The Tangled Skein

Meet • Knit • Learn The Newsletter of the Ottawa Knitting Guild April 2012

In this issue:

Meeting Preview .......................................................................................1 Event Listings..........................................................................................1

Knitting Challenge ...................................................................................1

Jana’s Gems ............................................................................................2

Knitting Links Roundup ..........................................................................3

Book Reviews ..........................................................................................4 Charity Knitting .......................................................................................5

Yarnbombing in Ottawa ...........................................................................6

March Meeting Recap ..............................................................................6

March Show and Tell ...............................................................................8

Knitting Challenge Submission Form ..................................................... 11

Meeting Preview April 16: Elwood Quinn and Pam Heath of Rare

Breeds Canada will give a presentation on rare and

heritage sheep breeds and how a rising interest in

fibre arts is helping to create a valuable niche mar-ket for the wonderful products Canada’s rare-

breeds sheep producers have available for the fibre

arts community.

May 14 (NOTE: earlier than usual because of Vic-

toria Day): Renowned designer Cat Bordhi will be

the guest speaker.

Event Listings Stitch Doctor

Have you succeeded in knitting a project that turned out to be perfect? Most of us do not! There

are some easy and some more difficult ways to turn

our projects into things that look “store bought”

and not homemade! Best of all, it is super great

when a completed garment fits. Come to Stitch

Doctor to find out about new ways of doing things and addressing common problems you may en-

counter as you knit. Your knitting experiences will

become more fulfilling and rewarding!

Bring some waste yarn and needles and come to

the Stitch Doctor from 7:00 to 7:30 PM (before the Guild meeting) in the Friendship Room, off the

main corridor near the back of the church. You will

discover new ways of doing things, suggestions for

overcoming problems, and your knitting will take on a new professional look

April – A demonstration and review of the more

complicated knitting stitches including those

used in lace. Learn how to wrap a stitch, why it is

done, and how to understand what is meant by

many more advanced abbreviations. With a mastery of such stitches, one would be able to confidently

use advanced patterns and start to knit lace pat-

terns. Bring questions you may have regarding

strange maneuvers to you.

Submitted by Elizabeth Payne

Upper Canada Village

An update on the Fantastic Fibres/Quilt Show

weekend at Upper Canada Village: our contact at

the Village would like to confirm the list of volun-

teers by April 30, so if you're interested in volun-

teering for this event, please let a member of the executive know. The event will take place the week-

end of June 16 and 17, and activities will run from

9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Submitted by Shauna McNally

Knitting Challenge Knit Any Cat Bordhi Pattern: Entries due

April 16

Just a reminder that, if you’re intending to partici-

pate in this year’s Knitting Challenge, entries are due at the April 16 Guild meeting, and the winners

will be announced at the May 14 meeting.

(Continued on page 3)

Guild meetings are held monthly at Woodroffe United Church, 207 Woodroffe Avenue. The

Banquet Hall opens at 7:00 p.m. for networking, with the formal program commencing at

7:30 p.m.

2 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca April 2012

Any knitter who has tried to follow a pattern written

out in words will tell you that they have often come

across certain terms used in knitting directions that they just don’t understand—although in the

end they may in fact know how to do the stitches

being described therein. Knitting charts are in the

same state, in that they are not drawn or described

all in the same way. The squares may contain dif-

ferent dots or stripes, even when charts are direct-ing you to do the same stitch as in other patterns’

charts. We as knitters all know there have not been

worldwide set standards used to describe com-

monly used stitches. This might in part be due to

the fact that knitting designers come from all over the world, and describe what they are doing quite

differently from each other (let alone doing so in

other languages!) Have you ever been frustrated by

a pattern? There isn’t anything much more chal-

lenging that attempting a beautiful pattern only to

find that you can’t seem to get the stitch count cor-rect at the end of a complicated row! This has hap-

pened to me specifically with a lace pattern that

described a left- or right-leaning decrease by indi-

cating the use of “SSK”, without describing how to

perform that stitch or what the desired outcome

should be! (This has been a pet peeve of mine.) I do

believe that the current knitting community of de-

signers and teachers is making great headway ad-dressing these issues, but I don’t know that we are

quite “THERE” yet.

