Our main speaker was Andrea Wong who shared with us her research into the history of Portuguese Knitting, some of the basics of how it works, and how different from other knitting styles. Andrea will be teaching at Yarnover next year, but if you can’t wait until then to try Portuguese Knitting, you can buy online classes on her website.
Volunteer for the guild at the Textile Center Holiday Sale
Meet our November designer Vincent Williams, knitwear designer behind Visuvio’s Crafts
Did you miss the October meeting with Tanis Gray? Here’s a short recap!
October & November knits & spins!
All of these I either finished or started in Oct and/or Nov. There’s a lot here so let’s get to it!
🧶#WrappedInGreybow and #ColorStoryTee both by tifneilan_handknits
🧶#sharonairmkal by casapinka
🧶 #CuriosityCowl by toriknitsnyc
🧶 WIP Headwaters Project bag by muse2320fiber
🧶#musselburghhat by ysolda
🧶WIP #carltonpeaksocks by harrietandalice
🌀Purpley-grey BFL from feederbrookfarm
🌀 Two small samples of unknown fiber from intothewhirled
🌀SIP (spin in progress) Romney by intothewhirled
Plus …not seen here is a test knit sweater I completed. That will get its own post when it’s released this month. 🙂
I don’t often knit with chunky yarn but when I do, I always forget how fast it knits up! Casted on this new test knit tonight and already halfway through. It’s the #copperfoxescowlsb by kaceyknits. Look for it to come out soon!
🧶 lionbrandyarn Wool Ease Thick & Quick in “Gray Marble” and in “Iris”
My Festive Cardigan by skeindeer is done! It was so fun to knit & I’m very happy with the fit. Plus, my first steek. The yarn quinceandco chickadee, which blocks so beautifully soft.
#knitting #sweaterknitting #christmassweater #mnknitters #mkgshowandtell #instaknit #knittersofinstagram
I’ve fallen behind on posting about some recent finished objects so here’s one of them! I was able to finish the #musselburghhat for my hubby just before we left for our Ireland trip. The hat definitely came in handy there. Today is our first big snowfall of the season so I figured today is a good day to take it out. The hat is a little big for me but works in a pinch.
Now to stash dive to make one for myself…. 😎
📝#musselburghhat by ysolda
🧶 blueskyfibers Woolstok worsted in “Cast Iron”
🧶 dreamincoloryarn in “Wild”
Tired of leftovers? Here’s a pair of coordinating hats designed to solve that problem. Three skeins, two hats!
Mountain Muse Hats
Pattern: www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/mountain-muse-hats
Yarn: Berroco Vintage (worsted weight, held double)
#mnknitters #mnknitguild #mnknittersguild #mkgshowandtell #berrocoyarn #muse2320fiber #quickknit #berrocovintage
My daughter’s new hat is getting tried out in the snow.
Pattern: #SnowbirdHat by harvestedhues
Yarn: the pink is Simply Wool Worsted by knit_picks in colorway Winkle. I dyed it with cochineal from a kit from theloveofcolour . The other yarn is handspun from Corriedale/sari silk roving from getbentzfarm
Size: medium, worn by a 5-year old.
I didn’t have enough of the pink yarn to do the full length of the brim for folding it up, but it works for her now.
#Knitting #KnittersOfInstagram #Knitstagram #HarvestedHues #HandknitHat #HandspunHat #KnittingWithHandspun #TestKnit #MKGShowAndTell #KnittingForKids
I finished the #bearpawkalchallenge.
This was my first time knitting toe-up socks and it took a little trial and error to get the right foot size. Do you have a toe-up pattern you like?
Overall, I’m happy with the fit and how they turned out. These will be my husband’s Christmas socks. He tried them on and now they will stay under the tree until Christmas morning. 🎁
📝: Bear Paw Socks by dreareneeknits
🧶: republicofwool ‘Yosemite’ held with yarn I naturally dyed with marigold and walnut
My November gnome for #yearofgnomes 💗 🍄
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Patterns: a combo of #leavegnomestoneuntuened (Gnewt’s hat), #ADVENTuregnome (beard), and I can’t remember which pattern I followed for the body— all by imagined_landscapes
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Yarns:
Multicolor - thekineticknitter
Grey - hazelknits
White - leadingmenfiberarts
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#nevernotgnoming
#mkgshowandtell
The lighting doesn’t really capture the beautiful colors of my sweater, but that golden hour light was too good to pass up.
Swipe to see my favorite photographer, who walked through a muddy field to help me ‘get the shot.’
