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THE ELECTRONIC CAMEL

Newsletter of the Oasis Knitting Guild in Israel

Vol. 2, no. 4 (Apr. 2001)
Editor: Avital Pinnick

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KNITTED TOYS, by Sonia Gantman

Hi, my name is Sonia, and I'm a great fan of knitted toys!

I have made tens of knitted toys, most of them as presents. It's a great present when you want to give something very special and are ready to spend time making it. Having enough toy patterns means that you can always select something suitable for each particular case and for the time you have. Children will remember your gift for years, sleep with it, and give it a name. Adults will put your gift on a bookshelf or desk and remember you every time they look at it.

A large teddy bear is a great gift for a newborn, as well as for the parents, who may be bored of outfits for special occasions that the baby will never wear. I made three teddy bears, and one is a good friend of my children. Of course, children are the easiest toy recipients. One nephew got a penguin, another one, a hedgehog. There are a couple of very simple safety guidelines to remember: don't glue on small things that could come loose (choking hazard) and do use a non-toxic filling (show me an adult who wants toxic filling!).

Examples of knitted gifts for different people:

A dinosaur of pink mohair (my first toy project) was accepted with screams of delight by a 35-year-old single man. A second dinosaur, striped in many strange colors, stayed with us. Another single guy, much younger, who graduated from Oxford, got an owl wearing a square academic cap. I still haven't found time to make a copy for myself. My mother gave the same owl to her elderly American uncle, a chess grandmaster.

Then my mother made about two dozen (that's not an exaggeration!) "Puss'n boots" and gave them to all her friends who have little grandchildren. Most of grandmas don't rush to pass the gift on to children. My eldest daughter's metapelet [caregiver] and her three beautiful girls got a clown-gardener more than a meter high.

One guy got a knitted ostrich with large black button eyes and, of course, a long neck, and said, "What a great gift! We are so similar!" A little cat on a pink pillow was ready in one evening and became a great gift for a teenage girl. My last gift project was a mouse in a wedding gown--given to a bride, of course!

The octopus that you may have seen on the Oasis Guild Web site was a gift to our friends' newborn twins. Several months later my husband designed an interactive site for Russian poetry--you are given eight words and you write a poem including these words. We looked for a fine name and the octopus's recipients suggested "OctOpus": eight words for writing an opus! Three of our friends who like this site and wrote opuses got knitted octopuses in different colors.

I have a lot of patterns I dream of making. I cannot even begin to write a normal review of this heap. Perhaps I'll mention one name: Jean Greenhowe.

Her patterns are not the simplest but they are ones you'll surely want to do. I have twelve of her booklets and one hardcover book with more than hundred patterns, and I'd really like to make at least half of them ... for my grandchildren. So far I have made only eleven toys, with eight different patterns, including the two large clowns I mentioned. Her patterns are very easy to follow, describing the order of making the parts, and all possible difficulties in finishing. Her patterns are tremendous!!! It's such great fun just browsing through the booklets. (By the way, some of you have the hardcover book sold in Steimatzky. The patterns there are the less interesting ones. My list of the next twenty toys I want to make doesn't contain even one pattern from that book).

Here is a list of patterns from booklets to give you some idea even without seeing the pictures:

Animals: Duck Family; Puppy; Koala, Piglet, Bunny and Panda from the same basic pattern; four elephants in different costumes; Penguin with Lantern; Whales; four Season Mice; Frog Family; Puss'n Boots; Kitten; Owl; Bunny Family; Teddy Bear's Picnic; many small dinosaurs; Octopus.

A whole collection of Hedgehogs: chimney sweep, babies, clown, postman, Santa Claus, and one of the greatest patterns I ever saw - a Hedgehog dressed in Town Crier!

Collection of little knits: New Year Tree trimmings, brooches, message medals, pincushions, handbag accessories and so on.
All kinds of mascot dolls, dolls for different occasions, like bride and groom, or newborn baby; Peddler Doll, Humpty-Dumpty Grandma and Grandpa.

Scarecrow Family: parents, grandparents, son, daughter and baby; and Scarecrow Clan, similar family in Scottish national dresses. Including bagpipes. Knitted.

And tall funny clowns! "Snoozer" in sleepwear with alarm clock and toothpaste, Cook with sausages and pudding, Tourist with camera and guide, Gardener with watering-can, and tradesmen for all tastes - one in overalls splashed with paint, others with nails, hammer, saw, and even screwdriver! There is a separate booklet of smaller "clown children", holding knitted toys.

Jean states that her patterns are not for children. That's not always true. Some of the simpler patterns, especially the animals, are quite suitable for children's friends. Others are definitely made to be placed on bookshelf.