Add to this the desire to recreate something new

from an older pattern—be it something you have

made in the past, or perhaps you are following the

current trend of making a modern version of a wide array of vintage patterns now available as they are

being reproduced (some of them “translated” into

more current terminology, even if the pattern is go-

ing from English to English). Then you are faced

with the challenge of changing the yarn from the yarn suggested in the pattern to a comparable yarn

that is currently available. I find that the variety of

yarns available now is much more exciting for tex-

ture, colour, and caliber than what was available in

the past, even though we cannot replace those vi-

brant colours that were available before. Now we have to figure out not only the fancy ways people

describe the stitches required, but also the yarn

thickness, which is also not described the same

way. Some suggest (for instance) a “4-ply” yarn, or

“worsted weight”, and others call for “fingering-weight”. Did you know that there are 2 different

“weights” for “fingering-weight”? One is for lace, the

other is for socks! So, although I am not too shy to

try different yarns than what may be recommended

in any given pattern (although I am not likely to

knit socks out of lace-weight yarn!), I at least some-times have trouble deciphering what the designer

and pattern-writer intended with their description

of yarn requirements. And so, I happily found the

following article on the internet, and thought it

would be useful for all of us to have a handy refer-ence at our fingertips. I am copying here the begin-

ning of a longer article posted by “The Knitter’s Re-

view”, covering the topic of swapping yarns. It pro-

vides a handy table which I will carry with me in

(Continued on page 3)

Deadline for Submissions The deadline for submitting articles for next

month’s newsletter is 11:59 p.m., Friday, May 4.

Items submitted after that date will be published

the following month. Send your submissions to

okgnewsletter@gmail.com.

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Jana’s Gems

April 2012 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca 3

my wallet for future reference. You can read further

by going through the following link: http://knittersreview.com/article_how_to.asp?article=/

review/profile/020124_c.asp

Yarn SwappingPart 1: Common Yarn

Weights and Gauges

Yarns generally fall into seven categories of weight and gauge. Many patterns and online

yarn shops list yarns using these naming con-

ventions, so it's important to know the general

category of yarn your pattern calls for.

The following are based on the Craft Yarn

Council's Yarn Standards chart. Keep in mind that these categories and their numbers can

differ from older conventions, and they still

leave a bit of wiggle room in gauge.

Terms Defined

Gauge or Needle Size?The gauge is your most important number for a pattern. Needle

sizes are given as guidelines only. The idea is

that you'll use whatever needle size it takes to

achieve the desired gauge.

(Continued from page 2)

CYCA # Weight Gauge

0 Lace/Fingering 33-40 sts =

4" (10cm)

1 Sock/Fingering/Baby 27-32 sts =

4" (10cm)

2 Sport/Baby 23-26 sts =

4" (10cm)

3 DK/Light Worsted 21-24 sts =

4" (10cm)

4 Worsted/Afghan/Aran 16-20 sts =

4" (10cm)

5 Chunky/Craft/Rug 12-15 sts =

4" (10cm)

6 Bulky/Roving 6-11 sts =

4" (10cm)

This year’s challenge theme is “Knit Any Cat Bordhi

Pattern”, and the categories are:

Category 1: Socks

a: from a pattern

b: adapted from a pattern

Category 2: Moebius

a: from a pattern

b: adapted from a pattern

Category 3: Other directions (non-sock, non-

Moebius Cat Bordhi patterns)

a: from a pattern

b: adapted from a pattern

In addition, OKG Guild Members will vote for one overall favourite chosen across all categories at the

May 14, 2012 Guild meeting.

Please fill out one submission form (see back of this

newsletter) per entry. Submit it with your entry.

This is a blind submission: the tag will be num-

bered and your identifying info (bottom sections) removed.