📝: Love Note Sweater by tincanknits
Meg Duncan
Vice President
(Term 1, Year 1)
Meg grew up surrounded by makers. Her mom, a master quilter, former Home Ec teacher, and 4-H club leader in Duluth, taught her to sew, embroider, and cook. She won a trip to the State Fair as the Dress Review Princess at 13! Another MKG member taught her to knit continental style 15 years ago. Meg can’t sit still and NOT be knitting, embroidering, rug hooking or sewing. Favorite thing to knit? Mittens! She loves taking classes and learning new things – absolutely amazed and inspired by all the amazing knitters in the guild! (she, her, hers)
Jess Dahlberg
Newsletter Editor
Jess learned to knit in middle school and attempted (but never quite finished) a few garter stitch scarves. Years later, she picked up crochet with her best friend in law school and eventually fell back into knitting. Ever since then, she's been a daily knitter (commuting time for the win!) and has never looked back. She enjoys knitting gifts for friends and family and loves trying new techniques. (she, her, hers)
Laura Haave
Great Guild Getaway Committee Chair
Laura learned to knit in 2003 by taking a four-week class during MIT's annual January Independent Activities Period. The class project was a striped hat knit in the round, and since that time, Laura has been a big advocate of 1) helping other adults learn to knit for the first time, 2) hats as a manageable first project, and 3) circular needles for everything. She enjoys thinking about knitting and planning her next project almost as much as she enjoys actually knitting. Laura is highly motivated by knit-alongs and loves to knit in community. (she, her, hers)
Anna Turk
Yarnover Committee Chair
While Anna learned to knit at some long-forgotten point in time, her commitment to the craft really began her freshman year of college. Sitting still has never been Anna’s strong suit, and giving her hands something to do while chatting with friends or watching movies in the dorm brought a sense of calm during this new chapter of her life. Once the sense of calm wore off (and no one else needed a scarf), she began trying new techniques, patterns, and projects, and until 2018 was primarily a self-taught knitter. After being intimidated early in her crafting, Anna feels strongly about creating a welcoming environment within the fiber community for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. She enjoys knitting and fiber traveling, test and service knitting, a good challenge (knitting or otherwise), and is likely to have at least 3 WIPs at any one time. She is also learning to spin and ply her own yarn! (she/her/hers)
Bonnie Swierzbin
Marketing Director
(Term 1, Year 1)
Bonnie comes from a long line of makers, so between their sewing and her own knitting, her Barbies had loads of one-of-a-kind dresses. She loves to buy yarn and knit while she travels, so she has a yarn stash the size of Cleveland and memories imbued with knitting; she can tell you exactly what baby sweater she was making on the overnight ferry from Rab to Split, Croatia, in 1985. When she isn't knitting, Bonnie is dyeing yarn and vintage textiles, embroidering, and making felt or silk paper vessels. She's happiest when she is learning a new skill or knitting technique. (she, her, hers)
Melissa Mintern
Technology Director
(Term 1, Year 1)
Melissa has been knitting for 15 years. She loves socks and sweaters. She is a new member who hopes to use her marketing background to lift up the MKG. While she isn't local to MN, she really loves the atmosphere created by the Guild. Melissa and significant other Al enjoy traveling, wherein Al graciously offers to drive so Melissa can knit in the passenger seat. (she, her, hers)
Nikky Heidel
Membership Director
(Term 1, Year 3)
Nikky was first introduced to knitting in 2012 when her visiting sister-in-law taught her the basics of casting on and the knit stitch. A few weeks later, she learned how to purl from her mother-in-law. From there, it quickly became a passion and she has taken on each new project with a desire to expand her skill and discover new techniques. She loves a good mystery (knit-a-long) and knits way more shawls than a single person can wear in a month.
Betsy Preston
Service Director
(Term 1, Year 2)
Betsy never had patience for knitting, until she found herself spending a lot of time at little league games and waiting for the last kid to emerge from the locker room after swim practice. With her background in graphic design, stranded colorwork has a natural appeal. Not to mention the practicality of an extra layer of warmth. Betsy has recently begun publishing her original hat and cowl patterns, which are available on Ravelry. (she, her, hers) (See our Service Knitting Page for more information about our current projects and donation process.)
Janet Ungs
Programming Director
(Term 1, Year 1)
Janet taught herself to knit from a small green and white paperback called “Learn to Knit” at the age of 10ish. Her first attempt at a cardigan, with some very heavyweight baby blue yarn, was done without checking gauge. As you can imagine, it was very large, but amazingly still lives in the closet of one of her younger sister‘s friends! To this day, she still struggles with doing a gauge swatch every time, although the journey of making the product is always fun! Janet loves to knit socks, sweaters, and hats, but blankets? Not so much. She likes color knitting as well as making cables. Lace? Not very good at that. (she, her, hers)
Rose Tobelmann
Treasurer
(Term 2, Year 1)
Rose learned to knit from her mother at the age of ten. She started knitting on the ends of small paint brushes. She continued to knit off and on through her teenage and young adult years and became a more avid knitter after taking a Norwegian sweater knitting class through community education. Today, knitting has become a passion and she knits for charity, herself, and her family her stash. She enjoys meeting other knitters and learning new techniques.
Kelsey Sorenson
Secretary
(Term 1, Year 3)
Kelsey learned the knit stitch from her grandmother in middle school, and filled in the gaps enough to make lots of scarves for quite a few years. She began expanding her skills in college and is always looking to learn more. Kelsey is drawn toward projects that are seamless or include stranded colorwork. (she, her, hers)
Kelly Amoth
President
(Term 1, Year 1)
A visiting friend from Seattle taught Kelly the very basics of knitting (a twisted loop cast on and just the knit stitch) in 2008 before flying home. Turning to the internet (thanks knittinghelp.com!) Kelly taught herself through a lot of trial and error. Uncontent to keep knitting the scarf she’d started as her first project, she jumped into knitting a pair of striped mittens for her non-knitter, but very knitworthy, twin sister. Twelve years later the mittens are still in her sister’s glove box, and Kelly is usually horrified when she pulls them out and sees the mistakes she made using double pointed needles for the first time. Kelly loves knitting socks and is thankful for the many months of cold weather when she gets to exclusively wear her handknits. (she, her, hers)
Kathy Lewinski
Webmaster
Kathy has always been into crafts, but didn’t teach herself to knit until after college. She really got hooked while living in San Francisco when a friend opened a knitting store. To pitch in, Kathy started knitting up fun (and odd) things for window displays, as well as teaching classes. In the last couple of years, she has started designing her own knitting patterns (many of them available for free on Ravelry!) with toys and mittens being her primary obsessions. (she/her/hers)
