THE ELECTRONIC CAMEL
Newsletter of the Oasis Knitting Guild in Israel
Vol. 2, no. 2 (Feb. 2001)
Editor: Avital Pinnick
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PATTERN: STAGHORN CABLE VEST (women's size medium), by Marian Poller
KNITTERS OF THE NORTH, by Susan Doore Levy (guest writer)
Knitters of the North is the knitting guild of Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska with a population of just over 260,000. It is home to three knitting stores and two Jewish congregations.
In 1990, two Alaskans met at a knitting retreat in California. They were so impressed with the camaraderie of the knitters that when they returned to Anchorage they started meeting informally every few months or so. Then, in 1993, they decided to form a guild and affiliate with the Knitting Guild of America. Now we meet monthly and have about 35 members. Currently we are in search of a home, but until a suitable spot is found, we are meeting in a coffeehouse.
At our meetings a member will offer a short program on a knitting technique or share information they have learned from traveling "Outside" (our term for the Lower 48 United States). Sometimes we just get together to share our current projects and knit for a couple hours.
Our guild has adopted a local women's shelter, Clare House, and we knit hats, mittens, blankets and slippers for them. Guild members have also knit for orphanages in Russia and collected yarn and needles for knitters in Bosnia, knitted hats for sailors, and other charity projects.
Many of our members are long-time knitters and do other handcrafts as well. However, each month a few new knitters find their way to our meetings. Only women are currently members, but a few brave men have joined in the past. One of the police sergeants (male) on the University force is an excellent knitter and often teaches knitting to the students in the dorms. There is a weaving and spinning guild, crochet guild and embroidery's guild in Anchorage as well.
Here is a little Jewish history to go along with the Guild history in case you were wondering about the "Frozen Chosen"!
I am the only Jewish member of the guild. Not surprising as the Jewish population is rather small in Anchorage. The first congregation was formed in the late 1950s and is part of the Reform movement. Nevertheless, because it was the only "show in town" for many years all Jews came and were welcomed. The first synagogue was built in the early 60's. The nearby Air Force base sent up Rabbis as chaplains for the military personnel and local Jews were allowed to go on base to services. Oftentimes the Rabbis were Orthodox.
In the mid-1970s, Congregation Beth Sholom was able to hire their own rabbi. Shortly after that the Air Force stopped sending rabbis and had their soldiers come off base for services. The first rabbi stayed for several years until his wife wanted to return to New York. Another rabbi came and stayed for 16 years. Our third rabbi will be starting this summer. There are about 180 families currently at Beth Sholom.
A long-time Anchorage family started an Orthodox congregation in the 80s. One of the daughter's husband was the lay leader and Congregation Shomrei Ohr was meeting regularly in a home. When the family decided to move to Seattle, Washington, for a bigger Jewish community, Shomrei Ohr asked the Lubavitch Chabad group to send a Rabbi. He has been here for almost ten years now.
Both congregations have preschools and Hebrew schools. Beth Sholom built a larger synagogue about ten years ago. Shomrei Ohr meets in a home but has a large off site preschool.
My husband and I are members of both congregations. This is true for several of the Jews of Anchorage. We consider ourselves Conservative Jews, but since that isn't an option in Anchorage we support both congregations.
We grew up in Beth Sholom, as we were both born in Alaska. My mother was a nice Jewish girl from New York on her way around the world when she fell in love with Alaska and my father (a nice Yankee boy who became a nice Jewish man, but that is a whole other story!) In addition, my husband's parents came to Alaska together looking for adventure by way of Russia, Canada, Minnesota and California. (Also another interesting saga!)
David and I are blessed with a healthy daughter, Emma Rachel, who is 8 and a half months old and we have been married for 4 and a half years. I've been to Israel once, in 1981 for five weeks when my sister was at Hebrew University. My sister stayed in Israel for ten years, married and had two children. Then they returned to Alaska. My husband's brother also lives in Anchorage with his wife and two children. His wife's family are also here so our Shabbat suppers are a raucous and wonderful affair! Sadly only my mother-in-law is still alive of our parents, but we feel very fortunate to have so many relatives here as most Alaskans do not.TOP
MEMBER PROFILE: LORRY
I was born and raised in Huntington, Indiana, and I still live there half the year. The other half of the year I live in Zichron Yaacov. My daughter, Ellen, who is also a knitter and a member of the Guild, decided to live in Israel after graduating from the University of Wisconsin--also my alma mater. After my husband retired in 1981, we decided to spend our winters in Israel, and it turned out to be a very wise decision. We got to know our grandchildren and have made some wonderful friends in Israel. My husband died about a year ago.
