WWKiP Day : 14.06.2008

Yesterday was World Wide Knit in Public Day.

Linda and I trolled on down to Princeton North Shopping Center where the ladies, and some gentlemen, were occupying the bandstand and brazenly knitting away in full view of the public!!!!

So Linda dug out her current project, a knitted lace shawl, took her place amongst the knitters and spent a pleasant hour en tricoteuse (?) and chatting about fibre to her's and everybody else's heart's content.

And you just never know ... I bumped into a lady who was born in the same hospital in Devonport, Plymouth, Devon, UK, as me, and someone else whose husband made frequent trips to Cheltenham ;-) ... small world, huh?

Further conversation only went on to confirm my view of Plymouth as the world's biggest village.

See Linda's take on WWKiP Day here.

Fir Cone Pattern Lace Shawl

For the past couple of weeks, I've watched while a skein of rather beautiful fine wool was transformed into an even more beautiful shawl.

On occasions I had to do some maths to estimate if the amount of fibre left was enough to complete the shawl - it was ... by 5 grammes. But mostly, all I had to do was watch Linda skillfully knit together this rather fine garment.

I didn't know that when you knit lace the finished article looks like a wrinkled dishcloth. The final stage is called blocking and pulls the fabric into the required size and shape.

And here it is.

Nice, isn't it?

Read more on Linda's blogs; here and here.

Knitting? Yes, really ...

I've done it ... taken the final step. I've at last managed to join Ravelry, a dynamic community of knitsters (yes ... really). Linda's been a member for a long time in Ravelry terms. Long enough to have a highly desirable real-name identity - Linda. Obvious, huh?

Me? I'm Hedonknits ... geddit???

Here are my credentials; the scarf my mum started to teach me how to knit. It has all sorts of stuff like button holes and increase and decrease stitches - don't ask me how ...

Linda's qualifications are rather better than mine. This is me in my lovely sweater. Sweater is the word because it's virtually unwearable indoors. It was much admired at the Rhinebeck Sheep & Wool Festival I can tell you.

Of course, it's another big day for us!!!

Friends and family will know why.

It's the dawn of a brand new day!!!

Linda Knits

Who is this dashing fellow? And what's more, what is he wearing?

If you don't know, Linda is a very keen knitter. She even has a knitting blog called Infiknitty - geddit??? *Linda tells me it is not a knitting blog, more about life, the universe, etc, etc ...

Well, here I am modelling my new sweater which is made up of an esoteric wool blend and which, while beautiful, is extremely uncomfortable to model on a day in excess of 80F/30C.

You can read the technical details here.

However, next weekend we're off to a knitting conference at Rhinebeck in mid-state New York. I really can't believe I'm going to a knitting conference!!!

Okay, I'll pretend to myself that we're really going to see the fall colours. Actually, I am ... and this year is promising to be one of the best. I'm currently googling local steam railways and have also found an airfield with vintage aircraft so maybe it won't all be plain one, purl two.