PLAAAAAY BAAALLLLLL and Knit!

It was the annual Stich 'n Pitch at Raley Field. As we entered the stadium, Lorna was there to great us with a souvenir bag. We can all use another bag for our WIPs.

Sandy threw out the first ball wrapped in what else? Yarn! She did a great job too, right over home plate. What great knitters we are, knitting and watching baseball at the same time. Although the River Cats had a great start, they did not win the game. But that's ok, we had a great time, eating hot dogs, drinking sodas, catching fould balls, and knitting with Dinger. I brought a couple of friends, not members of the guild and they look forward to next year's Stitch 'n Pitch.

Brioche Stich

Last month it was the Bavarian Stitch, otherwise known as the traveling stitch. I think most of us chose to travel to Stitches West instead. Always be sure to bring lots of money when exposed to yarn.

This month Lorna showed us how to do the Bricohe Was that bread or the stitch?

The word comes from Old Norman French verb "brier" (an old form of "broyer") then used in the sense of "to knead dough with a wooden roller"; the participle is also found in "pain brié", a Norman speciality. The suffix -oche is added to the verb "brier" to designate the product. The root -- bhreg -- is of Germanic origin. Ok, so I'm feeling like I'm kneading my yarn with my wooden needles. A wonderful site by knitter and author, Nancy Marchant offers intstructions, patterns and attractive variations of the brioshe stitch. Check it out. http://briochestitch.com/brioche/

But I'm always ready to take on the challenge which in this case will probably be a swatch.

If you have trash for others to treasure, be sure to get it to the next meeting or contact Jo Morrison or diane Petersen. We are already putting our dimes away for the evnet in May.

Our knit along for this month is the Lamb mascot with a whole wardrobe. pattern available on Ravelry. http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/8BF0TZw4bzuPuKNHfTcNmxurQAYAB4p6UOU7_NiKtwgtwpgUr2FNWvGVJePKnzoBAbaYOmx-P0dAUeY_2cmNIwuDZv4PPw/2011%20Project%20Patterns/March-Knitalong-Fuzzy%20Lamb%20Pattern.pdf

It's spring training to ready for the Stitch and Pitch with the River Cats on April 25. Sandy Penly is collecting for the River Cats game.

Picture This! For our program in April, Bob Gouine will teach us how to photograph our work.

Charity never Faileth

"Today over 25 CCS guild members got together to knit for charities. We had piles, bags and boxes of yarn from which to choose. We knit 7" squares, chemo hats and comfort dolls. Susan Hamarland brought red, white and blue yarn to knit squares that get their design from quilt squares. There was much food, fun and laughter all around. Most people stayed the duration from 11 am to 3 pm.
Today's event was so enjoyed by all that the guild plans to repeat it about once per quarter. There are people researching outdoor parks and alternate locations."

New Year, New Place

It's a new year and we are in our new digs. There lots of room to move around, in fact there are two rooms for our use. One for our meeting and one for our library/display. Our fist meeting of the year geared up for those new resolutions to go through our stash and reorganize. Ideas were shared on how to store needles and how to organize our yarn.

Lorna gave us our challenge for our February meeting...to create something that is you. What would you knit to identify you? Me...probably something purple. I'd better get started.

We are also going to do a knit-along. One will be a knitted, then felted bunny and the other the "Clapotis" found both on knitty.com and ravelry.

Look forward to seeing everyone in February.

Merry Christmas

Christmas meets Knitting

Goals for the New Year

The new year is approaching faster that I can cast on for that next project. What projects will you be knitting this next year? Using the lot of yarn you bid on and won at the Trash to Treasure night to knit a sweater which will probably end up as a vest? Or maybe a pair of socks for each family member in time for Christmas next year? Ok, so you decide two socks this time is too much, so you decide a single Christmas stocking is more likely to get finished. Maybe you want to learn a new skill, like spinning. Try a new pattern, new stitch or experiment with a new yarn? May I offer a challenge to you all? Teach knitting to a young person. And knit in public, it's a great conversation starter. I wish you all a

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Amy Singer was Here!

Amy Singer

Amy Singer was here!

Amy Singer was our special guest at our November meeting last Thursday. Most everyone knows that Amy is the editor of Knitty.com.

Amy presented a lecture on All About Knitty. The Stockinettes in turn gave Amy a Knitty Fashion Show spotlighting all the Knitty patterns the Stockinette members have knit over the years.

Amy's response to the Stockinettes fashion show...

"A Parade of Knitting...I quite liked it!"

Amy said we were the "first guild to do a Knitty Fashion Show". Way to go Stockinettes!

Amy also taught a series of Plug & Play Shawl classes over the weekend for the Stockinettes.