|
|
|||||
| Home | What-to-knit | Helpful Info | In-Print | About | |
|
cathycarron |
||
|
October 2008 Congrats to Judith Durant editor of the new book, 'One Skein Wonder' featuring luxury yarns this go-round - and the art direction is even better than ever - a great holiday gift! Storey Publishing celebrated the new publication with a really fun cocktail party held in the Ty Lounge at The Four Seasons in New York City. The food was delicious - and the company lots of fun. Karin Strom of Yarn Market News was there as were Faith & Tanis of Knit.1 magazine (see below), and many of the contributors to the book. Goodie bags were given out with copies of the book and the current Vogue Knitting, a pair of beautiful wooden needles and a ball of yummy Karabella yarn. Those who stayed to the very end were also treated to a Dr. Haushka treats as well. Who said the knitting world wasn't glam ?? |
 |
||
|
2008 August  Congrats to Tanis Gray & Faith Hale who've been promoted as co-editors of Knit.1 magazine (a Soho publication) starting with the Fall/Winter issue. Both of them have such keen eyes for what's-up-what's-new and for fashion in general, so this is very exciting for the knitting industry! |
Faith & Tanis
|
||
2008 July
 It's not the intent to make this an obituary page... but it it with great sadness to report that Wendy Banks - wonderful friend & owner of The Village Sheep also left this world for the great knitting fest in the sky late last week. It was rather unexpected and therefore stunning. Wendy was business woman extraordinaire; with a background in fashion, marketing and retail management she boldly opened a store in our quiet neck of the Connecticut countryside. She was forever on top of yarn & knitting trends and what-was-going-on in general, with friends, politics and the community at large. She was engaged and engaging, so to drop into her store was more than just a jaunt for wool. Wendy exuded a special joy and for this she will be dearly missed. |
|||
2008 May
 You ought to know that a pretty amazing woman...in the knitting world died this past month. Pat Chew (1938-2008), owner of Classic Elite Yarns in Lowell, MA was an unforgettable person. She was special and I don't mean this gratuitously. My first meeting with Pat was somewhat inadvertent. Whilst waiting to hear from publishers on my tome on 'knitting for the military', I also began to knit hats in search of a design to fit my larger-than-usual kopf. When I finally devised a methodology - I don't know what possessed me, but I picked up the phone and called Classic Elite's design department, not even knowing if that's how things got done. The design director told me that they didn't accept designs for publication, but she'd ask the owner anyway. Several days later, true to her word, she called up and said that Classic Elite's owner, Pat, wanted to see what "I had". Up until that point she had seen nothing, but I was directed to attend a meeting at her summer home in Stonington, CT. I packed several plastic storage bins in the back of my minivan and started the 3 hour trek from my house in the Litchfield Hills to Pat's house in the eastern part of the state. My afternoon with Pat and her team, the design and marketing directors, turned out to be unexpectedly fun & exhilarating. From the minute I shook her hands, I could sense Pat was formidable. I spent a good amount of time discussing my wartime research, Pat was interested and very encouraging about getting the story out. I showed them literally mounds of hat ideas as well. They tried them on, discussing the merits of each - not surprisingly Pat, picked out the more adventurous helmet "Skye'. When I finished my presentation, a bustle started and everyone began to pitch in to make lunch. Obviously, they had done this before as everyone seemed to know their roles. Pat took me for a walk in her gated garden. Into a basket she held over her arm, she placed lettuce, cucumbers & tomatoes. From all of this, an enormous salad was made and placed artfully on a large oval dish in the middle of the table, complemented with warm bread and cool lemonade. Those hours for me felt special - to be feasting with three other mature, inventive, full-of-life women. Lovers of hand knitting! As my departure time approached, the experience itself was so satisfying, that I hardly felt the need for much more. Kindly, Pat made it clear that she still was not in the position to take my designs, nor publish my work - but she did say she would help me find a publisher, and she did. Pat radiated confidence and energy. She had this can-do-ness to her that was catchy. She loved boating, so much so, that in renovating her house she had the architect make the boat's bow fit into the side of her living room - so that it became sculpture when not in use - it stuck right out in the living space. It was fun, it was genius, it was Pat, and I will miss her. |
|||
|
2007 October...how jolly is this?! From the US Postal Service: In 2007, the U.S. Postal Service will warm up for the holidays by issuing Holiday Knits, four stamps featuring classic winter-time imagery designed and machine knitted by nationally known illustrator Nancy Stahl. These beautiful stamps consist of a dignified stag, a snow-dappled evergreen tree, a perky snowman sporting a top hat, and a whimsical teddy bear.  In recent years, knitting has become quite popular again (amen!),
both in
the United States and internationally. Inspired by traditional
Norwegian
sweaters and knitted Christmas stockings, Stahl decided on
"something cozy"
for this year's holiday stamp issuance. She used a
computer software program
to draw her original designs and convert them
to stitches and rows. Then she downloaded the information to an
electronic knitting machine and used it to
knit her creations. The
machine's smaller stitch gauge didn't provide quite the
effect Stahl was
hoping to achieve. So she transferred the designs onto punch cards and
used a different knitting machine that works something like an old
Jacquard loom and has a larger stitch gauge. Stahl scanned the finished
pieces into her computer and retouched the photographic images to ensure that all the stitches aligned properly. The result is a set of four colorful and "cozy" stamps that will add an extra touch of warmth to seasonal correspondence.
