Afternoon Fun

Stephanie wrote:

Yesterday afternoon Mona and I were able to break away for a few hours. We took a short drive to Wellesley Booksmith. They were hosting a Knit-a-Thon and had a full day of scheduled events.

We attended the color session. Melissa Morgan-Oakes discussed how her book, 2-at-a-Time Socks, came to be. Melissa is a firm believer in knitting two socks at the same time, and her book demonstrates how to do it using one circular needle. Keep an eye out for her new book, Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks, which will be available later this spring.

Kristin Nicholas led a discussion of the color wheel, complementary colors and analogous colors. Using samples she showed various color combinations and how you can tweak them to suit your own taste. Be sure to click on her link for oh-so-cute sheep pictures.

And finally Gail Callahan, aka The Kangaroo Dyer, gave a demonstration on how to dye a skein of yarn. After discussing various dyes she proceeded to dye a skein of yarn with help from Melissa.

This is Gail on the left with Melissa as her assistant. Melissa had poured the dye on the skein and set the dye using a microwave. Here Gail is squeezing out the skein to show what little dye is left in the water.

The finished skein had some beautiful color combinations - perfect for spring.

And there were goodies.

The raffle prizes included three skeins dyed by Gail.

The session was followed by a book signing. Wellesley Booksmith was running a charitable book fair in conjunction with the Knit-a-Thon. Customers could request that 10% of their book purchases be donated to Women of Means, an organization that provides medical care to women and children in shelters.

It was an inspiring afternoon.

While my goal is to tidy up a few projects already on the needles, I did have to start this new one.

This is Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket. I've made several of these sweaters and enjoy the process every time. I recommend this pattern to all of my knitting students as a good exercise in faith and following instructions. If you can't envision the finished product, just follow the pattern and believe - it will all work out in the end.

Today is the last day of our contest. We've had lots of responses. If you haven't done so already, leave a comment and enter to win a $25 Dye Dreams gift certificate.