I should tell you that Ellen is my best knitting student. I used to teach knitting and crocheting. I first taught girl scouts, sixth grade girls in public school, delinquent girls and ended up teaching senior citizens. When we started spending the winter in Israel, I had to discontinue the job since senior citizens do not like to knit in the summer. That is not true for this senior citizen.
I have three children, two girls and a boy. Ellen is the eldest. My other daughter and son still live in Indiana. I have eight grandchildren, four boys and four girls. Three of these grandchilren are Israelis, the oldest one having been married last September.
I learned to knit as a young girl at a knit shop. I learned to crochet from my mother, and I was never able to teach her how to knit. In 1941, when my sister was married, I crocheted and embroidered an afghan as a wedding present for her. She died about two years ago, and I was able to retrieve the afghan from her home in Florida. I learned to knit with the American method of throwing the thread. The mother of my college roommate was knitting continental style, and that was so much faster than my way, so I took time out and taught myself the new method. I've been knitting that way ever since.
Ellen and I have done some traveling in the interest of knitting. We had a lovely wool tour in Scotland, going to the Shetland Isles and Fair Isle. Just ten days or so ago, we went to England to celebrate our joint birthday, and of course we visited yarn shops.
I was also a weaver for many years. I had two looms in Indiana and one in Israel. I gave up weaving mostly because of the fact that you can't easily take a loom with you on an airplane. I gave my Israeli loom to Neve Michael, a home for abused and problem children. As a weaver, I subscribed to Fiber Arts magazine and one day saw an ad for a knitting camp in Marshfield, Wisconsin, with Elizabeth Zimmerman. I'm embarrassed to tell you that I wrote to Elizabeth inquiring about the proficiency of the knitters, not knowing that there were may designers and professionals in attendance. I attended camp for about ten years and enjoyed every minute of it. When Elizabeth was unable to carry on, Meg Swanson, her daughter, took over and Meg is a terrific gal. I also made many good friends like Sidna Farley, Joan Schrouder, Carol Anderson, Diane Zangl, etc. etc.
I am a real disciple of Elizabeth's knitting style. I make most of my sweaters in the round, including the sleeves which I knit from the top down, attached to the body of the sweater. When I finish knitting a garment, there is very little finishing to do.TOP
TECHNIQUE: REMOVING AND REPLACING A BUTTONBAND, by Marian Poller
[When Marian and I were discussing the vest pattern that she was submitting to this month's newsletter, I mentioned that the buttonband seemed to sag between the buttons. She said that she had knitted it in one piece with the vest front, instead of knitting it separately on smaller needles, as she wrote in the pattern. Marian decided to cut off the band and re-do it.]
BEFORE
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AFTER
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Remove the neck ribbing.
2) Machine stitch two lines on the right front of the vest (the side with the buttonholes). They should be close together with only one knit stitch separating them. The first line of stitches was on the first knit stitch of the front next to the ribbing. The second line was on the third stitch in.
One pass was enough. I then cut it from the reverse as the lines were easier to see there. I cut only up to the beginning of the bottom ribbing as I decided to leave that.
3) Working on the wrong side, place the ribbing on top of the front and stitch them together once more. I used a whip stitch. (overcasting, POK, p.364). At the same time I also held the ribbing a bit stretched. When I finished I had over 2" of ribbing to cut off.
4) I picked up the stitches at the top of the ribbing just inside where I was going to cut. What I actually did at this point was to run a yarn through that line of 10 stitches and then cut.
5) Now you pick up the stitches at the neck and knit the neck ribbing there.
6) I decided I didn't need to do the left front with the buttons, but had I wanted to, I could have done the same procedure and then gone on to knitting the neck ribbing after that.
7) Now I discovered that I had too many buttons because I had removed one buttonhole! So I had to reposition most of the buttons and resew them and that's it. Voila. I now have a vest that looks much nicer.
