Uneeda Newsletter

Know where this building is? Of course you do. It's the legendary Uneeda sign in New Orleans. And it reminded me today that Uneeda Newsletter. The Vermilion Bay Light for August is scheduled to come out early next week -- yep, folks, it's almost August. Can you believe it?

And with a new edition of the now famous and always-awaited VBYC newsletter comes my monthly spiel about making sure your email addresses are all updated. So here goes: if you haven't been receiving your newsletter, please contact me ASAP so I can update your address in my list. If you'd like a "free subscription", contact me ASAP and I'll add you to the list! Uneeda Newsletter. And by the way, if you've passed through the intersection of Dumaine and Bourbon in the Quarter countless times but never saw this legendary wall sign, put down your cocktail, get the beads out of your eyes and look up!

Fixing Mistakes & Continental Knitting

Tomorrow, July 31st offers two excellent classes for knitting folks. We'll start the day off with a classic VBYC how-to class: Fixing Mistakes at 10:30am. Learn how to repair those common goofs we all make in the course of our knitting. Analyze closely how stitches are made in order to understand better what to do when there's a problem. Bring along a swatch of stockinette still on the needles, about 4" X 4" or so. Any yarn will do. In the afternoon, we'll have Continental Knitting. The name of course refers to the European continent, as opposed to Great Britain. The majority of folks around here knit in the English way. Some of us, however, knit in the Continental way, holding our yarn in the left hand and relying on the needles to do all the work for us. Is Continental knitting better, faster, sleeker, more elegant? Not really. It's just another way of doing things. In London, you drive your car on the left side of the road. In Paris and Berlin, you drive on the right. Discuss. At any rate, learn to knit like a continental European on Saturday afternoon, 1pm. Disclaimer: Continental knitting will not improve your French.

A Community of Hands

Last Tuesday I was the guest speaker for the monthly meeting of the Acadiana Quilters' Guild. What a wonderful group of folks, this quilters' guild! I was quite impressed indeed by their strong sense of community. It was a delight to spend time with them. My presentation topic fit in exactly: "K2tog: Redefining the Fiber Arts". It's something quilters have known for generations, more, I think, than practitioners of other fiber arts: this sense of community, of gathering together to "do art". Those of us who use yarn and thread predominantly as our artistic medium have for various reasons grown more accustomed to working in private or in our own family groups. The quilting bee on the other hand, has been around for generations, its members all preparing individual blocks to be assembled and finished by a group of helping hands all working together. Last Tuesday evening, a special quilt was given to the mother of a fallen soldier. The presenter explained that that particular quilt had passed through countless hands, each charged with some element of the quilt's completion. This phenomenon of gathering together with friends and neighbors is, in the scheme of things, rather new to us yarn people, but it's been a growing trend. The common knitting operation of "knit 2 together" has translated itself from the fabric to the community, as our fiber arts knit us all together. Just as a fine quilt carries the stories of the hands who fabricated it, so also our knitted and crocheted fabrics carry the memories, tales, joys, and tears shared in community while the stitches fall down into the textures of our patterns.

Knit Your Argyles Tomorrow!

Saturday, July 24th, 10:30 and/or 1pm! Argyle Socks Class at VBYC! We have a number of folks already pre-registered to tackle this fun and interesting project. Make a pair of these classic knit socks: multicolor diamonds and X's. Come by today to pre-register, pick out your colors and knit up your 3" 2X2 ribbing. We'll be focusing on the diamonds and X's in the class, so it's important that you have your ribbing done before you get here. You also have the option when to start. You may start at 10:30am and knit for a couple hours or you may stay all day. Option 2: You may come in and start at 1pm and knit on them for the afternoon. It's up to you. Either way, you'll be well on your way to having a really fine pair of very groovy socks. There are some interesting and fabulous color choices already scheduled! Come in and pick yours!

From Where?

South America?

Europe?

Asia?

No Sir!

Nebraska, U.S.A.! Wear these colors with American pride!

Brown Sheep, Y'all!

We're getting ready for fall, and the first fall stuff just arrived Friday from Brown Sheep. The wonderful 100% wool Nature Spun worsted is an outstanding all-purpose yarn for practically all your knitting projects. It looks great in garments, felts like a dream, and the colors! 240+ yards on one ball and the fabulous color choices really make it your first choice when it comes to a wool workhorse. And besides all that, it comes ready to use in a ball. No fussy winding of hanks! And then this: you've all fallen in love with Lamb's Pride, the cozy mohair and wool blend from Brown Sheep. This yarn goes well into afghans, sweaters, or anything, really. It also felts great with just a little bit of fuzz.

New Schaefer is here!

When it comes to Schaefer yarn, there's certainly no Strange Fruit. Cast your eyes on this fabulicious colorway: Billie Holiday. What a tremedously rich and beautiful color spread named for America's first lady of Jazz. Smooth and Profound. Billie Holiday. Other colors are also available in Laurel, one of your favorite cottons. Lace knitters will rejoice in a nice selection of Andrea, the 100% silk lace weight yarn. My personal fav in the Andrea is Frieda Kahlo: warm, bold, vibrant. So you're a sock fan? Anne is your yarn of choice. Plenty of outstanding Schaefer color on one hank for a generous pair of men's socks (I say that not because Anne is best for men's socks, but because men's sock usually require more yarn, and these hanks have it). Hurry on in and plan some Christmas gift projects with terrific Schaefer Yarn!

