Yarn swapping!

Oops, I knew I'd been neglecting the blog, but I'd forgotten I still haven't blogged KiP2!

Anyway, yesterday at our regular meeting we held a yarn swap, which went fantastically well, with much yarn given, much yarn received, and even more yarn stroked! Thanks to everyone who took part, particularly our generous yarn-donators -- your yarn has gone to a better place :o)
We're planning to hold the second phase of yarn swapping at this Sunday's Double Dutch meeting, so if you missed the first one there's another chance to swap yarn! I'll bring along the leftover yarn from last night too so you can see if you want any of that.
And thanks to Alana, whose idea all of this was!

We had lots of cool crafting too -- there was a resurgence of crochet, with a very cozy hat being decorated and a couple of lacy scarves underway. We got to see some needle-felting too, complete with terrifying pointy needles!
On the knitting front there was plenty going on too, including socks being knit two at a time, a beautiful cabled baby jacket, and we got to see a finished stripy scarf, a beautiful lace top and an awesome dead fish hat!

I've also been meaning to mention Woolrush yarns, where you can buy yarns (among other things) hand spun and plied by one of our own City Knitters!

Fun times!
Hugh.

Knitting in Public (part 1)

Hi folks! Today was the first day of our annual Worldwide Knitting in Public celebration, and since it was raining we headed over to Costa's in Bruntsfield for our exhibitionism.

Knitting-wise, projects included an Ishbel shawl, a lacy (and extremely purple) cardigan, and some absolutely adorable stripy baby dungarees. We also saw a top with very cool frilly edging.

We also got to see some Mongolian cashmere yarn from Fyberspates, some extremely purple Noro yarn, and some hand-painted yarn from a local store in San Fransisco. I got to show off some Yarn Yard yarn too.

We had some crochet too! There was an ongoing granny square blanket made in many, many pieces, and a giant (and apparently very cat-friendly) blanket being made all in one piece.

Also, Alana made us cake*!There will be more Knitting in Public on Wednesday (at Caffe Lucano), and next Sunday (at St. Andrew's Square), so if you couldn't make it today there are still plenty more chances!

Hugh.

(I'd also like to mention that at one (brief) stage, the boys outnumbered the girls! Woo!)

Knitting in Public 2010

Hi folks! Here are those details for Knitting in Public 2010:

Sunday June 13th:
Bruntsfield links, 1 – 5pm,
Weather permitting, we'll spend the afternoon knitting on the Links. If you can bring picnic blankets, that would be great. Also bring chairs if you want them. There are plenty of food places nearby, but if you want to bring your own food/drink/cake you could do that too.
If it rains, we'll go to Costa's, which is just across the road.

Wednesday June 16th:
Caffe Lucano, 7.30 – 10pm
We'll meet as usual on wednesday too, and everyone is welcome there as always! (The other regular meetings should be on throughout the week as usual too, so there are plenty of opportunities to knit in public!)

Sunday June 20th:
St. Andrew's Square, 1 - 5pm
Also weather permitting, we'll meet at St. Andrew's Square for some more outdoor knitting. As for the previous sunday, picnic blankets would be helpful. There are more places to sit here, but again do bring chairs if you want to. Umbrellas may also be a good plan for this one.
If it rains we'll head over to Double Dutch, our usual weekend venue. This is quite a way, so hopefully we'll be able to decide quite early on if it looks like it's going to rain. I'll post my mobile number on the mailing list in case people want to check ahead before they set out.

As always, despite saying "knitting" all the time we welcome crafts of all kinds, so feel free to crochet, cross-stitch, embroider, or whatever your craft of choice is. Bonus points to anyone who brings spinning!

If you're not sure what to knit, we recommend the awesome reversible-duck-bunny:
http://www.spudandchloe.com/blog/2010/03/mini-reversible-duck-to-bunny-free-pattern/

Is that everything? Let me know if I've missed anything out.
Hugh.

Have you ever knit an octopus?

Well, I thought that was totally going to be an original opener, until I looked back at the last post and found out someone was actually in the process of putting one together! City Knitty has been particularly animal themed lately, with a lantern fish project, and the appearance of a super cute penguin and a bunny for a baby in progress. It seems the season for sweaters and socks is over. Also on the go tonight was a summer top in the brightest blue, a tunic, and a lightweight shawl. Although winter is not done for one member whose pretty pink alpaca sweater sheds over everything (well, mainly me). While all this is going on, we also chatted about a wide range of topics such as matter vs anti-matter and whether there is any object that cannot be improved by the addition of googly eyes.

Onto serious matters, there was some discussion around Knit in Public week (12 - 20 June), and where City Knitty should go to knit in public - the suggestion of Bruntsfield links was well received. Everyone was also keen that we move outside for the Wednesday knitting of that week as well if the weather is nice. There is a discussion on both Ravelry and the Yahoo group if you want to join in.

Happy taking-some-form-of-yarn-and-making-it-into-something in public!

Cynthia

안녕하세요, City Knitters!

Hey folks!
It's been a while since I last blogged, but City Knitty continues apace. This week we had a number of lace projects on the go, including a black cardigan and a shawl whose colour I've totally forgotten. We saw a pair of socks being knit in Fyberspates K1 yarn, which was an amazing deep purple colour, and heard about a learn-to-knit group for children at a local library. We also found that a really quite amazing proportion of the CKers know how to say hello in Korean!
Oh, and we saw an amigurumi octopus being put together! That was actually last week, but it was awesome so it needs mentioning anyway.

Happy knitting, and see you all soon!
Hugh.

Getting hooked

Hi folks!

We had lots of new people this week, and had fun taking over half of Caffe Lucano.
We saw some an awesome multi-coloured crochet baby blanket with some very cool texture and layering effects, and some very cool hand-dyed yarn being made into a very cool pair of socks. We also saw a big christmassy jumper nearing completion, and had some extremely high-brow geographical discussions. Oh, and I gave away some organ donation awareness hearts, as part of the Remembering Juliana project. (Yep, it has capital letters now).
We had quite a cohort of crocheters, which reminds me that I need to be a little more careful about describing CK as a 'knitting' group -- what is the best term for this? Crafters? Stitchers?

Happy taking-some-form-of-yarn-and-making-it-into-something!
Hugh.

Only 40 shopping days left…

Christmas means holidays. Holidays mean exactly that. Much of the discussion this Wednesday was around who was going where for the holidays. Not everyone will be back though, and we said au revoir to a City-Knitter who is returning to the US. Knitting socks to mini-socks, a hallowig to lovely soft cowl, and entertaining us with travel stories, she is always part of our Wednesday fun. Can’t we convince you to come back - we’ll miss you!!

With winter weather definitely settling in, socks are reigning supreme at the moment.Continuing progress was being made on a set of lovely mulberry-coloured coasters, a blue cabled jumper and a fluffy, ruffly scarf. There was also some firsts for some people this week: a brave knitter venturing into the world of crochet amigurumi, and a foray into land of sock-making (the joys of 4 dpns!).

If you’re thinking of coming along to a knitting session, please do! There will still be Edinburgian knitters around over the next couple of months so come along and keep them company. Weekends at Double Dutch are still on the list as well, check the Yahoo group calendar for which day each week, and maybe post a message to say you’re going along. Happy knitting!

Cynthia.