Cable Gram Blog
Stripes! Part 1 of the Variations on a Theme Challenge
IMPORTANT: Some users report experiencing migraines and seizures when accessing Ravelry due to their site redesign. Links in this blog post direct to Ravelry pages and are spelled out accordingly. If you are prone to either of these issues, please proceed with caution when clicking the Ravelry links.
For the first round of the Variations on a Theme Challenge, MKG knitters worked from the 1898 hat pattern (Ravelry pattern page).
In this post, we look at the many ways knitters added stripes to the pattern. But first, let's look at a "vanilla" version of this hat, knit by Barbara Rice (babsknits126 on Ravelry), one of many participants who knit a plain hat to learn the pattern before creating their variation.
This hat pattern features a double layer brim/headband with increases and decreases to shape ear flaps; next, stitches are picked up along the top of the headband to form the crown. Barbara knit her version on size 7 needles with Red Heart Super Saver Multis.
Jessica Clifton (jessicalouMN on Ravelry) knit hers with Berroco Vintage in three colors because she didn't have enough of any one color to finish a whole hat. She says, "What a fun hat to knit!"
Guild President Kathy Lewinski (katbaro on Ravelry), working with Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (black and grey) and Knit Picks City Tweed DK (red and grey), created stripes in the brim by knitting 2 rows in each color. Since the pattern tells you to count the rows in the brim, changing colors like this helps keep count. Kathy also used slip stitches to create a nice border at the top of the brim.
The next hat is one I made (artistnumber91 on Ravelry). Ever since I knit the vertically-stranded-socks by Lorilee Beltman (Ravelry pattern page), I've been looking for a place to use her vertical stranding technique, which I think of as a one-stitch intarsia. I decided to put two narrow stripes in the headband portion of this hat, using vertical stranding. For the dark green stitches, I purled on the right side and knit on the wrong side, so the stripes really pop.
Kate Crandall (KateCKnit on Ravelry) added a more elaborate stripe using a Latvian braid as she picked up stitches to form the hat crown. Her main yarn is Aarlan Cristal, a 100% wool, single ply that was left over from a much-loved sweater she made in 1989. The green yarn in the braid was left over from a sweater she just finished.
And the Latvian braid variation in Kate's version hints at the topic of the next blog post on the Variations on a Theme Challenge: more colorwork beyond stripes. Stay tuned for more!
The Variations on a Theme Challenge will be ongoing throughout the year as we knit for our various service knitting partners.
We hope you will join along! Learn more here.
April Meeting & New Ticketing Site!
** 4/20 The Zoom email link has gone out to everyone who registered. Please check the email you used to reserve your tickets. If you don’t see it there, check your spam folder. If you still don’t see it please email Kathy presidentmkg@gmail.com **
Join us for a Conversion with the Maker Sarah Schira of Imagined Landscapes.
Sarah loves to knit and design gnomes. She discovered a lot of other knitters like gnomes too thanks to her popular #nevernotgnoming knit alongs. When she's not knitting gnomes, she works on knitting patterns for everyday adventures inspired by her love of travel.
Our trunk show guest will be Knitcircus Yarns from Madison, WI.
Starting with this April 2021 MKG meeting, we are making some changes to how you register to get the Zoom link for our monthly meetings. We will now be registering interested attendees through a ticketing site. Here is the link to reserve your ticket for this month's meeting. Everyone who gets a ticket will receive the Zoom link the morning of the meeting. This means YOU MUST GET YOUR TICKET BY MIDNIGHT THE DAY BEFORE THE MEETING.
Why the change? We are proud to support teachers, designers, and speakers in the fiber community by paying them to present at our meetings. Although our programming remains free and open to the public, there is a cost to it. A typical meeting costs $3-5 per attendee, after technology subscriptions, speaker fees, prizes, etc... We wanted to give people who aren't members of the Guild, but want to attend a particular meeting, a way to make a donation to help support our programming if they are able.
For those of you who are members, we so appreciate your on-going support. Without your yearly dues there would be no Minnesota Knitters' Guild.
Designer Spotlight: Barbann Pappas
Monthly Yarn Store Spotlight Series: Darn.Knit (Anyway)
Variations on a Theme Hat Challenge
WANTED: Knitters to participate in a Variations on a Theme Hat Challenge
to benefit the MKG’s service knitting partners.
How the Challenge Works:
~ We’ll choose a free hat pattern suitable for MKG’s service knitting projects. (First up is the 1898 Hat!)
~ Each participating knitter will choose their own yarn, needles, and creative variations on the pattern.
~ Each knitter will knit their piece, then send a photo of it plus a few sentences describing their choice of yarn and their variations to Bonnie who will run the challenge.
~The photos and description will be compiled into a post for the MKG blog.
~ We hope you will donate your hat for MKG’s service knitting projects, but that’s not a requirement for participating.
~ We’ll continue to choose additional patterns and repeat the process as long as there are interested knitters.
The first challenge (the 1898 Hat!) has begun! Check out our Ravelry group for more information.
If you are interested in joining in, please email Bonnie.
March '21 Meeting Wrap Up
We had such a wonderful meeting this month with Kim McBrien Evans! Members can watch Kim's slideshow by signing into the site and going to the Previous Meeting Recordings page in the Members' Area. Also look for an email with codes for Kim's Patterns and Indigodragonfly Yarns.
New Meeting Registration Procedure
Hosting Guild meetings is not free, we pay for the speakers, technology subscriptions, and more. A typical meeting costs between $3 - $5 per attendee. With that in mind, we wanted to offer a way for non-members to make a donation when they register for a meeting.
Starting next month, you will be given a link to a ticketing site for each meeting at BetterWorld.org. (This is the same site we used for the December auction.) Members can just chose the I am a member option to "purchase" their ticket. Non-members can chose to make a donation or join the Guild when they "purchase" their ticket. Everyone who reserves a ticket will receive the Zoom link the morning of the meeting.
The biggest difference for members is that the deadline to reserve your ticket will be the day before the meeting.
The Guild Needs You
We are still looking for members to fill our open volunteer positions. Read more about them here.
Service Knitting Drive Up Drop-off Event
- Sunday, April 25, 12-3pm at the Textile Center
- Accepting knitted items for our community partners and
yarn donations - Can't make the event? Contact Dawn to arrange to send your donations.
Our 2021 partner organizations
Featured Designer
Read about this month's featured designer, Dawn Landix, here.
Door Prize Winners
Lauri Winterfeldt
Lynne Linden
Linda McShannock
Upcoming Meetings
We have a great series of programming coming up...
April - Sarah Schira (Imagined Landscapes) - A Conversation with the Maker
May - Jillian Moreno - Yarn Detective
June - Roxanne Richardson - Knitting from Vintage Patterns
July - Garage Sale
August - Andrea Wong - Portuguese Knitting
September - State Fair or No Fair
Social Knitting
We have two more virtual social knitting get-togethers this month. These are open to everyone and you can join anytime.
Thursday Knit Night - Thursday, March 25th 7:00pm - 9:00pm
Zoom Meeting ID:813 3035 7398 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81330357398
Sunday Knitting Brunch - Sunday, March 28th 11:00am - 1:00pm
Zoom Meeting ID: 848 7745 7613 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84877457613
Member Announcements
Cori (irockknits) invited everyone to join her new Knitting Exchange group, a place to sell or trade WIPS or finished knits.