January ’22 Meeting Wrap-up

Service Knitting 2022

January was the kick-off for a new year of service knitting and an introduction to this year’s service knitting partners. This year’s partners are MoveFwd and Sanya’s Hope for Children. We were joined by representatives of both organizations to find out more about their missions and how the Guild can help.

MoveFwd helps young people and their families who are in need of therapy, housing assistance, and other basic needs. The Guild will be helping by providing hats, mittens, scarves, warm socks, slippers, lap blankets, and cotton washcloths.

Sanya’s Hope for Children provides Christmas bags for 500 homeless children in Minnesota. The bags contain school supplies, a toy, mittens and a hat. The Guild will be helping to provide the hats and mittens.

  • You can read more about each organization on their websites. To get details and guidelines on donating items to the Guild’s projects, visit our Service Knitting page.

Service Knitting 2021 Recap

Two women outdoors carrying bags of knit hats

In 2021, we had 2127 items donated. The items were knit by 98+ knitters. (We don’t have an exact number as oftentimes someone dropped off for multiple knitters.) The Guild is so grateful for everyone who donated, but we want to especially thank our knitting superstars who knit 50+ items last year.

Alice Ableman,  Michaeleen Anderson, Mary Brown, Elise Frederick, Mary Hamre, Betty Hanna, Nancy Hannah, Judy Hasse, Janet Holler, Janette Marquardt, Judy Nielsen, Margaret O’Brien, Julie Sellner, Anne Shea, Bonnie Swierzbin, and Friends of Kelly Amoth.

We also send a special thanks to the Potomac Bead Company in Alexandra, MN for being a drop-off point for donated items. They helped us collect over 150 items from their customers. They will continue to be a drop-off location in 2022.

We are sending out the final stitch markers, including the special MKG marker, to all the members who have yet to receive them this week.

Mini Skein KAL

Our Mini Skein KAL is coming to an end. We’ll have a show & tell at our February meeting, get the details on how to submit your projects here. Remember projects do not need to be from our mystery mini sets, they just need to showcase minis. (A mini is a skein of about 20g.) You are also welcome to submit more than one entry.

Yarnover

Because of Covid, Yarnover 2022 will be a one-day event with classes and a Marketplace on Saturday, but no dinner on Friday or in-person Guild meeting on Sunday. Registration for members will open on February 5th. All attendees, teachers, vendors, and volunteers will need to show proof of vaccination and wear masks. Free timed-entry tickets will be available for the Marketplace for those who are not also attending classes as we get closer to Yarnover. We plan on still having a Yarnover Shawl Contest, but it will be mostly online as we did the last two years.

We will need volunteers to staff Yarnover, so watch for a sign-up sheet soon.

The Yarnover page will be your place for all the information on Yarnover. It will be updated with all the changes over the next week.

A big thank you to Janese Evans and her Yarnover Committee, Anna Turk, Becky Huerta, Diane Mountford, Caitlin Maier, and our Vice President, Kelly Amoth for keeping the planning rolling during these uncertain times.

February Meeting

Our February 15th meeting is our Annual Meeting. The board will give a recap of how the Guild did in 2021 and talk about future plans for 2022 and beyond. That will be followed by our Mini Skein KAL Show & Tell.

Designer Spotlight

Our Designer of the Month is Emily Sheehan. You can read about her here.

If you have suggestions for a Designer Spotlight we would love to hear them. We focus on smaller or up-and-coming designers, not those who already have 1000’s of people making their designs. We are especially interested in spotlighting local or BIPOC designers. Please contact Rose with any suggestions.

Door Prizes

Emily Sheehan Pattern – Rosemary Knapp

Emily Sheehan Pattern – Scott Dibble

Have you made a project from one of the patterns, books, or magazines you won as a door prize from the Guild? We’d love to see them. Send a photo of your project with the name of the pattern, yarn used and any other information you would like to share to Kelly.

Member Announcements

Meg Duncan shared with us that STRIKKEKOS: The Cozy Norwegian Mitten Knitting Showcase will be opening at the Norway House on January 22nd and running though February 20th. The mittens were all knit by volunteers across the Midwest including some Guild members.

Scott Dibble shared a service knitting project he is hosting, Wrapped in Love, which is accepting baby blankets to help young mothers through various local organizations.

We also reminded everyone of our virtual knitting groups. These groups are social get togethers with no programming & just a great time to meet other knitters, talk about knitting, among other things, and even ask some knitting questions. Everyone is welcome to join in anytime. We have a group that meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 7:00pm and one that meets on the second and fourth Sunday of each month at 11:00am. You can find Zoom links for each time on our Events page.

 

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Headshot of Roxanne RichardsonRoxanne Richardson is a knitting communicator who lives in Minneapolis. Her YouTube channel explores a variety of knitting-related topics, including knitting history and techniques, and she writes technical knitting articles for Interweave publications. She’s a certified master hand knitter and certified knitting teacher, and she can’t wait to answer your burning knitting questions.

Currently Open

Marketing Director

The marketing director position is currently open. For more information contact the Guild President, president@knitters.org

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Kelly

President

(Term 1, Year 2)

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)

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imkelliente

Kendra

Secretary

(Term 1, Year 1)

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)

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Rose

Treasurer

(Term 2, Year 2)

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.

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tobel

Open Position

Programming Director

(3-year term)

This position is currently open. If you are interested in volunteering for the Guild board, please contact our president, Kelly, at the email me link below.

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Betsy

Service Director

(Term 1, Year 3)

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.)

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FingerpressArt

Nikky

Membership/Programming Director

(Term 2, Year 1)

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.

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FroggyGirl72

Melissa

Technology Director

(Term 1, Year 2)

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)

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oneoftheminterns

Anna

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)

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amturk13

A photograph of hands knitting green yarn against a black background.Project HandWork is an exhibit of photos by photographer Christopher Dykes. Using flash, a backdrop, and the infinite human variety, Christopher is collecting a series of images of hands at work in the fiber community. Manicures, hangnails, tattoos, wristwatches, cheap yarn, expensive silk, easy socks and exquisite lace all show the human diversity and the compulsion to create.

Yarnover attendees may have their hands photographed for a $50 sitting fee. Each sitter will receive an edited photo via email. The sitting fee goes to Help In Crisis, his local domestic abuse shelter. 

Anne

Librarian

Bio to come.

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soxanne

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)

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Birdette

Thyra

Newsletter Editor

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.

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Meg

Vice 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)

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finchgirl

Get Bentz Farm LogoOur spinning demonstrations are sponsored by Get Bentz Farm. 

After 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.

Mona McNeely been a certified Iyengar Yoga instructor since 2016 and has studied yoga since 2002.   

She has three grown kids and two, almost three, grandchildren. Her grandma taught her to knit when she was seven. She picked it up again in her early 20’s and hasn’t put the needles down since. She is also an avid spinner and has woven her share of rugs. In her spare time, she volunteers at a non-profit called We Can Ride where they use horses as therapy for people with disabilities. She also works full time as a Treasury Analyst for a fairly large company.  Somehow it all balances out.

Midwest Machine Knitters' Collaborative logo

The Midwest Machine Knitters’ Collaborative (MMKC) is a Minnesota based fiber guild established in 2011. We envisioned the Collaborative as a way to connect with other machine knitters who like to think (and knit!) outside the box. MMKC provides a forum to promote fun, interest, appreciation, education, inspiration, and camaraderie in the art of machine knitting. We welcome all levels of experience, as this is the best way to learn and inspire. We will all become better knitters through collaboration.  https://www.midwestmachineknitters.org/

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)

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katbaro