You Can Do It: Take a Whirl!

Some of you may be thinking that the BKLG Design-a-thon is a place only for the experts to showcase their wares. Although it is a place where the experienced knitter can push his or her limits of style and create something new, it’s just as much a place for the beginner knitter to create and shine.

Don’t wait for the day when you’re at the expert level to enter a project or two in the Design-a-thon. Entering a project now is the step toward becoming that expert, experienced knitter. Just as with any skill, like sewing, cooking, gardening, jogging, or writing, learning to knit better means taking risks and challenging yourself. 

This is why the Design-a-thon has three levels: A, B, and C. You’ll notice that the projects in level A, like pillows and dishcloths are less complicated than those in level C, like a sweater. So take a chance. Challenge yourself. Find a new stitch that you’ve never tried and make a dishcloth, or take that same stitch—make two squares—sew them together—stuff them, and enter your pillow. Try the new skill you learned in November, like the cable or linen stitch, mosaic or Fair Isle knitting, and create a new “something” that you’ve never tried. Make it your own. Be proud of what you’re trying. Be proud of the growth you’ll experience as you experiment and create in knitting.

Remember, on tables throughout the room, your anonymous projects will be laid out with a label announcing the name you give them, so the members can walk around, checking out all of them, and vote for the best of show in all three categories. (There will be both a 1^st and 2^nd prize winner for all three categories.) Another new point about this year’s design-a-thon is that you’ll be able to touch and inspect the projects. So if your project, knitted in one color, doesn’t necessarily highlight the different stitches you’ve used to create it, the knitters will be able to touch it, lift it up, and notice how your cable weaves around your seed stitch background to create a stunning affect.

Go ahead, knitters of Bay Lakes Knitting Guild. Step outside your comfort zone and create! Release the artist inside of you (all of us are artists—that’s why we knit) and share your talents in living color with your fellow knitting community members.

February is your chance to register ($5 a project) and March is the time to bring your projects to the meeting so Becky & Janette can organize them for the April Competition.

Directions to New Meeting Site

Okay, knitters, tomorrow night we meet in our new spot.  We will be at Grace Lutheran Church which is right across Jackson Square Park from our old meeting spot.  The parking lot is accessed off Monroe St. and we enter the door on that side of the building.  That door is locked so there will be friendly faces there to greet us.  If you arrive after 6:30 (when the meeting starts), there is a bell to ring and someone will come to let you in.

President Kathy Potter asks us to "Please wear your name tags to the meeting on Thursday. You may need to show it to get in the door. You will also need it when you pay your membership dues to have the new sticker put on the back. It will also make everything go more quickly if Kathy E. is able to just look at your name tag when checking your name off as paid."


January is the month memberships are renewed.  Remember that dues have increased to $20 and those that joined between September and December 2015 need only pay $5 for 2016.


Also Design-a-thon entry fees are payable this month too.  Fees are $5 per entry.  The entry guidelines were on the blog a few entries back so you can scroll back to refresh your memory.  I hope that nearly everyone gets brave enough to try their hand at designing.  Remember, picking a new (to you) stitch and making a dishcloth out of it is a design.  You can do this!

See you Thursday!

Pay Annual Dues & Sign Up for Design-a-Thon at January Meeting

Welcome to 2016, Knitters!!!

 

We hope you had a blessed and wonderful holiday. It was a Merry Christmas for us, filled with food, family, and fun.

 

As you all know, we’re doing socks in January, and we have a couple of wonderful sessions lined up for you with our teachers: Barbara, Pat, and Denise. If you’re interested in learning how to knit a sock or learning how to knit a sock from the toe up or just coming to the meeting to knit and chat, this meeting is for you.

 

 

However, there is another important part of this meeting that we want to encourage all to consider…it’s time for Design-a-thon registration. We will be signing up everyone at the January (and February) meetings for the Design-a-thon which will take place at the April meeting. (If you’re unable to make it to one of these meetings, just email Becky at smsbmoore@yahoo.com to make other accommodations.

 

Challenge yourself with your knitting—there’s nothing to lose. Choose to design a project from one (or more) of the three project groups. Create a new look, a new stitch, or a new design but most of all, have fun.

 

We will be holding registration toward the end of the meeting, after we’d held Show & Share, so bring your $5 for each project you’re going to enter into the guild's fun & exciting contest. You can enter as many projects as you’d like. It’s going to be a very cool April Affair the talent in our guild is showcased at that special meeting.

