August MKG Meeting Review and Upcoming Events!

Our August meeting had Sally Holt from Knit Companion as our featured speaker. She did an overview that included the following:

  • Making a Project, and using basic features such as the sliding markers, counters, and more.
  • Exploring Edit mode in support of Mystery a-longs, customizing markers, and more.
  • Using Knitting Calculators and Quick Keys.
  • Live Q&A

I have never used Knit Companion and was quite amazed at all the features and benefits for using it to upload your patterns, track your time spent on a project (does anyone do that?), keep track of your progress by row and add notes.

Here are upcoming events to keep in mind for your calendar for the fall! You can still register for classes for Yarnover online. Volunteers are still needed as well!

Registration continues for Yarnover 2025! The website has been updated with videos from teachers on classes. Go to the website for the full calendar of events, information regarding hotel registration, and more. Click on the below link for the full weekend schedule and all the information you need!

2025 Yarnover Knitting Event

We are excited about the lineup of Marketplace vendors. We have many favorites returning as well as many new vendors. Vendors are displayed on the Marketplace Vendor page. More vendors will be added as Yarnover approaches.

This year, Yarnover has not one but TWO contests to cast on for! Be sure to start your shawl and/or mittens as our wonderful sponsors have donated fantastic prizes for the contests. Please keep our generous sponsors in mind when planning your next project.

And your Yarnover committee continues to add to the weekend fun. The Midwest Machine Knitters Collaborative will be coming to demonstrate Friday night at the Kick-off Party. Come watch our sister Textile Center fiber enthusiasts in action!

Visit the Yarnover webpage for more information about the weekend activities, classes, and shopping opportunities. And be sure to register soon – you don’t want to miss out on anything!

Yarnover Volunteers Needed!

2025 Yarnover Weekend is Friday, October 3rd and Saturday, October 4th. Volunteers are a crucial part of a successful event; we have various positions we’re looking to fill on both days. Whether you’re looking to volunteer at your first Yarnover or you’ve been volunteering with us for years, we’re thrilled to have you!

This year we’re asking volunteers to tell us 1) the total hours you’d like to volunteer and 2) the time periods that you are able to volunteer for each day. This will allow us maximum ability to schedule volunteers where they are needed most, based on your availability. While we try to keep your preferences in mind for location / task, our aim is to maximize the number of unique volunteers helping at Yarnover. This may mean you do not get your first choice.

Fill out the survey to volunteer. If you have any questions about volunteering at Yarnover, please reach out to our Volunteer Coordinator, Jess Dahlberg, at yarnovervolunteers@knitters.org.

We can’t run Yarnover without volunteers, so thank you for your interest in volunteering for us!

Service Knitting Updates!Service Knitting for the Minnesota Community

 WE DID IT! Thank you for the 136+ pairs of mittens, from March through July 2025

Let’s keep going! We are in need of toddler / child size mittens, as well as all other items for our service knitting partners.

Choose 1 of 2 free patterns, and customize the mittens with fun colors, stripes, texture, embroidery or whatever suits you!

 Purl Soho’s Arched Gusset Mittens

 Tin Can Knits’ World’s Simplest Mittens

For all the service knitting needs and the organizations that we support, go to the service knitting area on the MKG website.

Sip & Knit Dates and Locations

Knit and socialize with your fellow MKG members! Service Knitting donations are accepted as well.

Unmapped Brewery 

Date: September 20th-10 am to Noon

Address: 14625 Excelsior Blvd, Minnetonka 55435

Venn Brewing

Date: September 6th: 10 am to Noon

Address: 3550 East 46th Street, Minneapolis 55406

 

Minnesota Knitters Guild Wall at Textile Center:

Keeping Minnesota Warm for 40 Years!

 

Be sure to pop into Textile Center to view our fun MKG wall with some of your beautiful service knitting on display! Thank you to Deb Parker and her Service Knitting Committee for the creative, fun way to exhibit our mittens. The guild wall will be on display from July 8th through September 7th. Thank you for all of your service knitting donations!

drawing of a sheep knittingKnitting Around Town

Upcoming dates at Textile Center in the library:

Friday, September 26th – 1:00 to 4:00 pm

To verify times and dates for Knitting Around Town events, please check the MKG calendar on our website.