|
|||
|
2007 May
Knitter Paul M's hip operation went well and in the true spirit of an indefatigable knitter, Paul immediately immortalized his mended body parts by fashioning them in wool...if he keeps going, he'll possess a veritable game of knitted 'Operation'...glad to hear that he's on the mend!
Paul wrote:
"The bone colored tube
is the femur and the rest is the titanium prosthesis that fits
inside the femur. I used #12 insulated solid copper wire to shape
the flange and a super ball the
shape the ball. The hip is healing
up beautifully and now walk without a walker, cane or a limp."
|
|||
|
2007 March The Northwest's incredible, Paul Magnussen -designer/knitter of the amazing heart (see below) is contemplating knitting a 'titanium hip' as he is just about to go under for a replacement. He also wrote, that, "I have been knitting hats for Afghani children. They have a program called "Mobile Mini Circus" and wanted hats knitted in primary colors - 'found quite alot in the stash here, so knitted a total of 26 hats for them." Three cheers for Paul & a VERY BIG "get-well-soon" from all of us here at the pond...  |
|||
|
2007 February Up here in the Litchfield Hills, The Good News Cafe in Woodbury rumbled last week when our knitting cabal settled in for a yummy dinner in celebration of Judith Durant's latest book, Never Knit Your Man A Sweater. Yarn shopkeeper extraordinaire, Wendy Banks of The Village Sheep brought together Judith along with Creative Director and Book Publisher, Deborah Cannarella and myself. While we didn't exactly 'dance all night', we certainly could have talked 'til morning if we all didn't have so many darn things to do.  Three cheers
for Judith! Do take a look at it - perhaps the most humorous not to mention most useful book when knitting for the men in your life (or those you WANT to be in your life!). |
|||
|
|
|||
|
2005 Summer Paul Magnusson of Langley, WA writes: “I have recovered from heart surgery last October, then prostate surgery recently. Life is good and we count our blessings over and over. During the recovery period, a knitter friend suggested that I design and knit a backup heart, which I did...while you can't see the internal chambers, they are there and ‘surgically’ sewn onto the appropriate arteries and veins.” Paul generously shares his heart recipe....we now know who the real Wizard of Oz is...click Paul's Generous Human Heart
|
|||
|
2004 Fall Anne Macdonald of Old Greenwich CT, author of No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting and Feminine Ingenuity: How Women Inventors Changed America - is finishing up a history of her local library which is having its centennial; copies can be ordered at The Perrot Library - (203) 637-1066 - due out in September (2004). Anne notes that, “it was the WOMEN who raised the money, financed the additions etc. - I thought my ‘history’ would be just a little pamphlet, but it turned out to be 150 pages or so...the book will be sold to raise money for the next hundred years.” She says that, “the big centennial celebration is going to be in October - a large blast in the parking lot! I am not sure what one wears to such a gala, but I just had my 85th birthday on Saturday--so I'll shod my feet in sneakers and hope for solid footing”...at the moment, Anne is knitting argyle stocking Christmas ornaments...
|
|||
