May 2022 Meeting Recap: Member Tips and Suzanne Bryan ​presents Afterthought Pockets

Meetings will continue virtually through June, though the July 14 meeting may be hybrid, if in-person arrangements can be made. 

The guild is seeking a technical audio-visual volunteer, someone familiar with mikes, speakers and recording equipment. Kimberly encouraged anyone potentially interested to inquire at [email protected]. She said that a volunteer-specific survey will be provided to members soon. 

​Virtual Knit Nights continue every Tuesday between 6 and 8 p.m.; find the link by date on the website events page.
 
Members can save the date — Saturday, July 16, 1 to 3 p.m. — for an ice cream social at a Portland park to be determined.  
 
Please continue to knit warm, machine-washable hats, scarves, mittens, etc., for the guild’s 2022 service project with North by Northeast Community Health Center. Contact [email protected] to arrange drop-off or hold items for the final delivery in the fall. 
 
Dishcloth challenge! How many can you knit, crochet or weave for NxNE to distribute at its community health events? See the service-project page for raffle information. Finished items are due by June 30. Email [email protected] to arrange a drop-off.
 
Member tip with Anna Lorton:
Ways to hold the yarn while knitting (An overview, not a how-to) 
 
Anna encouraged attendees to relax and pretend they're flipping through a catalog — watch, shop, compare and choose techniques to try: Notice the tension, how much movement is required, what your hands are doing and how they are angled. Why have a repertoire? Some techniques are better for specific kinds of knitting; repetitive motion can cause hand strain; you can get bored and it’s fun to switch it up. She recommended searching YouTube for demo videos, such as those by VeryPink Knits. 
 
Demonstrated techniques
[Anna said she avoids geographic place names in terminology when possible because we’re a global knitting community and historic terms may be outdated.] 
Picking (also known as continental): Yarn from the left; yarn over left index finger
Throwing: Yarn from the right; put down right needle
Flicking: Yarn from the right; consistently tensioned, good for two-color work
Lever: Yarn from the right resting in hand “slingshot”; good for socks
Portuguese: Yarn runs through a special hook on front of knitter’s body; choose right or left
 

Next month’s tip: Garment Advocacy Series: Socks Edition
Anna asked members to email the guild if they have other tip topics they’d like her to take on or present themselves. [email protected]
 
Sharon Grayzel encouraged members to consider joining the board and succeeding her as program chair for the 2023-2024 term. She listed the advantages of this position as choosing what you want to learn; interacting with wonderful leaders in the world of knitting and yarn; and becoming more connected to the guild. Responsibilities include: research and recruit speakers; write presentation descriptions; be a liaison between speaker and the guild; introduce speaker and moderate Q&A. Inquire at [email protected].
 
Guest speaker: Suzanne Bryan, “Afterthought Pockets” 
 
Sharon introduced Suzanne Bryan, who is a virtual-bootcamp knitting teacher, creator of more than 400 knitting tutorial videos, and a “knitting engineer” whose primary interest is knitting architecture. In her virtual presentation for the guild, Suzanne described and demonstrated two main ways to add a patch pocket to a garment (or other knitted item, such as a tooth-fairy pillow). 
 
The “patch technique” involves knitting a patch and then attaching it to the garment. Care must be taken in placement and each of the three sides is attached differently.  The “knit technique” requires joining the new yarn to the garment; the pocket is knit in a way that creates a flatter “profile” and is nearly invisible on the back. Suzanne said she would like to write a book just on pockets, as no definitive resource has been published. Right now she is contributing a 10-part series on pockets to Cast On magazine. 
 
Resources for Suzanne: 
YouTube
Cast On magazine
Ravelry
Pinterest