Design Triumphs

The April BLKG meeting crackled with excitement.  That was the night we all got to see the Design-A-Thon entries and vote on our favorites.  After the voting entrants reclaimed their projects and talked a little about their inspiration and challenges.  Entries ranged from an alpaca Fair Isle sweater to a wire and bead shawl pin and just about everything in between.  There were two-color mittens with cables, cabled fingerless mitts, wool headbands with applied flowers, amazing wine bottle covers, socks, hats, a felted purse, cowls and scarves, each one more fun to look at than the last.  I was happy to hear that a few of the designs came about because the knitter wanted to try a new stitch so they found a simple vehicle for that stitch, just like I did.  (I wanted to get better at cables so I found one and built fingerless mitts around it.  Simple, not easy exactly because there was a lot of ripping and re-knitting, but it was a simple idea at the start.)  There was unanimous support for making this an annual challenge.  Start planning your 2015 design entry now!

The other important thing that happened at the April meeting was the chance to sign up to go along on the May 3 Yarn Crawl to Beaver Dam, Columbus, and Madison.  There will be special demos and patterns at each stop.  We'll be in Madison for lunch at The Laurel Tavern.  If you didn't sign up at the meeting you can contact Kathy at kpotter(at)new(dot)rr(dot)com to get on board.  Hope you've been saving your yarn money for this fun day.  I sure have.

Annual Picnic! Mark Your Calendars!

The BLKG Annual Picnic will be on May 8th beginning at 6:00 p.m.  (This is a time change from previous years.)

Victoria and Andy Jicha are hosting.  They will generously provide the burgers and all the trimmings.  We are asked to bring a dish to share, also our own drinks and a chair.  Pray for nice weather so we can sit outside, and no rain so Andy can grill and stay dry.

The April meeting will be a good time to organize car pools to make parking easier.

**Just a reminder that during the picnic the Design-A-Thon prizes will be awarded and entries will be returned.

Get Those Design-A-Thon Entries Ready!

One week from today, April 10, is the deadline for entries into the First (and possibly Annual) Bay Lakes Knitting Guild Design-A-Thon.

Program Chair Andy introduced the Design-A-Thon way back in September 2013 and gave us lots of direction and tools to make designing our own knitted "thing" if not easy then relatively confusion free.  President Vicki's January 2013 program, Pattern Writing & Charting, laid the groundwork for putting ideas down so that another knitter has a fighting chance of making what you dream up.

Andy asks that you bring your entry to the April meeting in a grocery store-type paper bag, one project per bag if you've entered more than once, and says that plastic is okay to get in the door, she'll have a few extra paper bags at the registration table.  Each entry will be numbered and members will not know whose design it is during voting.

Be sure to bring your pattern.  You wrote it down, right?  Look at a pattern you find easy to follow and model your pattern writing on that one.  That's what I did and it was a big help.  Be sure to include yarn weight, needle size(s), gauge, and finishing instructions. 

The patterns will be gathered together in a pamphlet that will be electronic for members with email and printed for those without.  Andy asks that you email your pattern to her to make the pamphlet job a bit easier.  Leave a comment if you need her email address and I'll have her contact you.

There will be a few head forms for hat display but no hand forms for gloves or mitts.  If you have a display piece that would work for your entry, please bring it to the April meeting.  No live props please! 
 We can't wait to see!