Knitting Links Roundup Knitting Travel If you're a knitter who likes to travel, there are

plenty of options! The Huffington Post has an article

about J. & E. Riggin, which offers knitting cruises

on a schooner that departs from Maine. http://

www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-fogwell/knitting-

goes-handinhand-_b_1395499.html Link submitted by Shauna McNally

If your travel tastes run more to continental

Europe, Lynne Moore, one of our Special Events

Coordinators, has information about a knitting

tour of Italy from September 29 to October 8, 2012. The travel agent has the itinerary and pricing

details. Contact Lynne at

speceventcoord@ottawaknittingguild.ca to get in

touch with the travel agent.

What's New at Rose Haven Farms

Rose Haven Farm Store will be sponsoring day-long felting workshops by textile artist and blogger Bar-

bara Poole in Picton on July 17-18. The first is on

nuno felt-making for creating scarves, and the sec-

ond is on felted flower embellishments. Registration

is essential. Rose Haven will also be a vendor at the Quebec Weavers’ Association Show in Pointe-Claire

on June 1-3. To learn more about the felting work-

shops, the show, or the many new yarns in stock

this summer, please visit rosehavenfarm.net or call

613-476-9092.

Submitted by Linda Swain

(Continued from page 1)

4 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca April 2012

Book Reviews Women’s Work: The First 20,000

Years

Women, Cloth and Society in

Early Times

By Elizabeth Wayland Barber

I discovered this book while I was poking around in our lovely library

at the last meeting.

I was surprised because I hadn’t re-

alized that we had books other than

those specifically about knitting. I have always been interested in the

prehistoric life of humanity, the earlier the better.

(1000 BCE is getting a little too recent.) When we

think about or read about the artifacts of Paleolithic

and Neolithic times, we usually think of stone ar-

rowheads and spearheads and such; rarely do we think about the more perishable objects of life like

clothing because, of course, those items do not

usually survive the rigors of time. This book is

about those artifacts.

The author, an authority on prehistoric textiles, shows us the signs of the earliest forms of fiber

used as clothing. There are carved “Venus” figu-

rines that have string skirts incised over the figure.

To have textiles we must first have fibers of plants

and later animals formed into string and threads

and yarns. Making string from fibers of plants such as flax was a tremendous innovation that could be

used for such diverse activities as tying together

bundles for carrying and making nets for fishing

and clothing. Probably the earliest clothing was the

string skirt forms which can be traced down to the 20th century. According to Barber, textile making

quickly became a major part of “women’s work”

again lasting in one form or other into the 19th and

even the early 20th century and widespread across

world cultures as well.

She describes the processes of weaving and the ways that textile work fitted into women’s lives and

social interaction and even religious practices and

rituals. One of the most interesting and significant

themes she deals with is how women’s work came

to be determined. It was never a case of capacity but rather what communities and families needed

to be able to rely on in order to survive.

Although this book has very little about knitting, it

is nevertheless most interesting to understand how

very hugely women’s work has impacted and influ-

enced the course of social and economic develop-ment. There are wonderful descriptions of Minoan

women’s matrilineal, horticultural society in Crete

and the active and productive business women of

ancient Sumeria.

Reading this book has given me a much greater ap-preciation of the continuity of life that we are par-

taking in when we pick up out needles of to make a

scarf or sweater. I very much recommend this book.

It is available in our library and probably the Ot-

tawa Public Library and it can be ordered on Ama-

zon which is what I have done.

Submitted by Belinda Forsee Belinda would like your recommendations for a good history of knitting! Send your suggestions to okgnewsletter@gmail.com or newsletter@ottawaknittingguild.ca and we’ll put

them in next month’s newsletter.

Died in the Wool

By Ngaio Marsh

If you're an enthusiast of the fibre

arts, particularly spinning, and also

enjoy mysteries, this book is a good way to combine the two interests.

Set in New Zealand during the Sec-

ond World War, the plot is a "cold

case" of sorts, or at best lukewarm.

