Knitter on Ice

Literally. Amanda wanted to go skating last Wednesday. Kerwyn has taught her well and she can motor around on her own and I can stand up and skate (and I use that term in it's loosest possible form) around without actually holding on to the boards and I couldn't think of a reason not to go fast enough so she was packing her skates before I could say "icy death". Kyle got over the mortification of having his mother & sister in the same arena with him. Amanda & I promised to pretend not to know him - and we did pretty good. Kyle's awesome - speedy and graceful, a real vision on the ice. Hard to capture on camera, but I love watching him skate. Doesn't Amanda look like a colourful little Ewok? Even through the blur you can see terror trepidation all over my face. I lasted almost an hour, then spent ½ hour knitting while trying to get the feeling back into my feet. Amanda had a great time & Kyle didn't die of embarrasment.

Thursday was the 1st day of the CSNF and I took Marilyn Gardiner's Japanese Origami class. This was my first ever experience with chainmail work and Marilyn was an excellent teacher. I finished it in class and it looks great! Diane & Carol sat by me and we had a great time. Carol was having a hard time of it and her pliers kept slamming into her knuckles. We nicknamed her Bloody Knuckles Carol. She quipped back, "No pain, no gain!" In that case Carol won the day!! She kept at it, was definitely getting the hang of it and Marilyn was helping her finish it up when I left.




Then I did these gorgeous pieces in Maria Rypan's class. I might re-string the earrings on different findings - I find these a bit challenging to get on - and make an adjustment or two so that they hang nicer. Now that I know a bit about it.


In between all of this I knit for 3 minute sprints until I did a new personal best of 240 stitches in 3 minutes!!! The yarn had a looser twist and took some getting used to, but I'm nothing if not persistent.
I really missed Sarah from Spinrite who had become a fixture at the Fastest Knitter booth, but by the end of the weekend I couldn't imagine not having Pat there - smiling, counting, timing & encouraging everyone to have a go. Pat rooted for everyone with an inimitable enthusiasm that didn't diminish. She was a veritable energizer bunny right to the end. This is Pat on the left with Sabrina from Herrschners. Herrschners provided the daily & grand prize gift baskets. Sabrina & her father regularily came by to check out the action.

I'll post the rest of the weekend tomorrow! (Sorry if the formatting is a bit off - I don't know what I did!)