Sock It To January!

Materials for the January Sock Sessions: 

For the "Learn To Knit Socks" session with Barbara Malcolm and Pat Hickey, knitters need

about an ounce of worsted weight, solid light-colored yarn and a set of 4 or 5 Double Point Needles in size 6 or 7 (or 5 or 8, whatever they have in that range) in wood or bamboo; don’t bring metal needles because they're too slick for beginners.  Barbara will be making a Guild Blog post after the holidays with links to a few YouTube tutorial videos so those with little or no experience with DPNs can practice casting on and knitting a couple rounds before that night.

Below is a video tutorial to start with that Cheryl Brocher put on my Facebook wall.  Thanks, Cheryl! 

"Knitting with double pointed needles can be a little tricky to get used to at first, but here is a link that has a video on how to do it step by step:

 http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/advanced-techniques."

For the “Toe Up Sock” session with Denise Kleczewski, knitters need some worsted weight yarn, 2 each of size 7 circular needles (or close in size), and 1 safety pin. 

If you have questions, please contact Barbara bookie1510@hotmail.com or Denise pinkpopcycle@yahoo.com through their emails. Otherwise, we’ll see you the 3^rd Thursday in January at the new location. It will be a sockful of fun!

Start the New Year off with a Bow!

I'm sitting here thawing out after having to shovel the driveway to make my car stick to it (darned wet and packy snow) and reading the bloglist on my blog, Crazy Writing Person Who Also Knits & Sews.

On the LoveKnitting blog they've got a "recipe" for making knitted bows and for some crazy reason I want to.  Knit bows, I mean.  I am SO not a bow person but I want to make a bow.  Knitting a bow beats the devil out of shoveling snow, just sayin'.  *taps lips with forefinger*  Wonder if I have some sparkly yarn down in the dungeon, uh, stash?

Big Changes

I had a great time at last night's Christmas meeting.  There was a lot of laughing, a lot of eating, and dishcloths going every which way.  New President Kathy P kept us moving along and well-informed.  The game that Becky and Janette had for us to play convinced me that I need to spend more time watching Christmas movies.  Congrats to Anne T for winning!

The big changes decided on at last night's meeting are that we will be moving our meetings to Grace Lutheran Church, right across the park from our current meeting place, and our meetings will be on the third Thursday of the month rather than the second one.  The meeting room is much larger and will accommodate our rapidly growing membership, it's still free to use, and it has a kitchen.

Don't worry, I'll keep reminding you as the time draws near.  None of us are going to remember this with that Jolly Old Elf making his appearance TWO WEEKS FROM TONIGHT.  Sorry, I lost my head there for a minute.

As the date for the January meeting draws near I'll post detailed directions, parking info, and which door to enter.

Also in January membership dues of $20 are due.  Anyone who joined in September, October, or November need only pay $5 to be covered for 2016.  Once you get the new sticker on your membership card/nametag be sure to take it with you when you buy yarn or fabric, many stores extend a little extra discount to Guild members.  That alone could be worth twenty bucks a year, not to mention all of the things we learn from each other over the year.  The Bay Lakes Knitting Guild is worth every penny, and it'll help us to be able to pay someone to come and show us or teach us even more stuff.

Do You Have Your Dishcloth Ready?

The next meeting on Thursday, December 10 is our annual Christmas Potluck & Dishcloth Exchange.  I have to admit that this unwrapped, simple gift exchange is one of my favorite times at Guild.  It's hard to get uppity when you're knitting a dishcloth, that simple utilitarian item, so there's no pressure to make one with fancy yarn or a fancy pattern to impress the other knitters (because you know that sometimes the thought crosses your mind about other projects).   To me, a dishcloth is a small, square opportunity to try out a stitch, a technique, or a color combo in a way that can't go too far wrong.  Even if you royally screw up, you've still got a piece of knitting that'll mop up spills or wash your face before bed.  I use every exchange dishcloth I've gotten, use them to scrub dishes and floors and dirty feet, and each time I think of one of you knitting it and say a silent "thank you."  I can't wait to see what everyone brings.















The other thing to be thinking about is what you're going to bring for the potluck.  Trot out your favorite dish-to-pass be it appetizer, bread, dip, salad, whatever floats your boat.  Make sure to bring what you'd like to drink and a serving implement if needed; the Guild supplies plates, silverware, and napkins.  Don't worry too much about calories because most of us will eat standing up and everyone knows that calories you eat standing up don't count.



Our new Membership Chair, Kathy Eisenchink asked me to post this information about membership renewal date being changed and the amount of dues going up a bit:

          "At the last Guild Meeting, it was decided to move the annual membership renewal to January, therefore, renewal dues of $20.00 will be due by January 31, 2016.  (The exception being anyone who joined in the months of September, October or November; their renewal dues will be with $5.00.)"