New Zealand MP Florence "Flossie" Rubrick, whose husband owns a

wool operation called Mount Moon,

goes into the wool shed to practise a

speech, and is never seen alive again. She is found

three weeks later at an auction, packed inside a

bale of Mount Moon wool. One year after she is found, Inspector Roderick Alleyn is sent to Mount

Moon at the behest of Flossie's protégé of sorts, Fa-

bian Losse, who wants Alleyn to get to the bottom

of the murder. Officially, Alleyn is there in a

counter-espionage capacity, but there is nothing stopping him from asking a few other questions as

well.

Overall, this was a very good mystery. The part

where Flossie was actually found was very sus-

penseful, and I was kept guessing as to the identity

of the murderer throughout. The beginning was a bit choppy, but once Alleyn came on the scene, the

pace became more consistent. There were some

good descriptions of the wool processing operation

and even a small technical section on Fabian's in-

vention, an aerial magnetic fuse, which is a bonus for any WW2 enthusiasts out there. The dialogue is

lively and for the most part feels natural (Marsh,

being a playwright, has a knack for dialogue), al-

though there is a slight tendency to long speeches

as the various characters tell Alleyn what happened

leading up to Flossie's murder. But I did quite enjoy the book and would definitely recommend it.

Submitted by Shauna McNally

Cover image from bookdeposi-tory.co.uk

Cover image from bookdeposi-tory.co.uk

April 2012 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca 5

Charity Knitting A very huge thank you to all of the many who

brought in articles for charity in January and Feb-

ruary. All are invited to donate an article knit from

something in your stash.

Thanks goes to the following who donated:

Peggy Holton – 2 hats for the Snowsuit Fund

Daphne Edmunds – 6 pairs of mitts for the Snow-

suit Fund

Linda Williams – 4 hats, 1 neckwarmer for the

Snowsuit Fund;

Fionna Brenner – 1 cat blanket for the Ottawa Hu-mane Society

Doreen Brown – 1 child’s sweater, 1 baby sweater

set, 1 bay hat and booties and 1 pair of socks for

First Place Options

Louise Moore – 1 baby blanket for First Place Op-

tions

Heather Ablett – 2 scarves for Out of the Cold Min-

istries

Julia Yeung – 1 hat for First Place Options

Diane DeRusha – 1 child’s sweater, 1 baby blanket

and 1 hat for First Place Options

Jeannie Turcotte – 1 blanket, 4 pairs of socks, 1

pair of mitts, 1 vest and 2 hats to the Warm Hands

Network; 1 baby blanket and hat for First Place Op-

tions

Sandra Smith – 15 scarves to the Youville Centre

The Guild encourages its members to donate sur-plus yarn and/or knit items for donation. Some of

the charities that we are aware of include:

1. Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario: ac-

cepting washable blankets/afghans 36 by 40 inches or larger. (The Children’s Hospital of

Eastern Ontario is an academic paediatric hospi-

tal providing leading-edge treatment, diagnostic

and laboratory services for children and youth

aged 0 to 18 years.)

2. Cornerstone: accepting washable hats, mitts, socks and afghans for women. (Cornerstone pro-

vides emergency shelter and supportive housing

for homeless women in Ottawa.)

3. First Place Options Centre: accepting soft,

washable baby blankets, cribsize. (First Place is a non-profit agency offering compassionate sup-

port and assistance to anyone facing an un-

planned pregnancy. First Place Options Centre is

non-profit & non-political. Their focus is not on

the past, but on the future.)

4. Ottawa Mission: accepting washable mitts, hats, scarves, socks and afghans for men. (The

Ottawa Mission is a non-profit, faith-based min-

istry, meeting the needs of the homeless and

those at risk of being homeless in the Ottawa

region.)

5. Out of the Cold: accepting washable mitts, hats,

scarves, socks and afghans for men. (Drop-in

centre for men.)

6. Ronald MacDonald House: accepting mitts,

hats, scarves and socks for children and teens.

