Vestee Progress

Yarn selection for the Brooklyn General Vestee knit-a-long is all over the map. I, for one, had a hard time choosing. Cotton is perfect for right now, but wool would mean a jump start on next fall's toddler wardrobe.

I think yarn choices often reflect the knitter. This time though, I am just not seeing it. Jennifer always picks green and she's gone with an icy blue Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton; Melissa is using Noro Silver Thaw(I guess I never pegged her for the self-striping type). After some serious swatching I've settled on a tweed over something soft and squishy--Rowanspun DK in purple and green. If I am not mistaken, Rowan discontinued this yarn, but the shop still has some--score! I decided to carry along some lavender Rowan Kidsilk Haze for a softer effect and I'm pretty happy with the results. My nose feels differently and this will be, sadly, my last hurrah with mohair.

This lovely leaf trim belongs to Catherine, one of the shops owners. She's using Savannah by the Fibre Company and she can't stop raving about it! This yarn is a unique blend of organic cotton, merino, linen, and soya fiber. Earth friendly and fun to knit with--does it get any better for a Brooklyn knitter? Catherine's sweater will be "Vestee-esque"and the pattern will be available in the store soon...


~Kaitlyn

A Knit-A-Long!

Brooklyn General has been in its new location for over six months, and Space has turned the once humble Friday Morning Knitting Breakfast into a sprawling, raucous free-for-all. With eight to twelve (!!) women and various pre-school age children and babies (including my own) in regular attendance, I have to admit, I was, at first, pretty overwhelmed with all of the energy. I missed the precious intimacy of the old Brooklyn General space. Walking down the stairs into that tiny, garden-level store, it was easy to stay for hours, breakfast running into lunch, long, lazy conversations undisturbed by telephone calls (or customers!) for the better part of the morning. I wasn't sure I could embrace this cacophonous new experience. New faces felt like interlopers; conversations constantly interrupted mid-thought, never to be completed; gleeful children running the length of the store and crawling underfoot...food EVERYWHERE.

A few months into the "new" Friday Breakfast, something shifted for me. In part, it was the realization that becoming a mother necessitates embracing chaos. Now I cherish this gathering just as much as I did its prim predecessor. The new faces have become friends, neighbors I look forward to seeing around the block or at the playground. The larger group also means more fun project ideas floating around, more constructive input when you can't decide which yarn to choose or what decrease will work best--as well as more practiced hands to feel a child's forehead when they seem like they might be coming down with something. Intrusiveness has become exuberant camaraderie.

I don't know why the Vestee pattern from the most recent issue of Knitty appealed to me as immediately and strongly as it did, but as soon as I saw it I wanted to knit it. I shot off an e-mail to a few of the BG regulars with the subject: "We have to knit these for our girls!," and Melissa responded immediately, "I'm in for the knit-a-long." A knit-a-long. Of course. So in celebration of my renewed love of this playful, loud, creative, messy event, I offer a communal activity and a Brooklyn General first: a knit-a-long.

Please, join us! Create your own vestee. Send us a picture. Or even better, stop by the shop one Friday morning, have a blueberry muffin, and knit-a-long for a while.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/PATTvestee.html

--Jennifer