BOYS' KNIT OUT!

Last nights’ meeting of Stitches in Britches™, Chicago’s premier knitting group for men, was great fun. (Sorry for the lack of pictures…I’ll try to do better next time!)

In attendance were:

Jonathon, who worked on Fiesta Feet, a very interesting lace and bauble sock for his wife, Meg. This pattern creates lace hole through a series of bound off stitches and yarnovers…a bit more tedious than K2tog, but it makes for a more defined, structured lace. Check out his blog for a picture of the sock in progress.

Frankin, who worked on his beautiful Charles I scarf in FourPlay. (I doubt Franklin could ever become bored with this yarn!) In addition to his knitting and sparkling repartee, Franklin
served as knitting instructor and cheerleader for anyone in need. Franklin shared with us that he may soon be the proud parent of a spinning wheel, making more than one of us bitterly jealous.

Andrew. We had to get out the Snap Cup for Andrew who, having learned to knit many years ago, arrived at Stitches in Britches 7 weeks ago with a 20 year old UFO and a desire to relearn the craft. In 7 weeks he has learned a great deal, started and completed a couple of projects, and has even begun designing. The scarf he knit for his niece is beautiful.

I knit for a bit on the second sock for Norbert’s trombone teacher, and then, my spirits bolstered by my good comrades, I took out the dreaded Effing Wrap. The pieces were knit – I just had to sew the seam…something I am not good at on easy projects, but this was joining rows to stitches and to do a half-assed job would have looked half-assed. The seam is pretty noticeable. With only a half-dozen pauses to rip back and re-do, I finished the job in about an hour. I could not have done it without Jonathon’s help – so Snaps to Jon as well!

We had a new visitor to Stitches in Britches – Bruce, who learned to knit about 30 years ago. He recently moved and hadn’t unpacked his stash just yet, but he came, sans project, and sat and chatted with us. Welcome, Bruce!

Stitches in Britches™ meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month at the Argo Tea Cafe, 16 West Randolph St., in Chicago. We could not have picked a more suitable location, and the Cafe could not be more welcoming. Each week they seem happier to see us than the last and the manager, Matt, regularly pops over to tell us how cool he thinks we are. So I'll get out the Snap Cup again for Argo Tea Cafe!