(Ottawa's Ronald McDonald House is a "Home-Away-From-Home" for families with children suf-

fering from cancer or other serious illnesses be-

ing treated at the

Children's Hospi-

tal of Eastern On-tario.)

7. The Snowsuit

Fund: accepting

mitts, hats, and

socks for children

and teens. (The Snowsuit Fund is

an Ottawa-based

charity that raises

funds for the pur-

chase and distri-bution of snow-

suits to needy

children, 15 years

and under, in our

community.)

(Continued on page 6)

6 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca April 2012

8. Warm Hands Network: gathering and shipping

hats, socks, mittens, gaiters, sweaters and blan-kets. Delivered to Innu children of Northern Lab-

rador. Items will be distributed through the a

collective of Innu women in the communities

themselves. They especially need stuff for kids

aged 5 to 15, but they would also like baby blan-

kets and items for the younger set.

9. The Well Drop-In Centre: accepting washable

mitts, hats and scarves for children and women.

(The Well is a Day Program for Women and

Women with Children and provides a safe, sup-

portive environment and assists with access to community resources.)

If you know of a charity that would accept donated

knitted goods please let the coordinator know.

You are also reminded that each item you donate

earns you a “ticket” for a year end draw of a prize.

You can find me at a table near the registration ta-ble. Drop off your finished projects, pick up yarn or

drop it off. See you on Monday.

If you have any questions or donations please do

not hesitate to contact me. Submitted by Debi Brown

Charity Donations Coordinator Brown111@sympatico.ca

Yarnbombing in Ottawa Ann Thacker submitted this

great photo last month of the

statues outside Library and Ar-

chives Canada on Wellington

Street bedecked in cozy winter

gear. Sadly, the tuque and leg-warmers have since been re-

moved.

Anyone up for knitting this

couple some breezy summer

togs? Photo submitted by Ann Thacker

March Meeting Recap Why We Knit

The well-known designer and author Sally Melville

was the guest speaker at the March meeting. Her

talk was called “Why We Knit”.

Why do we knit? According to Sally, there are sev-eral answers:

We knit to put our heads in a good place: The

brain has two hemispheres, left and right. The

left side does the linear thinking and deals with

patterns and logic. The right does the lateral

thinking and processes visual information. The right side is unaware of the passage of time,

which means that exertion on that side relieves

stress. “Getting into” the right side of the brain

requires activities that are physically repetitive,

intellectually undemanding, visually stimulat-

ing—like knitting.

Knitting is calming: Cambridge researchers con-

ducted an experiment in which they measured

the stress levels of groups of people who watched

an upsetting video while doing one of three

things: chatting together, performing a repetitive

task with their hands, and doing nothing. The researchers found that the participants who had

been performing a repetitive task were less trau-

matized by the video than the others. The video

was distressing to the chatting and idle groups

because watching it activated the brain stem, the emotional, excitable “reptilian” part of the brain.

However, doing a repetitive task activated the

cerebral cortex, the logical part of the brain, thus

preventing those participants’ emotions from be-

coming engaged.

Knitting is good for brain health: Rudolf Steiner,

founder of the Waldorf school system, thought

everyone should be taught to knit at six. He

(Continued from page 5)

(Continued on page 7)

April 2012 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca 7

called knitting the “perfect human activity” be-

cause it enhances the ability to focus, brings math skills into play (such as algebra and ge-

ometry), and improves hand/eye coordination

and spatial senses. As has been widely reported

in research and the media, it is important to

keep the brain active in order to stave off dis-

eases like Alzheimer’s.

Knitting relieves tedium and teaches patience: A

person who knits a sweater is engaging in a very

long process for something they could easily

have bought. The psychologist Mihály Csíkszent-

mihályi devised a theory called flow. Flow is the

ideal state where the skill level of the individual and the difficulty of the task are perfectly bal-

anced. Knitting also teaches you to set goals and

work toward their completion. Victor Frankel, a

Viennese Jewish researcher, was a survivor of

the Auschwitz concentration camp. After the war, he wondered why some people survived and

others didn’t. He posited that the survivors were

unexceptional in themselves; the common factor

among them was a prime motivator, a sense of

purpose. Knitting may not be your life’s purpose,

but it teaches you how to set a goal, identify the steps for achieving it, and solve problems along

the way.

