Joins

It's been a fun week for getting together with knitters, starting in Chicago where I was at a conference for 4 days. My roommate for the trip and fellow conference attendee, Abby, was someone I'd met through Ravelry and messaged several times but never actually met in person. I know this sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it ended up being wonderful and by the end of the trip we were finishing each other's sentences.

The Chicago crew. Image courtesy of Abby, the knitter on the far left. Thanks Abby!

While in Chicago, Abby and I also got together with some members of the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup group from Ravelry. We started a Loopy Yarns (where I convinced Abby to knit her first Ysolda pattern, an Ishbel) and ended up eating Thai food and knitting together. It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up.

The Madison gathering. Image courtesy of Judith.

Once back in Madison, I met up with more knitters from the House Cup. (What can I say? We like get-togethers.) It's amazing how easy it to transition from hanging out with all of these people virtually to spending time together in person. I always enjoy it.

Russian Join in Progress

While at the Madison gathering, someone taught me how to Russian Join (a technique that joins two yarn ends together). How did I not know how to do this before?! You simply weave the yarn ends back into the working yarn, which creates a pair of loops that can be used to connect the two strands. In my opinion, Russian Joining is right up there with spit-splicing in miraculous-knitting-techniques-everyone-should-know and techniques-that-save-you-from-weaving-in-ends. I anticipate using Russian Joins extensively in my future knitting.