MARG'S KNITTING PLACE

Our Very First Machine Knitting Seminar

Over the past two days May 5th & 6th, we had our first Machine Knitting Seminar - This was our first attempt but all and all I think we managed to make it a worthwhile experience for all  20 attendees.

We rented the hospitality suite at the Comfort Inn in Peterborough, Ontario which included a small kitchen and a bathroom.  Food was catered in each day and provided lots of goodies at breaks and excellent lunches of soup, sandwiches, fruit and veggie trays with a great dessert plus all the tea, coffee, water and soda we needed.  The Comfort Inn employees went out of their way to make sure we had everything they could supply and then some.  The beauty of using a hotel is the accommodations are in the same building for the instructor(s) and participants plus there was a Kelsey's Restaurant in the same building so we didn't even have to go outdoors.  Another big plus was the swimming pool and hot tub along with the free hot breakfast that came with the room....  Not bad at all.

Our instructor for the two day seminar was the one and only Eileen Montgomery from Burlington, Ontario - check out her site at eileenmontgomery.com  Eileen has done many seminars throughout North America.  We were so thrilled to have her as our first instructor for our first seminar.  She brings so much information through the samples she shows and actual hands on knitting through various stitches, techniques and so on.  A joy to learn from and a wonderful person to boot.

Here is Eileen Montgomery with our grand prize winner Nancy Johnson who won her registration fee!  In other words her seminar was "FREE"....

Below are a few pictures of Eileen showing some of her samples.  You will note the big flat screen TV behind Eileen that made viewing her work on the machine so easy without straining to see around someone else.  That is sure the way to go if the technology is there.

Along with Eileen came Pat Holbrook from Cardiknits in Hamilton, Ontario - http://www.cardiknits.com/ .  Pat brought along lots of coned yarns and all the little gadgets, tools, beads, etc that we all love to have.

I brought two items for Show and Tell - the first is my filigree angel that I really enjoyed making.  It was a challenge for sure but the end result was so pretty.  I also brought my table runner that I have covered here earlier which was well received.

There were so many show and tell items suits, coats, dresses, fish hats, a clown, a jacket/hat/vest made out of beaver fur, and shrugs - really too many to mention.  Give us a few days then go to http://knitclub.shutterfly.com/ that will show our full photo coverage of the seminar when we get it up and running.  Then you can go in and look for yourself at all the Show & Tell goodies we have at knit club each month plus the seminar. 

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed our first seminar.  Learned a few things that we would change but as far as the content given by Eileen Montgomery, I wouldn't change a thing.

Our Kawartha Carriage Knitters' Club has sistered with the Creation Manon Salois (CMS)Machine Knitting Club. Next year it will be their turn to put on the seminar and our turn to travel. As information becomes available on our 2013 seminar I will post it here! 

For several years my dear friend and fellow machine knitter Barbara Rooke and I have travelled to their seminars held in Carlton Place, Ontario and Ottawa, Ontario and last year it was suggested that maybe we try alternating and possibly getting a third club to join us.  Our goal originally was to create a triangle of destinations for the seminars.  If there is a third group out there interested we would love to have you join us on this adventure.  We want to keep machine knitting in the forefront and start enlisting some of the younger generation to learn this wonderful craft.