Knitting @ the Library

The North Needlers is the name of our new Knitting and Crocheting Club at the Library. We have had two meetings so far and our next meeting will be Oct. 20 at 7:15. We hope to have a demonstration about socks at that meeting.  We also have a group on the popular website Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/north-needlers.

We decided to make hats, mittens and scarves that can be given away at Lenore’s Pantry for our charity project for the fall. The Girl Scouts have a “mitten tree” to collect items at the Library in December. After that we’ll decide on another project.

Books about knitting have become popular as well. Here are some of the titles in our system:

The Friday night knitting club by Kate Jacobs

The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society by Beth Pattillo

The Knitting circle by Ann Hood

Knitting by Anne Bartlett

Debbie Macomber’s Blossom Street series: The shop on Blossom Street, A Good Yarn and Back on Blossom Street

Mysteries by Maggie Sefton: Knit one, kill two; Needled to death; A killer stitch ; Dyer consequences

Mysteries by Mary Kruger: Knit fast, die young : a knitting mystery; Died in the wool : a knitting mystery

There are several wonderful websites that provide tips and free patterns. Check out some of these:

How to Knit

Knitting Techniques www.dnt-inc.com/barhtmls/knittech.html
Knitting Techniques: Animated!

LEARN TO KNIT & CROCHET, The Internet Site of the Craft Yarn www.learntoknit.com/
Free online instruction for knitting and crocheting, from casting on to finishing a project.

KnittingHelp.com :: Learn to Knit – Free online Knitting Videos …
www.knittinghelp.com/
Free online knitting videos! Knitting instruction on all the basics, and advanced topics! Multiple methods of Knitting, Purling, Increasing, Decreasing, etc.

Learn to Knit Left Hand Instructions
learn-to-knit.com/learntoknit/left1.htm
Learn to Knit! left handed knitting instruction. All knitting is composed of only two stitches, the knit stitch and the purl stitch.

South Hills Knitting Guild
www.cobweb.net/~knitting/lefties.html
South Hills Knitting Guild. Common Stitch Patterns Reworked For Lefties.

Free patterns

Knitting About.com
knitting.about.com/
The largest selection of free knitting patterns on the net, help with basic and advanced knitting techniques and much more.

Free Knitting Patterns at Knitting-and.com
www.knitting-and.com/knitting/allpatterns.htm
Hundreds of free knitting patterns including everything from antique lace doilies to quick chunky knit scarves – including Captain Kirk and Spock patterns!

Index of free patterns — Over 1000 free crochet and knitting patterns
www.lionbrand.com/patterns/
Over 1000 free knitting and crochet patterns from Lion Brand Yarn.

Knitting for Charity

Knit for Charity
www.stitch-witch.net/charity.html
Knit for charity! It’s cheap, it’s simple, and it does good. … WoolWorks Charity Page- List by state of who takes accepts knitted goods

Warm Up America!
www.warmupamerica.com/
Warm Up America! Join America’s needleworkers in creating warm afghan blankets for those in need. Create 7-inch x 9-inch rectangular sections using any pattern of stitches.

Knitting Newsletters

http://www.bernat.com/

http://www.berroco.com/

http://www.lionbrand.com/cgi-bin/pg.fcgi

Online Magazines

These ‘zines have patterns, articles and instructions to help you learn more about knitting & crocheting.

Black Purl Magazine : http://www.black-purl-magazine.com/
Crochet Me : http://www.crochetme.com/
The Daily Knitter http://www.dailyknitter.com/
The Inside Loop http://www.theinsideloop.com/
For the Love of Yarn http://www.fortheloveofyarn.com/
Knit on the Net http://www.knitonthenet.com/
knitty.com http://www.knitty.com/
Knotions http://www.knotionsmag.com/home.aspx
Let’s Knit! http://www.letsknit.co.uk/
Meta Post-Modern Knitting http://www.metapostmodernknitting.com/
Twist Collective http://www.twistcollective.com/index.php

Amazing Football Team of 1934

Even if the Patriots had won the Super Bowl, their “perfect season” would be nothing compared to the 1934 season of the North Attleboro High School football team: they were undefeated and unscored upon. Jem, one of the main characters in To Kill a Mockingbird would have risked more than a broken arm to play on that team.

Here’s what the Evening Chronicle article about the 1934 closing Thanksgiving game against Attleboro said about the team: “The doughty band of crimson-jerkined youngsters with spartanic grit and courage repulsed every attack of a great Attleboro eleven, which had never before tasted defeat, and when the final whistle had blown they stood on the pinnacle among Massachusetts schoolboy elevens – the only one undefeated and unscored-on in the 1934 crusade.”

Football was primarily a college sport when it began in 1869, but high schools quickly formed their own teams. The North Attleboro-Attleboro rivalry predates 1921, but had been interrupted due to a ban on the sport in the early part of the 20^th century. Without television, local sports were a popular source of entertainment. Players were on the field for the whole game, playing both offense and defense and were not as specialized as they are now. In the 1934 Thanksgiving game, the captain of the team kicked off, passed and ran for the one touchdown.

The first team is composed of, Louis Difiore fullback; Norman Poirier, quarterback; Hubert Rice, left half; Capt. Maurice Fournier, right half; Harold Tennant, left end; Russsell Smith, right end; Stanley Lycus, right tackle; Ray Bozzo, left tackle; Jack Daly, right guard; Bancroft Austin, left guard and Nate Phipps, center. Others on the team were Clifford Wise, Norman Benoit, Joe Tremblay, Ray Collard, Eli Beaupre, Walter LaRosee, Eugene Lorden, Emil Jacobs, Arthur Irvine, Cordner Stuart, Tony Difiore, William Thorp, Clinton Tingley, Herbert Ballou, Ray Brastow, Harold Hall, William Prew, Orin Armstrong, Whicott Robinson, Joseph Kivlin, Raymond Vandette and Leonard Simms. The head coach was Raymond Yates and his assistants were Roland Chandler and Charles Wettergreen.

Beatrice Montplaisir left her scrapbooks of North Attleboro life to the Falls Fire Barn. She had clippings on the reunion of the 34 team which allowed me to find the article and picture in the microfilm. Her scrapbooks are organized by theme and make for fascinating reading. This picture (wrongly labeled The Champs … 1933) was in the paper. Maurice Fournier and Eli Beaupre died in WWII.

Join the Big Read by reading To Kill a Mockingbird or the biography of Harper Lee, Mockingbird, and by attending one of the many events during the month of March. Visit the website RMLonline.org and click on The Big Read logo for more information or stop by at the library.