Knitting makes you happy: Researchers examin-

ing the causal link between material wealth and

happiness in recent years found that before the

recession, people were inclined to report that their happiness depended a great deal on their

income. After the recession, however, when in-

come decreased across the board, people were no

less happy than before. They had found other

ways besides money to make themselves happy.

As the philosopher Nietzsche said, “Little makes

up the best happiness.”

We knit for clothing: This is increasingly not the

case, particularly in first-world countries like Canada. Canadian knitters by and large knit for

the process, not the product. Sally recounted an

anecdote from a cruise she took in Norway. She

and a group of other women were knitting on

deck when a Norwegian woman passed by and saw them. The woman remarked, “I don’t have to

do that anymore.” The Norwegian woman had

knitted her own clothing out of necessity, not

from any inclination. Once she became suffi-

ciently affluent to be able to buy her clothes, she

stopped knitting. Globalization has led to in-creasingly cheaper machine-made clothing and,

simultaneously, increasingly more expensive

yarn, as retailers market yarn as more of a lux-

ury item for people with disposable income and

plenty of free time. Today’s Canadian knitters knit to produce very original, creative gar-

ments—which are then often set aside and rarely

worn! Sally’s advice is to knit what you wear and

wear what you knit. This means drawing a con-

nection between your hobby and your wardrobe.

Some knitters only want to make interesting, “experimental” items. But the true way to hon-

our the craft of knitting is to make garments you

can and will wear in public. For example, the

most well-worn item in the typical woman’s

wardrobe is a plain grey sweater. Sally suggests knitting your own durable, beautiful grey

sweater instead of buying a dozen cheap ver-

sions from the store. As Sally says, “Knit the grey

sweater—your life will be better!”

Submitted by Julia Yeung

(Continued from page 6)

Knit Lit In the midst of this angry justifying of herself, tramping up and down the long room, she stopped suddenly and looked about her; where was her knitting? Her thoughts were in such a dis-tracted tangle that the accustomed automatic movement of her fingers was imperative. She tucked the grimy pink ball of zephyr under her arm, and tightening her fingers on the bent and yellowing old needles, began again her fierce pacing up and down, up and down. But the room seemed to cramp her, and by and by she went across the hall into Nannie's parlor, where the fire had sprung into cheerful flames; here she paused for a while, standing with one foot on the fender, knit-ting rapidly, her unseeing eyes fixed on the needles. - Margaret Deland, The Iron Woman (1915)

Submitted by Julia Yeung

8 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca April 2012

Show and Tell

Peggy Holton showed a pink sum-

mer sweater. The pattern was from a Patons book. She got the jumper-

weight wool from the discount bin

at Jamieson and Smith of Lerwick,

Shetland, on a Joyce James tour

two years ago but didn’t get around

to actually making the sweater until visiting Shetland for a second time,

just this past year.

Louise Manship showed

three cowls made from

Aran-weight merino, sub-stituted for the scratchy

Lopi called for by the pat-

tern in Lopi Book 26.

After Louise made one for

herself, she had to make sparkly purple versions

for her daughter and

niece. The purple yarn

had sequins in it.

She completed all three on a single weekend trip.

Belinda

Forsee, a

new knitter, showed a

reversible

pink and

orange wool

scarf from a

Debbie Macomber

pattern

called

Vera’s Lacy

Scarf. She bought the

yarn at ven-

dors’ night

last fall.

She also showed

socks made

for her hus-

band and

thanked an-other mem-

ber, Nancy,

for teaching

her how to

knit socks.

Beth Sneyd made a

Moebius cowl from a

Ravelry pattern. She bought the hand-

spun, handdyed

wool/silk yarn last

June in St. John’s,

Newfoundland, a

city she calls “a ha-ven for knitters”.

