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Twist CollectivePrime Minister’s Problem Ladies’ Question Time!
by Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner The Problem Ladies are forever finding themselves smack up against a deadline, with no questions to answer and the powers-that-be pacing the floor waiting for us. Recently we came up with a scheme to solve this problem. The scheme involved bribery. (Well, not exactly bribery, but a drawing for prizes on our blog, masondixonknitting.com.) Suddenly, the questions flowed like box wine. So many good questions! So many bad (in an amusing way) questions! Being peppered with three hundred questions made us feel like Britain’s Prime Minister standing in front of Parliament with his notebook, and all the MPs shouting questions at him in accusatory tones of voice, and the PM giving as good as he gets and calling them “the Right Honourable Gentleman” in a manner suggesting that they are neither right nor honourable, and snapping his notebook shut. In other words: everyone having a fantastic time. In this spirit, the Problem Ladies decided to have a go at answering a whole bunch of questions—using only our mental notebooks, which are crammed full of two lifetimes of erratic and perhaps even erroneous knitting information. Take ’em for what they’re worth, and keep knitting. It won’t hurt our feelings if you ask other knitters the same questions until you get an answer you like. Knits Men Want
By Bruce Weinstein It’s 6 p.m. on a Thursday evening in early fall. My class at Sit-N-Knit, a spacious and welcoming yarn shop in Bloomfield, Connecticut, is filling up—ten women have come to learn how to knit sweaters from the top down. Each one is knitting a sweater for herself, and each seems to have a sad story to tell about her experiences knitting for a man in her life. None of them are eager to try again; I’m hoping to change a few minds. Swatch It! Winter 09
by Clara Parkes This issue’s swatching journey begins with Gudrun Johnston’s sweet little cropped jacket with mid-length sleeves and a busy ribbed stitch pattern. I chose it because it is both breezy and substantial, providing an ideal framework for showing what happens when you make the simplest of yarn substitutions . . .
READ FULL ARTICLE Yarn Farm: Part 5, Winter Wool
By Barbara Parry A sheep farm blanketed in white is a quintessential New England winter landscape. Somnolent and picturesque, this façade is somewhat deceptive; it belies many hours of exertion and elbow grease behind the scenes to keep things humming when the thermometer hovers below freezing and the north wind rocks the rafters of the barn. . . READ FULL ARTICLE The Softness Myth
by Clara Parkes The quality that matters to most knitters these days is touch. Specifically, soft touch. If we want to experience everything wool has to offer, we must begin by adjusting our expectations. In our quest for softness, most of us have been consuming a pretty substantial diet of the yarns in which all the fibers have been blended together into . . . READ FULL ARTICLE Ask the Problem Ladies:
By Ann Shayne and Kay Gardiner What’s the grossest problem a knitter can face? Kay and Ann have their hazmat gear at the ready. When Is an Unfinished Object Not Unfinished? More Articles... |