(Textile Center’s Fall Garage Sale will be the weekend of September 19-21st! for information visit the Textile Center website)

August Yarn Store of the Month: Mode Knit Yarn

Mode Knit Yarn was the result of an idea between Annie Modsitt and Kathleen Pascuzzi who wanted to create a line of hand dyed yarn. Annie was the designer and the original yarn dyer. After she passed away in 2020, Kathleen has taken on the role of dyer and has championed forward with passion fueled by the memory of her friend and business partner. Many of Annie’s designs are still available on the site and have always been great sellers. The silk corset is a great classic tee or the brahmin shawl or slippy cowl if you want a smaller project.

Kathleen has been a knitter since she was a girl. Like many, she took a break as life happened and then got back into it as an adult. Although she is not a proficient crocheter she loves to engage with people about their current and next project to help them find the perfect yarn. She loves the fiber community and has been been deeply involved since 2013 when Mode Knit Yarn went from and idea to a reality.

Although Mode Knit Yarn does not have a physical store, Kathleen travels throughout the US to fiber festivals and events, so you can meet her and squish the yarn throughout the year. Locally she will be at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool and North Country Fiber Fair in September. But she will also be at Yarnover in October. So you can see all of the great things she has to offer.

Coming soon there will be new sock sets from her great sock blends as well as locally sourced wool that is 100% US processed. The Real Good Mode Knit Yarn is in collaboration with another great Minnesota provider Dresow Family Farm.

Check out all of the great things that are current and coming at Mode’s website and make sure to stop by and meet Kathleen at Yarnover!

Great Guild Getaway Announced for 2026!           

Mark these dates on your calendar!

Janet and the GGG committee have already booked the Minnesota Knitters Guild Great Guild Getaway dates for 2026:

Sign up dates: December 6, 2025 at 10:00 am

Two event dates: February 23-25, 2026 or February 28-March 1, 2026

Stay tuned for upcoming volunteer opportunities at the Fall Festival on October 11th and 12th at Galewood Farms – for information on this event, visit their website: https://www.threeriversparks.org>fallfest

 

Enjoy these last days of summer and the State Fair as we head back into fall activities!

 

Meg Schmidt Duncan

President

Minnesota Knitters Guild

Recent Posts

Our spinning demonstrations are sponsored by Get Bentz Farm. 

Theresa Bentz of Get Bentz Farm, Northfield, MNAfter growing up in the city and suburbs, the owners of Get Bentz Farm felt a need to be closer to nature and to be more connected to where their food came from. 

In 2014, they found a farm house for sale and later that year they decided on and purchased their first two Icelandic sheep. 

Once they had a good size flock they began marketing the amazing meat and wool. Initially, they found that many mills in the area do not process dual coated long wools, which slowed down their growth in yarn, but they did find a great market for wool filled bedding products and batting for spinning. 

Today, they have a variety of yarns, batting and roving as well as finished products like dryer balls, sheepskins, and wool bedding. Most recently, they opened their own Get Bentz Wool Mill as well as their own line of yarn – Badgerface Fiber.

Jean

Vice President

(Term 1, Year 2)

Jean Gross has had an interest in all things fiber since, at the age of 5, her mother gave her fabric scraps to keep her occupied. She is fluent in knitting, crocheting, tatting, embroidery, sewing, quilting and spinning, thanks to her mother, Janice, and grand mother, Clara. But Jean’s favorite thing to do with fiber is help others to explore its possibilities. She has taught at the Iowa State Fair, Des Moines Library, Freedom for Youth, the Des Moines Knitting Guild, Shepherds Market, local yarn shops and also teaches privately. Jean has served on several non-profit boards including FiberSmiths of Iowa and the Des Moines Knitting Guild. Jean lives in north central Iowa with her husband, Dave, and faithful canine, Rolo. She has published several knitting patterns.

