asked to knit a lap blanket for sister-in-friend Laura’s 101 year old grandmother in eastern PA. I hope it keeps her cozy and the light colors–suggested by Laura–are more like spring than winter. It has already arrived in PA. It was 128 stitches across. Every other row was all knit stitches making it fast to knit. For the patterned row I used stitch markers to mark the changes so there was very little thinking involved indeed. I have heard that Laura’s father who commissioned the lap blanket and Grandma Derbenwick both love the blanket. I’m so glad.
I have an order for filet crochet valances. The next step there will be getting measurements and experimenting with swatches. My friend Wanda and I have set things up to make it as simple as possible, and not use the finest thread. Even with that, it will take quite some time. These valances will go to New Jersey to a very Dutch home. Not only do I have plans to make the valances, I plan to visit them sometime after they have been hung. She was in Holland from the 12th to the 22nd of Feb. Apparently machine lace curtains with windmills on them have gone out of style there.
My regular gauge is 16 stitches to 4 inches on size 5 needles. This fall there was a large donation of knit and crochet magazines from the widower of a woman who lead a knitting group at the library. At 10 cents a magazine, I wiped out her collection of Interweave Knits. They are housed on the closed off back porch in cardboard magazine holders. Several weekends ago I brought the magazines into the from the unheated porch to the warm living room and marked every pattern that I liked that called for a gauge of 16 sts to 4 in. In the meantime, I saw a pattern for small knit bears. I’ve knit three and finished one. Seems like another good way to use up leftover yarn. They are a smidgen cute, but most of the rest of the world likes cute.
Not fiber related, my DH, DS and I went to a wonderful concert at the City Winery (Chicago). The guys have been to the CW before and knew I would like it. We heard Greg Brown and Bo Ramsay. I was the third chair from the stage. The sound was just right, and the musicians were at their best. I started going to see Greg Brown when I was still in college in Iowa City. I have been a fan of his since the early 80’s. I have shared a journey with him through his music.
Wee bears
Linda G. Knits 