And I've decided in the future not to knit the ribbing at the same time as the front so my sweater instructions show how to do it properly.TOP
YARN SHOPS IN LONDON, by Ellen
While in London recently with my mother, Lorry, we naturally looked into the yarn situation, and I couldn't resist adding to my already overburdened yarn stash. John Lewis on Oxford Sreet was busy and as good as ever, except maybe for the type of yarns they sell (more synthetics--I can't help noticing yarns with a "contains real wool" label, kind of like maple syrup, as if wool is a great luxury). But they still carry many well-known brands and sell books and patterns. It was there that I noticed that Jaegar and Rowan are now both manufactured at the Rowan mills. We also went to Liberty, anticipating a visit to their bookstore. It used to be a good place for crafts books, but it doesn't exist anymore. The store is being extensively renovated, but the once fantastic yarn department, for whatever reason, has become very small. They now only sell Rowan yarns. Another day we went to see Colourways. On the way, I thought, "Shouldn't we have called them? They may not exist anymore. A beautiful store ... with a big sign in the window, 'Closing Out Sale'." But their yarn was not on sale, as they intend to move to southern Wales, from where they will continue their successful mail-order business. They also sell only Rowan and Jaegar yarns, and have a fairly good selection of accessories and books.
SHORT NOTES
Fibre exhibition in Holon at the Design Gallery, 109 Hankin St, Holon, "B'Hatezrainu Eitz Haim Yifrach." Twenty-two fibre artists, works are on the subject of trees. (The title of the exhibition is from a poem by Amir Gilboa.) The exhibition is open from Sunday to Thursday, 10:30-12:30 and 16:00-19:00. Gallery closed Friday and Saturday; open through 21 February. (contributed by Mirjam BC)
I'm probably the last knitter in Israel to receive this newsletter (http://www.knittersreview.com/), but just in case I am not, I would like to recommend it to our knitters who receive our newsletter. It is a weekly newsletter--not terribly long, but with good articles on a variety of subjects, including reviews of books and magazines. There is generally one main article: a recent one was on felting; others have been about different types of yarns, etc. In the latest issue they are offering a reduction in a subscription price of Interweave Knits. I have found it interesting and always look forward to receiving my copy. - Kesam
"Knitting Unraveled," Washington Post. (http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/postmagazine/A2553-2001Feb14.html) I can't summarize this article in a line; it must have been a slow news day on Feb. 14. The article mentions an Israeli soft furnishings company called "Beat of Knit." Anyone heard of it? (URL contributed by Jennifer, comments by Avital)TOP
PATTERN: STAGHORN CABLE VEST, by Marian Poller
Size: woman's medium
Finished measurements
Chest: 42"
Length: 24"
Materials:
DK 100% wool, 7 skeins of 50 gram balls (approx. 135 yds per ball, original used is now discontinued and was a heathered color from Paton's in England)
8 buttons
Size 3.0mm needles
Size 3.5mm needles (or size needed to obtain gauge)
Gauge:
18 sts and 27 rows = 4" in stockinette st.
Pattern stitch over 20 sts= 3.5"
Pattern stitches:
Staghorn cable patt.
BC Back cross: sl 2 sts to dpn and hold in back, k2, then k2 from dpn.
FC Front cross: sl 2 sts to dpn and hold in front, k2, then k2 from dpn.
Rows 1, 3 and 5 (wrong side): k2, p16, k2
Row 2: p2, k4 BC, FC, k4, p2
Row 4: P2, k2, BC, k4, FC, k2, p2
Row 6: p2, BC, k8, FC, p2
Repeat rows 1-6
Back:
With smaller needles, CO 90 sts.
Ribbing: K1, p1 for 2". RS row: inc 12 sts evenly to 102 sts.
Body patt
Beg with Row 1 of staghorn pattern, set up row as follows:
WS: P15, staghorn patt over next 20 sts, p32 sts, Staghorn patt, p15 sts
Work in est patt until piece measures 13 ½" from beg ending with a WS row
Shape armholes:
BO 9 sts at beg of next 2 rows, then dec 1 st at each edge every row 8 times.
