Change of Venue for Friday Meetings

Hello all  ,
sorry we are not so active on here but yes we do still meet and greet and knit and eat :)

With  so many new venues opened in Abu Dhabi we have decided to change the Caribou Coffee one since was a bit at the end of the city...

Now we will meet every 2nd Friday of the month at RUBICONS coffee from noon.

It is in the New extension of AL WAHDA Mall , on the 3rd floor almost in the middle...

They have a great selection of beverages and snacks...

warning it is the same mall that Magrudys' is in so you can go and have a dip in their yarn stash :)

see you there..

Knitting meeting Tuesday 24 January!

It was unanimous on Friday to meet again at Shakespeare & Co coffee shop at al Rehhan area branch...:)


so this coming Tuesday 24 January


Join us at Shakespeare & Co coffee shop at Al Rehhan area Branch
from 10 am till sometime in the afternoon..


Check the map for directions...

First Abu Dhabi meeting for 2012

Volvo Ocean race  is in town and they are located near Marina Mall so the ladies were a bit worried about the parking issue on Friday , so after a poll we have decided to meet somewhere else for this Friday..


so for Friday 13 January we will meet Abu Dhabi Mall , Eric Kaysser cafe from noon ..


hope to see you all there.

Shakespeare & Co "Again "

In this month we the "Amiras" kinda feel that we need to knit together more then twice and so we are:)

Therefore we are going to meet on Tuesday 20th December again at Shakespeare & Co in Al Rehan Area..

That cafe was our choice last month because it was close to the home of a Mom to be knitter .... and we chose it again this month for almost the same reason , but this time so we can see the new MOM and her adorable lil girl....

so Tuesday 20th from 10 am .....

check the previous article for the map location...

happy holidays for all

Last Friday meeting of the year 2011

It has been a good year for our group , new members arrived and sadly few will leave us this December.

So this is a reminder not to miss this Last Friday (9 Dec) meeting of the year 2011 at the usual place : Caribou Coffee - Marina Mall - from noon till whenever :)

Some of the Dubai Amiras will join us this Friday so it is going to be a blast like always :)

Shakespeare & Co

It was so nice to have new knitters joining us that morning..

The coffee shop Shakespeare & Co was easy to find ...(an advice don't look at their map it is WRONG LOL) ....

the nice thing about the place it is quiet and not overcrowded ......

use this is alternative map

Mid week meeting

Since we love to get any chance to meet and knit over a cup of coffee or tea , so we are adding a new official day to our meeting in addition to the 2nd Friday of the month...

so our meetings are as follows:

-2nd friday of the month ----Caribou Coffee Marina Mall , from noon onward..

-4rth Tuesday of the month ----10am onward and the location to be assigned on Friday...

So this coming Tuesday 22nd November we will meet at Shakespeare & Co - Guardian Towers 31rst st- Rehhan area in AD.... (check their facebook page for a location map)

figure knitting

you knit....

moar funny pictures

Heads up!

FYI: I know this is a little late! Sorry!! But wanted to let you all know that we are still meeting tomorrow at our usual place (Caribou Coffee in Marina Mall) but we will be getting together a bit earlier at 1:00 pm... don't worry if you can't make it until our usual 3:00 pm we'll all be there chatting and knitting away we just wanted a few extra hours of fun! See you there!!!

I KNIT SOCKS!!!

I finished my very first pair of socks! This is so exciting!!!! I just love the pattern from Socks From The Toe Up by Wendy Johnson.

I have given all the details on the project here on my blog...

I'm so excited... and I just can't hide it... I know I know how to knit socks! Knit socks!

The Great Radish Famine (Knitting Song)

I don't know if you gals ever watched Fraggle Rock By Jim Henson... I use to love this show when I was little and I just came across this video that I HAD to share.

I knew we were doing something right!

I ran across this article from The Boston Globe

As if we needed more reasons to knit! But this one's a pretty good one!

Purls of wisdom by Irene Sege

There are many reasons people learn to knit. Their mothers or their grandmothers taught them. They wanted to learn something creative. They decided to add one more craft to their repertoire.

Me? I learned to knit for my brain.

I always thought I lacked the patience and fine motor skills for knitting. Then, at my last checkup, I mentioned relatives who have struggled with Alzheimer's disease. My doctor told me I should learn to knit. Or master a new dance step. Or a language. Or a musical instrument. That, she said, would open new neural pathways that Sudoku and crossword puzzles couldn't.

