ῲ If you are doing color work with stranding or slip stitches and have trouble keeping the threads being carried over on the wrong side loose enough, hold one or two of your left hand fingers between the knitting and the stranding when you are forming a stitch with the contrast color that is going across more than 2 or 3 stitches in the back. That much extra is usually just enough to allow for the stretch of stockinette stitch and keep it from pulling too tight. Eventually you may be able to skip this step as you get used to the looser tension.
    ῲ If you are making a shawl, scarf, or any lacework that will be stretched in blocking and has a knit in the front and back increase, consider doing a knit and purl in the same stitch instead. It is a bit more elastic and the purl bump is not much different from the bump you get with Kf&b. In any case, it is useful to be familiar with many types of increases so you choose what looks and functions best for the project you are working on.
    ῲ Use spare circular needles as stitch holders. This is useful when instructions call for moving stitches to waste yarn because it is quicker to transfer them back again onto the real needle when needed. And it can help if you want to try on something in progress, even if it is being knit on dpns.
    ῲ Sock patterns worked cuff down often call for decreases every other round at the toe. Try doing that until your stitches are decreased by half and then decrease every round until they are halved again, then do the grafting/kitchener stitch. The result is a really well fitting sock.
    ῲ To get a snug fitting wrist for mitts, use a smaller needle size for the ribbing and consider adding a cable twist, even if it is only twisted in one or two rows. The twist will pull in the wrist part just enough to ensure they are loose around the wrist after being pulled on and off in 
everyday wear.
    ῲ When picking a pattern to knit, think function and scrutinize photos on Ravelry. Too often photographs show a sweater hanging up, shawls laid out, and socks on a sock blocker. This does not tell you at all how what those finished objects look like when worn or whether they will work on the body that you want to make them for.
    ῲ This website shows the most common kinds of increases very clearly, though not k and p into the same stitch: http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter09/FEATwin09TT.php.

    ~Aleen Caplan-Yamasaki, Vice President

    I can feel the Wheel of the Year slowly turning. The hustle and bustle of fair time is over, just in time for the hustle and bustle of Autumn. I had a marvelous fair season, spending many hours demonstrating knitting and hand spinning, and catching up with people I only see at fair time. The Knit-In was a lot of fun, and the Spin-In actually had live fiddlers playing old timey music. I was so impressed by all of the fabulous entries in the 
knit and crochet and hand spinning departments, many of them made by our own members. I hope that you'll bring your Fair items (and all those pretty prize ribbons) to show off at our October meeting. Congratulations to all entrants, you inspire us to try bigger and better things! 

    We've just celebrated our 3rd Guild birthday! We've gone from a few people, wondering if there was enough interest in our area for a viable guild, to a full grown, very active group. We have a few stand-out events each year: our Fall Retreat at Camp Huston, our Yarn Train to Portland in April, and our table at the Mariners' Stitch 'n Pitch game. Not to mention our birthday and holiday parties, and our annual Destash Sale. Now we're adding a new event to our roster this coming year - a one day mini-retreat in January. Since we've moved the Yarn Train event to later in the Spring, we decided to have an event in the January spot, one which won't be affected by the weather (unless there's a blizzard). Save the 3rd Saturday in January for some inexpensive "me time". This is still in the planning stages, but we have the Waltz Building reserved for that day, and we'll have a grand old time. If you'd like to get in on the planning of this event, drop me an email and we'll keep you in the loop. Your ideas are greatly appreciated. It may be something as simple as an all day pajama party potluck involving fibery goodness of all kinds.

    ~Barb, SKG President

   Last night, we were honored to have Evelyn Clark with us. She is such a dynamic person, and even if you don't really like to knit lace, she shares so much of her learning experiences, that the whole meeting is just FUN! 
   Evelyn shared with us her newest book, "Icelandic Lace Collection" and her personal history with knitting Icelandic lace. The Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle, asked her, if she could teach a class for their Nordic Heritage Knitting Conference, about Icelandic knitting, as they were missing anyone to represent that country during their conference, many years ago. She began delving into the history and heritage of this rich culture and craft. She once thought that she could duplicate patterns from existing shawls that she saw, only to learn that most of the shawls are already patterns, so Evelyn took what she had learned and started designing her own Icelandic lace items, based on the stitch patterns used by the Icelandic knitters and now has some of the most gorgeous shawls I've ever seen. Her patterns are exquisite and I can't wait to work some of them.

   Evelyn then shared with us some of the culture of Iceland and some extremely enchanting stories of her visits there and the people she met while there. It was so much fun to listen to her talk and share her experiences. She has definitely inspired many of us to head off to Iceland, as quickly as we can.
   We were also treated to a show and tell of many of the items which are included in the e-book and my, oh, my, were they absolutely stunning and amazing to see.