Knitting Club, A Sampler

Our library knitting club met at its' summer location yesterday, Cornerstone Church. The library's summer schedule is filled with children's programs and not an hour anywhere for the knitting club. Bonnie arranged for us to meet at her church and we had a great turnout yesterday: Audrey, Diane, Bonnie, Cathy, Kathy, Terri, Allyce and me.

Knitting is the common interest that draws us together. It's fun to see what everyone is working on and to share tips. But more than that, knitting club is a social activity filled with discussion about most anything you can think of. A sampler of our lives so to speak.

Audrey finished an Indian hat. Last year she made 250 hats and other local knitters made another 250, for a total of 500 that she shipped to a woman at the Department of Education's Office of Indian Education in Washington, DC. Some of the hats went to a school in Washington state and the kids there all wrote thank you notes and drew pictures of themselves wearing their hats. I think the Knit-a-Cap Project is where the hats go. All caps are made from the same pattern, but colors and stripe patterns vary.

Audrey is starting to knit hats for our U.S. soldiers for the coming winter. The lady who contributed the most Indian hats to Audrey's collection last year is in her 90's and had to quit knitting. She was knitting hats for our soldiers, so Audrey is contributing to that effort in her honor.

Audrey frequently receives donated yarn at Knitcraft in Independence, MO. People bring in yarn they want to get rid of and the store distributes among several ladies that do charity knitting. Audrey cast on stitches with this lovely military green yarn and asked me to show her how to start the first round so the cast on edge was joined nicely. She is one of the most experienced knitters in our group, but seldom knits in the round. Hats for our soldiers cannot have a seam as they wear them under their helmets.

Bonnie, Cathy, and Kathy sat near me and were knitting dishcloths and potholders.

• Top left - basket weave potholder being knit by C/Kathy #1. (Sorry, I'm not sure which is Cathy and which is Kathy.)
• Top right - garter stitch dishcloth being knit by C/Kathy #2.
• Bottom right - stockinette stitch potholder knit by C/Kathy #1. She used 2 strands of cotton yarn and size 10 needles. To finish, she'll stitch cotton flannel to the back and sandwich a couple of layers of fire resistant quilt batting between the flannel back and knit front.
• Bottom left - cotton chenille dishcloth that Bonnie is knitting. The body (light pink) is garter stitch and the stripes are stockinette stitch. I think it's wrong side up in the photo. When it's washed, the cotton chenille yarn will shrink and make a thick dishcloth

I spent the time working on my seemingly never-ending Grand Sierra Knee socks. I'm about half an inch away from starting the toe decreases, so hopefully I'll have these finished soon.