For those of you who want to try, here are some tips for working with Jean's patterns and with toy patterns in general:

- For some reason Jean hates circular knitting. Even parts that may be easily done with I-cord are supposed to be knitted plain and sewn. You can use circular needles for the large parts, like bodies and heads, if you like circular knitting. It saves time (no sewing of small parts) and gives the toy a better look. It's relevant for most of the patterns--if you can convert plain instructions to circular and vice versa, you have much more flexibility.

- Use plastic (I cut icecream boxes) instead of cardboard. You'll be able to clean the toy with water.

- By the way, many toys may be even cleaned in the washing machine, but I'm not responsible for this advice. In any case, wash the toys on a very hot day, or else they won't dry.

- Using embroidered rather than glued-on facial features depends on your taste and the safety requirements of the toy.

- If you want to buy Jean Greenhowe's book, don't buy it in the US. Buy it in Scotland, where it is printed. I ordered the booklets in "Knitwell by post", http://www.knitwell.co.uk/ using my friends' London address to save on postage. A single booklet costs less than three pounds. They have other toy patterns for sale, like Postman Pat and his cat, both toys and glove puppets.

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PART 1: THE FIBER GUILD OF GREATER KANSAS CITY MEETS THE ELECTRONIC CAMEL
by Linda Kerby (guest contributor)

The Fiber Guild of Greater Kansas City was organized in 1975 to promote and support the local fiber arts community. On April 11, 2001, Cindy Wilson and I gave a presentation about rubberstamping and painting on fiber. Copies of the "Electronic Camel" were distributed, and members were very interested in the activities of their Sisters in Israel.

It would seem that crafters are pretty much the same everywhere. <G> The members draw upon a wide range of backgrounds, diverse fiber interests, and skill levels. Each monthly evening meeting includes a fiber-related program and a chance to socialize and share ideas. Through lectures, workshops, and study groups, the Fiber Guild provides a rich resource of information, instruction, and inspiration related to the various fiber arts and crafts.

Show and Tell plays an important part of each gathering, and the projects displayed by the members were very impressive. There were some interesting synchronicities observed in the process. One member had participated in a fiber exchange on the Internet, and when the box of fibers that she received was passed around for inspection, another member commented that she had sold one of her spinning wheels to a woman who had sent in another fiber sample.

I read a poem that I felt had resonance with the spirit of the group:

Meditation on My Spinning Wheel

by Spiderwomon

The Wheel is our Mother: Earth
Watch Her spinning Her endless circles
The bobbin is Her phasing Moon
Virginal when empty
Pregnant when full
Croning when emptied
Only to become virginal again
The treadle is our heart:
Without pumping the treadle,
the wheel ceases to spin
Without the passionate beating of our hearts,
we cease to be
The yarn She creates is what we have become:
Once raw fibers
Now cleansed, combed, carded wool
She treadled us:
We spun
We bonded
She treadles us
We continue to spin
We bond evermore

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PART 2: RUBBERSTAMPING
by Linda Kerby (guest contributor)

I got interested in rubberstamping over twenty years ago and I have been experimenting and creating on different surfaces ever since. I had some stamps custom-made when a pair of pretend-Latin phrases from a friend of mine became a running joke between us. I had the letters set in ornate typeface and used purple ink to stamp out "Omnia Random Est" [Randomness is everywhere] and "Obscuritas Regnat" [Obscurity reigns].

It was interesting to see people's reactions to the stamped phrases. I was working at the state mental hospital in my city at the time, and I stamped them on memos and other circulating pieces of paper; nobody even questioned their appropriateness. I made greeting cards for friends and used the medium to illustrate the poetry that I read and wrote. One year I was very late in sending out Christmas cards, so I sent out Valentines with "Season's Greetings" on them and have never gone back to traditional Christmas cards again. I have made gift wrap and gift boxes, jewelry boxes, memento boxes, and stationary boxes.

I got interested in doing handmade paper a couple of years ago and often combine that with rubberstamps. Sometimes this means I stamp on the paper with ink and produce an image, and sometimes it means that I press the stamp into the wet paper pulp and create a relief image in the paper itself. I have made jewelry with the same techniques, sometimes using clay instead of paper pulp. Pins and earrings can be made from paper or cardstock that is laminated and has findings attached to it. I also cut up compact disks and use them in projects where a shiny background adds drama to a stamped design. I love to do collage work and have started collecting unusual ribbons, strings, threads, yarns, coins, and beads to attach to my projects.

The fiber-related rubberstamping that I have done falls into three primary categories. One way to create a design on fabric is to use permanent ink or fabric paint and put a design onto the surface. Another way is to use wax or another resist and produce a batik type of design by dying the rest of the fabric. The third method I have used is to apply a weak bleach solution with a rubberstamp and let the design appear as a lighter image on the fabric. I always test this first in an inconspicuous place since the colors don't always turn out the way you might think they would. I have done T-shirts, dresses, scarves, jackets, and skirts; I would like to do a cape with a repeating design like Celtic knotwork.