Work even on rem 68 sts until back measures 23 ½", ending with a WS row
Next row: work 16 sts, turn and purl back. Next row: BO 16 sts. Place next 36 sts on a holder. Knit in patt remaining sts. Next row: BO remaining sts.
Pocket linings (make 2):
With larger needles, CO 32 sts. Work in st st until piece measures 4 ½" from beg ending with a WS row. Break yarn, leaving a tail to sew up. Place sts on a holder.
Right front:
With smaller needles CO 44 sts plus 10 sts for buttonhole band. Work buttonhole about ½" from beg. RS: rib 4 sts, BO 2 sts, and continue ribbing. Next work CO 2 sts where the 2 sts were bound off. Work ribbing as for back ending with WS row. Place first 10 sts on a holder. Inc evenly 6 sts over remaining 44 sts.
Set up patt as follows:
WS: p15 sts, staghorn cable patt (20 sts), p15 sts. Work in est pattern until piece measures 6.5".
RS: k15 sts, slip next 20 sts on a holder and knit the 20 sts in est staghorn patt from the pocket liner, k15 sts.
Continue in patt until work measures same as back to beg of armhole, ending with a RS row.
Shape armhole:
Maintaining est patt, BO 9 sts at beg of next row, then dec 1 st at armhole edge (eor) 8 times.
Front neck:
When work is 21 and a quarter inches from beg, shape neck by dec 10 sts on RS and 1 st eor 5 times. Continue working in patt on rem 16 sts until work measures same as back to shoulder, ending with a WS row. BO all sts.
Left front:
CO 54 sts and work ribbing as for right front.
RS: inc 6 sts evenly over first 44 sts. Place last 10 sts on holder for buttonhole ribbing.
WS: Set up body patt. P 15 sts, staghorn cable, p 15 sts.
Pocket placement when work is 6.5" from beg. Continue as for right front, reversing armhole and neck shaping.
Finishing:
Sew shoulder seams. Sew pocket linings to inside of vest.
Pocket ribbing:
With RS facing, return sts from holder to smaller needle. Join yarn and rib in pattern for 8 rows and CO in pattern. Sew sides of ribbing to vest.
Armbands (make 2):
CO 10 sts and work with smaller needles k1,p1 ribbing until it is long enough to go around the armhole. Must be somewhat stretched. (You can sew it in as you go.) Weave tog the beg and end.
Left front band:
Return 10 sts from holder to smaller needle and knit in patt until work reaches length needed. (Band should be less than the front and should be sewed in holding it stretched a bit. (I recommend using a whipstitch from the wrong side). Top of band: leave sts on a holder
Right front band:
Work as for left band but working buttonholes every 3". (Including first and last buttonholes, there should be a total of 8)
Buttonhole row: work 4 sts, BO 2 sts, work 4 sts.
Next work: work 4 sts, CO 2 sts and work rem 4 sts.
Put sts on a holder at top.
Neck ribbing:
Pick up 10 sts from holder from right front band, pick up 24 sts along neck to shoulder, pick up 40 sts from back neck (36 from holder), 24 sts from back to left front and 10 sts from buttonhole band on holder. (108 sts). Work on smaller needles rib 4 rows. Next row: make last buttonhole. Continue ribbing until total is 1" and CO in pattern.
Sew side seams. Sew on buttons.
Optional: To finish off buttonholes, you can do a buttonhole embroidery stitch with sewing thread.
Optional on buttonholes:
You can make them at end by cutting one thread where you want the hole. Pick up each end and pull gently until you increase the hole. Then sew each end down. Afterwards, do the buttonhole embroidery stitch around the hole.
Abbreviations used:
St(s) Stitches
CO Cast on
BO Bind off
Patt pattern
Dpn double point needles
Sl slip
K knit
P purl
RS right side
WS wrong side
Inc increase
Dec decrease
Rem remaining
Est established
Eor every other row
Copyright 2001, Marian Poller. All rights reserved.TOP
©The Oasis Knitting Guild, 2001. All rights reserved. "The Electronic Camel" is edited and distributed by Avital Pinnick to members of the Oasis Knitting Guild at the end of each month. In order to include your stories and announcements, please try to submit them to mspinnik@mscc.huji.ac.il no later than the 25th of each month (civil calendar).