I'm certainly not one to always listen to my healthcare professional - just ask my dentist about flossing - but I guess I'm more worried about my mind than my gums. So in the fall I took a class at my local yarn store and joined a knitting group. Now I knit and I purl. I've made a basketweave scarf for one daughter and a ribbed scarf for the other. I'm working on a sweater designed for "enthusiastic beginners." I increase and slip stitches and i-cord. I unravel my mistakes and start again. And I pray that neurologists are right in their emerging insights into the brain.

Years ago, common wisdom held that human beings are born with a finite number of brain cells, some number of which die as we get older. Lately scientists have discovered that the brain is capable of creating new connections throughout our lives. To be sure, the younger brain is more adaptive than the older brain, but even older brains are capable of generating new pathways.

I'm certainly not the only middle-aged person concerned with keeping my mind. When the baby boomers enter old age, the number of Americans with Alzheimer's - currently 5.3 million people - could, absent a breakthrough, jump to 7.7 million in 2030 and as many as 16 million in 2050, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

Jeannette McWilliams, who is 61, watched for a decade before her mother succumbed to Alzheimer's last year. Three years ago she took up drumming, in part to stave off dementia in herself. "Anything I could do to keep my mind sharp," she says. "I am concerned with my family history." When McWilliams told Dr. Marie Pasinski, the Massachusetts General Hospital neurologist who treated her mother, about her drumming, Pasinski started talking more often to patients' family members about their own brain health.

"It's empowering to know that you're doing things that can only help you," Pasinski says. "It's certainly not going to make your life worse."

She calls McWilliams's drumming "a wonderful thing" for her brain. "You're learning how to read music. You're listening to the music you play. You're developing your fine motor pathways as you use your fingers," Pasinski says. "Music can really change our moods and lift our spirits. It does appear that people who have a brighter outlook on life have a lower risk of dementia."

Pasinski is equally encouraging about my knitting.

"You're learning something new, how to make new patterns," she says. "You're learning new motor patterns. You're following instructions. You have to really focus and concentrate as you're learning to knit. To keep challenging your brain, you'll want to learn more complicated patterns as your skills advance."

The doctor likes knitting groups, too. "Socializing with others stimulates your brain," she says. "You're listening to what they're saying. You're processing the language. You're making eye contact. You're observing. You're sharing emotions. That's using much broader areas of your brain than when you're just watching TV."

It turns out that knitting isn't the only thing I'm doing for my brain. The fact that I exercise regularly is good for my brain as well as the rest of my body. "The same conditions that affect the arteries that nourish the heart and cause heart disease also affect the arteries that nourish the brain," Pasinski says.

I clicked on the AARP website the other day and found an article titled "50 Ways to Boost Your Noodle." On the list are playing Wii video games, eating blueberries, and talking politics.

There are no guarantees, of course, that heeding this advice will prevent dementia or delay its onset or slow its progression. Only a hope. Meanwhile, there's plenty of pleasure and no harm in learning to knit. And blueberries are delicious.

Knitting in the news

The Early Show on CBS news did a segment on knitting!!


Check it out


--

March meeting!

Like Lulu said :when we ,the Amiras, meet we usually stay at the Caribou café until there is nothing we can talk about and that is never!!!!
The things that let us leave are sometimes : a daddy not being able to handle the baby , or a husband who is bored ,and even more not to miss the hairdresser appointment for attending a big wedding the same night..Otherwise we would stay till the café or the mall closes its doors.

Eva we missed your presence.....
Charmaine too , but hey she is having fun in london :)

Not so much knitting happened during this month meeting , we were busy in catching up and having each others opinion on our WIPs...

I know i know , you want photos :)

On my way to Marina Mall , i took a picture of Emirates Palace and the humidity that is rising..eeek

Lindsay creative art ;)

Rama (the hand) and Kundi discussing their FLS.

Lindsays' WIPs , the Noro scarf and at the background her FLS...

There she is trying on her FLS and not looking so happy that the verdict was : RIPPED OFF it is small;

A huge amount of free yarn given to us by our dearest Lulu who will leave us and go back home to South Africa...you will be totally missed lulu....

on the way home i managed to take a shot of one of Emirates Palace fountain.

see you all hopefully soon....

Jan 30th

Ok we finally sorted out the details (I think) for the Big Dubai / Abu Dhabi Knit Out

Who: The Desert Knitters & us the U-knitted Amiras!

When: Friday, January 30th

Where: Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai at the Lime Tree Cafe

How: Maybe we can work out a Caravan from Abu Dhabi

Why: there's been talk of knitting, gabbing and fantastic cake!

Bonus: If you are joining in the February Lady Sweater KAL then we will be casting on as a group then!

I really hope everyone can make it because it will be a blast! and there's talk of some new knitters showing up! Oh the suspense!