INSIDE THIS ISSUE: THIS IS WHY I KNIT Meet Your Guild Members 2 2 Pattern Review of the cost. No mat- can sum up my On the Web 3 ter how much I ex- answer just with this plain that it isn’t photo. This is (was) a blan- History of Guilds 4 about the price, non- ket I knit four years ago for knitters just don’t a pregnant friend of my Our 30th Year 5 get it. daughter. The blanket is the most favorite item the Product Review 7 four year old boy has. He A lot of knitters have doesn’t go anywhere with- 7 an item that they Coming Attractions out his blanket. The always have on the mother just sent me the Improve your Knitting 8 needles. With many photo as a thank you for of my friends there is 9 making such a cherished Book Review always a pair of item. This is why I knit and socks or a preemie this is why I choose to Recipe 10 hat in a project bag keep knitting baby blan- ready to knit when 10 From the Editor there are a few min- kets. Retreats 11 utes of free time. Christine Hall With me, my item of choice I have often been told by 12 is a baby blanket. I hear DKG Retreat non-knitters that it makes Do you have a story about the argument that baby no sense to knit an item what motivates you to Guild Information 14 blankets are a lot of yarn because I can purchase it knit? Please share it with and take a lot of time. I I-75 Yarn Crawl 2016 at Wal-Mart for a fraction us at: Callofthewool Dates: Thursday, August 11th through Sun- day, August 14th We currently have U P - C YCLING U NFINISHED O BJECTS verbal commitments from 22 shops. Jenny Smith sent our brains The easy reasons are: into high gear with her pres- We cover as far north as I don’t like the color of the entation Up-Cycling UFO’s. Toledo and as far south as yarn. Easy to solve, over She started the talk with a Burlington, KY dye the project or finish it question “Is there anyone and gift it to someone who We will be offering more here who doesn’t have any does like the color. prizes this year as well as UFO’s?” Being that we are How about, the project more events along the way. all knitters no one raised isn’t coming out the way I website: their hand. wanted it to. If you are un- www.thei75yarncrawl.com Jenny took a very analytical clear on a technique, ask sign up at your favorite local look at all of her unfinished someone at the next meet- yarn shop or online. projects and came up with ing for help. The guild has Passports $5 - includes bag several reasons why she an extensive video library while supplies didn’t finish the project. that covers an array of Page 2 Volume 29, Issue 1 M EET YOUR G UILD MEMBERS Q: What are you working on now? A: I do enjoy knitting and making hats, though. Editors Note: We are kindest and most gen- 52nd anniversary last starting a new feature erous people in the December. We have Presently, I would like to story in each issue guild. Barb is the co- two children, a son, start making myself a about our own guild chair for Warm Up the David, who lives in sweater. I just had a members. Barb Even- Community project. Denver, who has two stroke, late last year, so I am working on getting son was a clear choice Her stories of the de- daughters. my knitting under control, as she is one of the livering hats and mit- Our daughter, Susan, tens to delighted chil- holding my yarn correctly, who lives in Crystal consistency in gauge, dren at the local Lake, Illinois, a bed- schools inspire us all which involves holding room community of my needles correctly. I to knit for children as Chicago, has two sons. an act of kindness. am a work in progress. In my previous life, I Q: Do you have a favor- Q: Tell us a little was a retired regis- ite hint to share? about yourself? tered nurse, working A: Many years ago, I was A: I am married and in various fields. just celebrated our knitting a (Cont. pg. 7) The photo below came from Judy Banks. It repre- P ATTERN REVIEW sents about half of the hats, mittens and scarves donated for Warm Up the Community by mem- W HOORL bers of the Dayton Knitting Guild. See the back page for contact information. I just finished knitting two helix hats. There are sev- eral free versions of helix style hats on Ravelry. I highly recommend “Whoorl” by Pepper K. Here is the pattern description from Ravelry: “Whoorl is a hat worked using the technique of he- lix knitting. Helix knitting