I won a contest one year and got published on the cover of a rubberstamp catalog. It was a Christmas theme with images of dreams that different characters were having about what they wanted for presents. A chubby lady sitting in an armchair was daydreaming about a huge box of chocolate truffles, a sleeping kitty was imagining some nice fat goldfish, and a pair of antique skaters (like Hans Brinker and his sister) were dreaming of large individual snowflakes. I got $50 of free stamps from the company that sponsored the contest.

I have too many stamps to count, but I am always interested in acquiring more. I enjoy coming up with new ways to use stamps and new combinations of designs. Between the possibilities of texture, color, and design, the potential for new art is virtually unlimited. I can easily imagine stamping for another twenty years without getting bored with the process. I teach classes in a local crafts store and have enjoyed introducing others to this interesting hobby.
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Linda Kerby is a Kansas nurse, writer, and rubberstamp artist who enjoys teaching and learning and thinks the Internet is the most fabulous invention ever. Pictures of her work will be available on the Web site with this article.

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MEMBER PROFILE: HAYA

Here are my answers to the profile questions. I want to answer now before settling down to knit while watching the Bible Quiz on TV, (our oldest son was a Texas state champion in 1973 and went on to compete in N.Y. for the U.S. finals) for which I have a special fondness and the watching of it has become part of our Yom ha-Atzma'ut [Independence Day] celebrations since making aliyah later that same year with my husband, Yosef, three sons and daughter.

Yosef and I still live in Ramot, on the northern edge of Jerusalem in the apartment that seemed ample for the six of us and now feels just right for us two grandparents, three floor looms, numerous book cases, yarn stash :-) and Ikat, our pet cat who loves to curl up on my lap, stretched across my lower left arm as I sit knitting on our sofa. She purrs and I wonder about those people who need to take up weight-lifting. I get mine, thanks to our cat, while knitting.

Though my academic degrees are in biology and I worked happily for many years in universities in that field, the impulse purchase of a table loom while we were living in Ithaca, N.Y., and working at Cornell University led me to begin studying weaving once we moved to Houston. Within a few years I'd left the laboratories of Rice University to concentrate on weaving, begin to exhibit my work and teach my craft in museum sponsored courses. I taught weaving to children and adults in the Israel Museum's Youth Wing from 1973 until a few years ago when I retired, at age 60.

Just as our apartment seems comfortably full with the two of us, after housing our family of six, my days in retirement are as busy and full as they were when I was teaching. I am studying in weekly courses in Talmud, exercise for seniors and water color painting, chairing the Jerusalem Fiber Craftsmen's guild, experimenting in paper making and simple book-making, as well as taking on occasional private weaving students, pursuing my own weaving, reading and knitting in my spare (!) time.

I grew up in a world of knitters. My mother and her five sisters were all avid knitters, as was my father's mother, and I remember my father napping on weekend afternoons under an afghan that my grandmother had knitted for him even after it had become quite tattered, years after she'd passed away. When I was a kindergartener, I asked my Aunt Tootsie (Pearl) to teach me to knit and she knitted up a striped swatch a couple of inches wide on the long thin metal needles that were in vogue in the early 40's and handed the project, mid-row, to me. No matter how I wiggled the far ends of those needles, nothing happened to increase the amount of that knitting. Indeed, stitches began falling off the needles. I turned to her for help and she, who was usually a most kindly woman, replied "That is how it is when little children knit." This so intimidated me that I didn't ask my mother or any of my aunts to teach me.

One project of theirs that I remember well was, prior to the U.S. entering WWII, my aunt Gert, a gym teacher at that point (later principal and supervisor), inviting all her students to knit squares for the "Bundles for Britain" project. She would bring all these (mostly dark-colored) squares home to her mother's house, assemble them with her sisters' help into large, warm afghans with two colorful center squares, one depicting the Union Jack, the other, the American flag that she'd design and knit herself. I, in my limited childhood outlook, commented that though these were so pretty, the bulk of each afghan was so dark. My aunt told me, "Believe me, the people who receive them will be happy to have snug warm blankets." That was my first concept of what war can mean.

Among my mother and her sisters, Ruth was considered the prime knitter, reputedly being able to knit cable-stitch sweaters while attending movies. I continued to admire their work, but began knitting on my own, only when noting that a friend, Carol Vigon, in Senn High School in Chicago, Illinois, was knitting mittens for her stepsisters, and I asked her to teach me too. With the basic knit and purl stitch mastered, I proceeded to knit red-and-white striped mittens for all my younger cousins. Years later I learned that this had caused a general confusion at family gatherings, when small variations in size were the only distinguishing difference between a dozen or more mittens.