 

 

Also, don’t forget it’s time to pay yearly dues. Bring your $20 to sign up for another fascinating year at the Bay Lakes Knitting Guild (those who joined in this fall need to bring $5 for their renewal).

We’re excited for all the wonderful projects that will be coming in for the 2016 Design-a-thon.

 

See you next week,

Becky & Janette

 

P.S.  Check out the new map on the sidebar> so you get to the correct spot for the January meeting.  Many thanks to our new prez, Kathy Potter, for the map.

Getting Started Knitting on DPNs

I've surfed YouTube today and found a few videos to help you learn to get started with them before the Learn to Knit Socks lesson on the 21st.

DPN video #1

DPN video #2

DPN video #3

If none of these does the job for you just check out the videos that come before or after these on YouTube.

I'm getting excited about luring the lot of you to the sock knitting world, are you?

Greetings From the Program Co-Chairs

Happy New Year to You All, 

It’s almost time again for our BLKG meeting although it will be on the third Thursday of the month because we’re moving to a new place. We haven’t seen it yet, but we’re excited for the larger space and the potential to do some really cool things. :)

Remember, our January meeting’s theme is “Sock Month”, where we’ll be offering a couple of different sessions for sock construction and having a demonstration of a sock machine. If you’re participating in one of these, be sure to bring the appropriate materials, listed in the newsletter and past (and future) blog posts. It should be a fun meeting.

However, we just wanted to reassure everyone that there is never any requirement to take one of the sessions. Maybe you’re already quite comfortable with not only basic sock construction but also toe up sock creations, so just come with the personal project you’re currently working on and be a part of the knitting community. You’re always welcome to just sit, knit, and chat with other knitters if you’re not interested in the sessions. It’s always a wonderful night out each month for all of us to be with like-minded “crafters”.

See all of you soon.

Becky & Janette

Charity Knitting Reporting Form

I am trying to figure out a way to put this on the blog so it's available to everyone online.  My brilliant daughter told me how to make a pdf into a text document, so that was one problem solved.  I tried it in the sidebar and instead of being a link to a page the whole form stuck out like a sore thumb, so I'm just going to post it on here and figure out how to make it do what I want it to later.  Maybe it'll work at the bottom of the page...  Thanks for your patience.

2016 BLKG Design-a-thon Guidelines

The Bay Lakes Knitting Guild’s Design-a-thon is an opportunity for all BLKG members to stretch their knitting skills and experiment with ideas they have for fun or functional, crazy or calm projects, creating a knitting project that is an enjoyable experience for the participant.

Start with a totally original idea like something you’ve never seen, or take a project of another creator’s and change something significant about it. Socks, mittens, sweaters are constructed with similar parts and pieces, but they all can be modified to become something unique.

Steps to participate:

1.      Choose which Group for the type of project(s) you’re planning to design and create

·         Group A: dishcloths, soap bags, pillows, other small household items

·         Group B: hats, mittens, scarves, socks, slippers, afghans/blankets, toys

·         Group C: sweaters, shawls, shawlettes, dresses, purses/bags

*   All felted & baby projects will fall into group of the type of project

*   No crocheted projects accepted

2.      Register for your projects at the January or February Guild Meeting. The fee is $5 per project. You may enter as many projects as you like.  Once you register, I’ll send out the information sheet and permission sheet through email before the March meeting.

3.      Bring your filled-in information sheet by the March meeting, a sheet of paper that has your name, your project’s name, the type of yarn used in your project, and the inspiration for the creation of your design with a section telling us whether you’re giving us permission to share your pattern in the 2016 Design-a-thon Booklet, which will be shared with all BLKG members. (Members may use the others’ patterns from the booklet to make projects for personal use but may not use these patterns make projects to sell.)

4.      Bring your completed project(s) AND printed copy of your pattern for each project in a paper bag (to maintain anonymity) to the April meeting. Please make sure your name is on the printed copy of the pattern. (Plan to send an e-copy of your pattern to Becky through email before the April meeting if you’re going to be a part of the pattern booklet.)

5.      Design-a-thon voting will take place at April meeting. We will vote for a 1^st and 2^nd place project within each group. The guild will keep the projects until the May meeting, when the winning projects will be announced.

Any questions: email Becky at smsbmoore@yahoo.com