Saturday, January 26, 2008
We had our first GAAKALONY in the Nautical Yarn shop Saturday, January 26th. In the morning we had a class about Lily Chin's square 9. We first discussed some generalities regarding the afghan and squares.



Topics included:

• Stitch gauge and needle size.
  We remarked that the finished squares should be 12 inches square. In the Great American Afghan book, the common needle sizes of 7 and 8 might be sizes 6 and 7 for a "loose" knitter or sizes 8 and 9 for a "tight" knitter.


• Color:
  We discussed color palettes, mixed vs monochromatic color palettes, hues, and oohed and aahed over everyone's choices.


• Yarn:
  We discussed the benefits of washable vs. dry-cleanable yarn, wool vs. blends, yarn factors, and cost factors. Most of the knitters chose Cascade 220 for its softness, affordability, and durability. Some chose Encore for its softness and washability. Others chose Cascade220 Superwash for its washability and yet others chose Berroco's Comfort yarn for its softness, affordability and washability.

We chose Lily Chin's square for our first GAAKALONY class in honor of Lily Chin who so graciously visited us in Ludington last summer and conducted some excellent classes. Many of the students in the GAAKALONY class had attended Lily's classes last summer and remember her fondly.

Lily Chin's Square 9
Many of the members of the class had never followed a chart (in fact, most stated that they had always been intimidated by charts.) We first knit a rectangular swatch that incorporated all of Lily's pattern stitches, but did not include the diagonal design and make 1 increases.
Soon everyone was comfortable with the slip-stitch pattern, the eyelet pattern and the bobble. Although class time was almost over, we did find time to knit a few rows of a diagonal knit swatch that incorporated the Make 1 increases.
We gave a rousing cheer for all who had learned the slip-stitch pattern. We also gave a cheer for all who learned the eyelet pattern. For the bobble knitters, the cheer was loudest of all!
In the morning class we had 18 students including 4 couch potatoes and 14 gathered in a large circle.

Kathy Zimmerman Square 8
Due to wedding showers and family obligations, our afternoon class was only 15 people (still a great number for a snowy Saturday in January.)
During the Afternoon class we tackled Kathy Zimmerman's cable square number 8. We learned that most of the 15 students had never knit a cable design before, so we were at square one on Square 8.
We first discussed reading the pattern ("In Other Words") versus reading the chart. For our class exercises, we emphasized reading the chart. Our first swatch was over motif A. The students learned some very helpful tips. Juanita reminded everyone that "Right means rear", meaning that when the cable stitches lean to the right the cable needle is held in the back (rear) of the work. Alternately, for a left-leaning cable the cable needle is held in the front of the work.
Another hint was to look at the chart and see which side of the chart the row numbers are located. If the row numbers are on the right side you are knitting a right-side row from right to left across the chart. If the row numbers are on the left side you are knitting a wrong-side row from left to right across the chart.
We practiced the first motif for 12 rows and thereby incorporated all the stitches and left and right cables needed for that section of the square.
Next we practiced the Moss Stitch for several rows. The cables in the center motif are "complicated" by incorporating the Moss Stitch into the center of the design. We wanted to make sure the knitters could "read" their stitches and know when to knit versus when to purl in the Moss Stitch pattern.
Finally we knit the center 18 stitches of the center motif. By doing this we knit 2/2 cables (both left and right) and 2/1 cables (both left and right). We also incorporated the Moss Stitch into the pattern. The afternoon went quickly and the students did a super job with their swatches. Many were excited to go home and begin the actual Square 8.