I also knit argyle socks (remember them!) for Yosef when we began to become serious about one another. I continue to enjoy knitting all kinds of functional items, sweaters, socks, mittens, toys for my family, which now includes nine grandchildren, friends and now preemie afghans for the Oasis Knitting Guild project, though I do prefer the "hand" of natural fibers (wool, cotton, silk or linen) to synthetics. I've been fortunate to include creative knitters who design their own projects among my friends, and consider Elizabeth Zimmermann, z"l, as a prime inspiration, from my first acquaintance with her through her first "Busy Knitter Series" on TV and through correspondence later.

I found out about the Guild from my good friend Mirjam Bruck in Haifa and have been happy to be a member ever since. I like the people, the exchange of ideas and patterns, the opportunities to meet together every month, although I must admit that I tend to make it to just the Jerusalem meeting every other month. I tend to follow knitting patterns, making variations only in color, texture or gauge, but I remember one evening at Aunt Gert's summer house, when my other aunts said, "Shh, nobody speak--Gert is combining three patterns on the sweater she's knitting and is at the yoke now." I'd like to have a study project in designing our own knitting within the guild, also projects on folk knitting in other cultures, museum visits, etc. Having taught the basics of knitting to many people, I wonder if our guild could take this on as a project, maybe for mothers and children in a battered women's center?

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POLL - Who taught you to knit?

- Kesam: self-taught
- Stacy, frequent visitor from California: "I was trying to remember who actually taught me to knit. Although my mother knew how to knit she didn't teach me. I think the woman's name was Norma Winston. At least that is what I remember my mother telling me. I was taught at about 9 or 10 and didn't knit that much until until I was in college. I remember knitting a sweater of my own design. It was basically two rectangles of stripes and patterns and two sleeves that came to a tight crochet cuff."
- Ellen: mother
- Jennifer: "No recollection of who taught me to knit, but when I started knitting again 5 years ago, I knew how to cast-on, knit and purl. After that, I took a class in circular knitting at a yarn shop in St. Paul, but most of my learning has been done from books."
- Dorith: learned from the live-in household help in Amsterdam. "It was a woman I loved very much. She left our home to get married and emigrated to the States. I remember clinging to her, so she wouldn't go away." In sixth grade at school, "the girls had to knit those awful socks and the boys had to embroider something. We also had handicrafts in lower grades. Can't say I was an outstanding pupil in this subject...."
- Ethel-Sherry: "My Mother, and my cousin Nancy taught me to knit (not together--they each had input, and the result gelled)."
- Amy: "My grandmother taught me to knit when I was about 9. I always think of her when I knit."
- Rachel S: mother
- Avital: mother

NEXT POLL: What's the worst thing you ever knitted?

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PATTERN: PORTABLE CROCHETED AFGHAN PROJECT
by Marian Poller

(Picture on Web site in a little while)

Materials: 20 balls of worsted wool in 50 gram skeins, 2 balls of contrasting color. Mine were shades of dark brown with contrast in offwhite or light yellow.

Hook: 4.5mm or whatever produces the correct gauge.
Gauge: 3 sc sts = 1"
Measurements: Each piece is approx 10" square. Finished afghan measures approx 50" x 40".

Square Piece:
Foundation: Ch 29. Turn.
Row 1: Work 1 sc in second chain from hook, then 1 sc in each stitch, to end of row (28 sc sts).
Row 2: Ch 1, turn. sc in all sts: 28 sc sts.

Continue working row 2 for 10" or until you use up the ball. (I didn't count rows but just worked until the ball was finished as I found it doesn't really matter that much.)

Sc around each square with contrasting color and do 3 sc at each corner.

Joining:
Line up your squares so that the beginning and ending of the work using the contrasting color is now at the righthand top. Combine 5 squares for each vertical row by sewing them together with a whip stitch from the right side using contrasting color. You can now ease in any difference in sizes of squares when you sew them together. Continue to sew 5 squares together for a total of 4 lengths. Now you will sew the 4 lengths together in the same way but going across so that you have 5 squares long by 4 squares wide.

Edge: Using the same contrasting yarn, sc around the edge and do 3 sc sts in each corner. Do this for 2 rows or on the second row you can do dc instead.

Trim: Since this is quite plain, you can jazz it up by playing with motifs from any crochet stitch book. These should be done in your contrasting yarn. Sew these on with regular sewing thread.

Note: the reason I did this afghan in sc was because I wanted a really warm afghan but it does take longer to make. I'm now doing one in dc and it's much faster. I also wanted to do something that was portable and did each square at work. This is so mindless that you can stop and start very quickly if you actually need to work!

© Marian Poller, 2001. All rights reserved.
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� The Oasis Knitting Guild, 2001. All rights reserved (Past issues are available at http://msnhomepages.talkcity.com/HobbyCt/oasis_isr/). "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).