involves working several yarns in continuous spirals, which creates jogless stripes and avoids the need to carry yarn floats up several rows in between color changes. The actual knitting part of helix knitting isn’t complicated, but keeping the yarn balls organized to avoid tangling the yarns requires a little concentration.” There is a five-minute video to demonstrate the technique of helix knitting. You can find it here: http://youtu.be/ yMvRafcvTvM” Call of the Wool Page 3 ON THE WEB I just stumbled onto a great terns. Some of the patterns website called issuu. are absolutely beautiful and (http://issuu.com/) made me want to find yarn From the issuu homepage and needles to start knitting. the description states: A small percent of the items “Enjoy the largest collection were very strange and if a of free-to-read publications child wore the knitted item to from incredible publishers school I think they would be around the globe.” Of teased by the other children. course this grabbed my at- tention. I typed in knitting in Some of the other items fea- the search box. Wow!!! tured on the issuu website There are books, maga- are Knitters magazine, Knit- zines, how to instructions ting for Dummies, Simply Knit- and patterns. New to me is ting magazine, Knit much a magazine named Nako. magazine, and Nancy Mar- The magazine is produced chant’s book Knitting Fresh books require you to watch a 15 in Turkey, but the articles Brioche. are in English. In the issue second commercial before you can My initial thought was how read it. The magazines contain ads in the featured picture there can this be legal? Some of the are 191 baby and kids pat- also. This is worth a look. Lambikin’s Hideaway 217 South B Street Hamilton, OH 45013 513-895-5648 Lambikin's Hideaway is Cincinnati and Hamilton's premier yarn store. We offer our customers the best in customer service, fair prices, and the largest selection of yarn in the greater Cincinnati area. Sunday 12 – 5 Monday 11 – 5 Tuesday 11 - 5 Wednesday CLOSED Thursday 11 – 5 Friday 11 – 5 Saturday 10 – 5 Page 4 Volume 29, Issue 1 A B IT OF K NITTING G UILD Get the latest news about the guild H ISTORY happenings on Being in a guild meant that you were a highly skilled tradesmen. And yes, they were men. These weren’t the domestic knitters that made socks and caps in their spare time to help support the family. These were the “professional knitters,” but they were also businessmen and so they con- trolled quality, quantity, and pricing of knitted goods. If a man could get into a guild, he started as an apprentice for about three years. The next step was to move up to journeyman. As a journey- man, the knitter went to other towns and guilds and studied their craft. After about six years the journeyman had to take a test. Part one was a business test and he would have had to prove he knew the trade inside and out. Part two was a skills test. The journeyman have to knit a really complicated item and do a fantastic job in order to pass. If he passed the exam, he would become a Proudly Presents master knitter. To be a master knitter was a big deal. You got to have apprentices of your own; you got to train journeymen. You commanded respect Pins and Needles Retreat and a nice income. The knitting machine was in- vented in 1589 (during the reign of Queen Eliza- When: January 2017 beth I) by William Lee, a clergyman. After the in- vention of the knitting machine, knitting was Location: Boone Tavern in Berea, KY gradually taken over by guild-organized cottage Classes include knitting, quilting, and industries in the 17th and 18th centuries. There was a noted decline of knitting guilds and hand spinning. Mark the date on your knitting during this period. calendar and plan to be there. Knitting is my Super power! Call of the Wool Page 5 5 North Walnut St. Englewood, Ohio 45322 (937) 540-9292 Store Hours Sunday Noon till 4pm Monday 10:00am till 8pm Tuesday 10am till 6pm Wednesday 10am till 7pm Thursday 10am till 8pm Friday 10am till 5pm Saturday 10am till 4pm Nobody Does Fun Like The Hutch!” We give 15% off Guild Members Every day! Visit us at www.rabbithutchbeads.com, on Facebook as Rabbit Hutch Beads, and Ravelry group The Rabbit Hutch THE DAYTON KNITTING GUILD CELEBRATES ITS 30TH YEAR On November 17, 1986 an organiza- The first regular meeting was parent.