Email Me
jtgross

Andi

Newsletter Editor

Andi (she/her) learned to knit from her mom over 40 years ago. She remembers going to MKG meetings in college when they were held at St. Kate’s, her alma mater. She knit on-and-off again for a while, and really dove back into the craft in 2015. She is also a quilter. She enjoys traveling and her husband is happy to stop at a yarn store or to look at sheep while on vacation. She and her husband live in the St. Paul area, both enjoy their respective crafts, and also going to the State Fair multiple times a season.

Email Me

Judy

Yarnover Committee Chair

From one of her mother’s friends, Judy learned to knit a pair of “paputki,” which are simple Polish house slippers.  Somehow this gave her the confidence to knit her boyfriend a cabled pullover sweater for Valentine’s Day which was graciously accepted and has lived in the bottom of the bottom drawer of said boyfriend’s dresser for fifty plus years.  Though she has made a few sweaters since then, she mostly knits blankets, scarves, hats and toys.

Email Me
Ravelry

Thyra

Marketing Director

(Term 1, Year 2)

I grew up watching my mom knit. She tried to teach me as a kid and I never enjoyed it, but after finishing college I found myself with extra time and no hobbies. In the last 20 years I have dove in all the way and love to learn new and challenging techniques. As my fiber love has grown, I have also started raising sheep in order to go from sheep to sweater. I love interacting with the sheep who have big personalities and learning to process and spin the wool has been a great adventure.

Email Me

Maria

Technology Director

(Term 1, Year 1)

Maria learned to knit from her grandmothers nearly 20 years ago and knit off and on through her teenage years, but really got hooked during graduate school. Since then, she has embraced the "never not knitting" mentality and has been spotted knitting on backpacking trips, on a seaplane, and at concerts to name a few. She has also just taught herself to spin. Maria is a recent transplant to the Twin Cities with her husband and two cats, and they enjoy hiking, running, and embracing the Minnesota lake culture.

Email Me
vrantisus

Nikky

Programming Director

(Term 1, Year 2)

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.

Email Me
FroggyGirl72

Deb

Service Director

(Term 1, Year 2)

Deb learned to knit in the early 1980s as a happy by-product of Hill Street Blues fandom. For a couple of years, she and a gaggle of other students met weekly to watch the show, and one of those friends was always knitting. As it is with so many knitters, that friend was enthused to teach someone else. Deb has been knitting ever since and particularly enjoys playing with colorwork and knitting sweaters. She is constantly astonished at the skill, enthusiasm, and generosity of MKG members. (she, her, hers) (See our Service Knitting Page for more information about our current projects and donation process.)

Email Me

Meg

Membership

(Term 1, Year 1)

Meg learned to knit in Bloomington, Indiana at the age of 7 or 8 when her Aunt Anneke who worked in a local yarn shop had to take her along to work. Now a St. Paul denizen, she follows in the tradition of her grandmothers Pauline and Cornelia as a passionate knitter of sweaters. She loves colorwork, bright yarn and meeting new members. Meg is an extrovert and is always happy to connect!

Email Me
dotmeg

Kathryn

Treasurer

(Term 1, Year 1)

Kathryn taught herself to knit in grad school, which is a terrible time to pick up a highly addictive hobby! She has since taken many classes, learned from master knitters and explored numerous techniques like brioche, double knitting, bead work, and more. She always has at least four projects on the needles but mysteriously, her yarn stash never seems to go down. Her favorite projects are shawls and socks. In addition to knitting, she does some crochet, tatting, spinning, and weaving. She was inspired to volunteer for the Guild after her first Great Guild Getaway and is excited to give back to this community of incredible knitters!

Email Me
KDBren

Kendra

Secretary

(Term 1, Year 3)

Kendra lives in the Twin Cities and learned to hand knit from her mother in middle school. In the last few years, she has also learned crochet and machine knitting. Kendra enjoys knitting items to donate and challenging herself with new techniques. She prefers knitting in the round with colorful yarn. (she, her, hers)

Email Me

Meg

President

(Term 1, Year 2)

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)

Email Me
finchgirl

Kathy

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)

Email Me
katbaro