Men's Knit Club Schedule change for the remainder of July

My rehearsal schedule for "Batboy: The Musical" has been adamantine, and in these final weeks before opening, requires my presence also on Monday evenings, the same time as our weekly Men's Knit Club. So, our weekly gatherings will take a break until August, after the show has opened and my schedule no longer consists of 26 hour days. Although we don't meet on Mondays, feel free to crash Knit Cafe on Tuesday nights, or stop in at any time to knit!

Knitters' Cruise 2010: Bus information

Those of you who are sailing with us in October, here is important news regarding bus transportation from Lafayette and Baton Rouge to the port in New Orleans. Jane has provided us with the possibility to travel to the port via motor coach instead of driving ourselves, paying for parking in the port garage, and dealing with the possibility of nasty traffic between Poydras and the garage entrance in New Orleans. Here's the information: If at least 30 folks take advantage of the bus, the round trip cost for the bus is $80 per person. Cost to park in the garage at the port is approximately $125 for the week. The pick-up point in Lafayette would be the Northgate Mall. In Baton Rouge, it would be Coffee Call.

Now here's the thing: Please decide NOW whether you will be fighting traffic on your own, buying your own gas, then paying 125 sheckels to have your car sit in New Orleans for a week, or whether you'd like the luxury motor coach experience with comfortable air conditioning, curb-side luggage assistance, and worry free navigation of New Orleans street chaos, not to mention a couple hours free to knit and visit with your travel-mates for only $80.

And this, in case you were wondering how all this works: the cost for the bus IS NOT included in the cost of the cruise. Please include a separate check for $80 clearly marked as "bus" with your final cruise payment. If we do not have enough folks to ride the luxury motor coach, your check will be returned to you. But who could pass up this great offer?

And finally, in case you were wondering. No, yours truly will NOT be driving this bus.

It just sounds like a whole load of screeching and tooth gnashing to me....

But it's high dramatic art....and it's quite colorful. Just look at this actor's amazing costume, a portait of vibrancy and movement. There's a knitted purse in the works that's been rather popular lately. It's a Japanese design, but without a groovy name. Actually, the purse doesn't even have a pattern. It's been described more in a collection of thougts and hai-ku poems penned by knitters who've created them. It's a patternless purse with movement, color, interest, and functionality. I'm starting one today, and others have started them too. I'm calling it the Kabuki purse. I'll post pictures as the project takes shape. I'll also be writing out a tangible pattern for my Kabuki purse as soon as I make sense of all the cherry blossoms, tea ceremonies, and free-wheeling zen...

More Magic for You!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The book has been around for a while, but really, this stuff never gets old. It's magic, after all. Now that we're all in high gear for Christmas gift projects, this book is sure to give you some inspiration for adorable and different gifting. Enter the enchanted world of Cat Bordhi! More information regarding this book is written in the left-hand side bar of the blog.

A word from Jason about....

For those of you who read the blog, but who don't get the newsletter, i'll print my "word from Jason about..." article from the month here in the blog. But don't miss out on the newsletter too! I'd very much like to add you to the list to receive The Vermilion Bay Light each month!

A Word from Jason about the Knot of Doom... Every kid needs a balloon, right? They’re enticing. They’re often shaped like fun cartoon animals, and they seem alive, bobbing in the air at the end of a string. As a kid, I had a love/hate relationship with balloons. I had to have one when I spotted a balloon stand, but as soon as I got it, I was mortally afraid of it: when handled, it made an irritating squeaking sound, it struggled upward to free itself from my clutch, and if it burst, I was inconsolable, either because the thing was destroyed, or the sudden, jarring noise was too much to endure. Mothers everywhere know that a child will forget about the lighter-than-air concept, let go of the string and stand in tears watching the colorful object of short-lived affection grow smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing among the clouds. To avoid this scene, the string of the balloon gets tied around the wrist. A mother’s balloon knot is permanent. It never comes undone. The balloon remains secure until it explodes, or the string is cut off. In nature, this mystic knot is the only one of its kind, as strong as iron. The knot tied in the thread connected to a balloon encounters very little resistance, and the floating helium bubble at the other end usually gives just the right amount of lift to keep pulling that magic Mama knot tighter and tighter. Knitters (and crocheters too!) should avoid knots. Even though it is our nature to think that knots are secure, they really aren’t. Unlike the knot in the balloon thread, a knot in a piece of fiber work will rub against clothing or other portions of the garment. Before you know it, the knot will spring open, and the fabric will unravel, or a seam will suddenly gape. Certain yarns are more prone to this, because of their texture. Cottons and acrylics for sure will unravel if knots are tied. Instead of joining a yarn or finishing off a seaming thread with a knot, the ends must be carefully woven into the fabric, following the path of the working yarn. A woven end is the only secure end. When about 6 inches of your skein remains, lay the new skein end along the old one with the tails in opposite directions. Then, knit with both strands for 2-3 stitches. Let the tails hang free on the wrong side. After the work is finished, go back and weave in the remaining ends. Yarn tails from seams should likewise be carefully and efficiently woven into the fabric to give the appearance that the entire piece was worked with one unbroken length of yarn. Besides being highly volatile, knots are unsightly and sloppy. With all the work that goes into creating a beautiful, wearable garment, it’s a shame to take a short cut on the finishing only to have your wonderful creation literally fall apart around you as you walk down the street.

Where's my newsletter, Jason?

I'm just now finishing up all the edits to the July edition of The Vermilion Bay Light. This morning, I plan to update the mailing list (send me your new email address, if you have one!) and get your copy out to you! In the meantime, scan through the July class list. Descriptions of each will be posted today.

We are open all weekend and Monday!

Come celebrate the July 4th weekend at VBYC! We're open all weekend and on Monday as well! A safe and happy Independence Day to everyone!