She added an ice-

berg-shaped button

that she bought from an

artisan selling handmade Newfoundland-themed

buttons.

She also showed a wool

shawl she made, also

from a Ravelry pattern, to wear around the office.

April 2012 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca 9

Inspired by the

hat Angela showed

last month, Liane Thiry-Smith

made a Capucine

Hat (the pattern is

on Ravelry) from

Loops and

Threads Kaleido-scope bulky wool

from Michaels. Not

being a fan of tas-

sels, Liane opted

for braids instead.

Kathy McEwen normally uses cotton yarn

for dishcloths, but she knitted a Vertical

Lace Top from Patons Grace cotton to wear

on an upcoming trip to Egypt, where it is

necessary for women to be “modestly at-tired” without having to wear heavy clothes.

The pat-

tern was

from the

Patons “Graceful”

booklet.

Stephanie

Apps bought

many purses on her recent

trip to New

York City, but

all have since

been lost or

ruined. So she made herself a

sturdy new

purse with an

organic merino

knitted outside layer, plastic

mesh canvas to

give it struc-

ture, and a

handsewn fab-

ric lining and sash. It’s quite a conversation piece. The pattern was by an indie designer on Ravelry.

Natalie Servant showed her Cloves Shawl,

a shawl of her own design made from hand-

spun merino. The pattern comes in three different shapes: square, vee and rectangle.

The shawl has a shamrock motif and was

released just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.

Nancy Moynihan

showed a Sea Lettuce

Scarf designed by Lucy Neatby, made

from an unknown

fibre. The pattern is

very easy, involving

short rows and no

blocking. Nancy plans to make one for

herself, one for a

friend and one for

charity.

10 www.ottawaknittingguild.ca April 2012

Sheila Wein-

furter showed

a shrug made from llama and

silk yarn she

got as a birth-

day present.

This was her

third try at it. She knitted a

rectangle,

folded it in half,

sewed up the armholes, and added a knitted trim from Knit-ting on the Edge by Nicky Epstein.

She also showed

Wingspan, a popu-

lar scarf pattern on

Ravelry being knit-

ted by over 1,000

other Ravelry us-ers. She used

Marks and Katten

Fame Trend. The

pattern calls for a

variegated yarn with long colour

repeats.

Gudrun Klingelstein showed a Nicky

Epstein vest made from Aslan Royal Alpaca. It was an easy knit. Gudrun

says Royal Alpaca is warmer and

stronger than wool.

2012 Cat Bordhi Knitting Challenge Submission Form

This year's challenge theme is "Knit any Cat Bordhi pattern". See submission categories below. Submissions: This challenge is open to OKG members only. Contestants may submit as many entries as they wish. There should be nothing on the entry that allows for identification of the knitter. Due Date: Submissions for the Cat Bordhi knitting challenge are due no later than the April 16, 2012 Guild meeting. Voting for the People's Choice Award will take place and judging results for each category will be announced at the May 14, 2012 Guild meeting. Please fill out this tag - one per contest entry. Submit it with your entry. This is a blind submission: The tag will be numbered and your identifying info (bottom sections) removed.

1. Submission category (check one):

Socks: From a Pattern (remember to include copy of pattern)

Socks: Adaption from a Pattern (s) (remember to include copy of pattern and description of adaptation)

Moebius: From a Pattern (remember to include copy of pattern)

Moebius: Adaption from a Pattern (s) (remember to include copy of pattern and description of adaptation) Other Directions (non-sock, non-moebius Cat Bordhi patterns) From a Pattern (remember to include copy of pattern) Other Directions (non-sock, non-moebius Cat Bordhi patterns) Adaption from a Pattern (s) (remember to include copy of pattern and description of adaptation)

2. Your comments (e.g. pattern source, inspiration, notable details, techniques):

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Name: _______________________________

Tel. Number: ___________________ Email: _______________________________ _______________________________________________________

For guild use only Challenge Number :