Saturday, February 23rd, we had our second GAAKALONY in-store class. What fun was had!

Show and Tell
First was "Show and Tell". Most people had both squares from the January class finished. Remember, we worked on the Lily Chin Square 9 and Kathy Zimmerman Square 8 during the first month. Everyone showed off their fine work and went on to give hints to the rest of us. Our in-store group consists of about 20 novice to experienced knitters. Everyone is working hard to learn and improve upon their already brilliant skills. Some felt the diagonal square designed by Lily Chin was the more difficult, but more believed the Kathy Zimmerman cable stitch design with moss stitch was more challenging.

The work completed by the class was amazing. Almost everyone had at least one square completed and many had both squares done. Some pictures will be posted as soon as I figure out how. (Oh, I just found an "add image" button. I'll try that.)

This is Juanita's Square 8

This is Juanita's Square 9

This is Mary's Square 9 with multicolored Bobbles

Hints and Tips
Since pattern reading and chart reading skills are new to some, many hints focused on easy ways to comfortably read the chart and written pattern words. Some people seem to prefer follow a chart and others prefer to read the "In other words" pattern. One goal of the GAAKALONY is for us all to become comfortable with both methods.
Some hints:

• Make Copies
  Make an enlarged copy of the chart or written instructions. By doing this, you have something you can read from a greater distance. You can also write on this copy to keep track of rows, etc.
• 3 by 5 cards
  Copy one line of a pattern repeat on to a 3 x 5 card. This way you can go through the "deck" one card at a time and focus on that row only, without the possibility of your eyes "wandering" up or down to a different row.
• Color coding
  Highlight the chart and legend (and written instructions) with a different color for each special stitch. For example, high-light 3/3 RC cables in yellow and high-light 3/3 LC cables in green. By doing this, the chart can be read from a greater distance and followed more easily.
• Tilt-Top table
  A tilt-top table is available from discount stores for about $19.95. If I get the link to a Web site that sells these tables, I will post it. This table slides under your chair and can hold your chart, written pattern, and accessories within easy reach. The tilt-top allow you to read the pattern "hands-free".
• Sticky and "Super" Sticky Notes
  Most of the knitters are using some configuration of sticky notes to help keep track of the row they are knitting. All said sticky notes are very helpful.
• Yarn
  Most of the knitters are using Cascade 220 for their projects. A few have chosen Encore for its washability and most of them are happy with their decision. But, on Saturday a few knitters switched to Cascade 220 wool because they want a finished product of heirloom quality. They said that they prefer the "feel" (hand) of the wool and like the look (stitch definition) of the Cascade. One knitter had knit the Lily Chin Square 9 out of some Lamb's Pride worsted while she waited for our shipment of Cascade 220 to arrive. The square was beautiful, but the Cascade 220 square was noticably softer while the Lamb's Pride square was firmer. This led to an interesting side-bar discussion of which yarn the knitters prefer for felting.
• Colors
  Oh, the colors! Some of the beautiful color combinations are:
  White (all white)
  Shades of White (White, cream, winter white, etc.)
  Beiges and Blues
  Rusty browns with burgundy, navy and forest green
  Burgundy, Navy, and White
  Browns and Aquas
  Greens and Beiges
  
  

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.