Events, Meeting Minutes, News, Tips

April 2021 Minutes

Salem Millstream Knitting Guild

We had 14 members and a guest at our April meeting.

Guild Business

Business included a discussion about the Guild Board members and roles that need filled. Please be thinking about ways you can help keep the Guild functioning and let Janet Bubl know if there’s a role you’re interested in filling in the coming years.

Reminder that Tia Purdy is looking for donations of hats and scarves for a Christmas tree project at her school. Please feel free to reach out to Tia or the Board if you have any questions.

Program – Where’s Your Stash?

Our program was facilitated by Marcia Smith and included people sharing about their yarn, pattern, and tool storage. One nice thing about the Zoom format for our meetings is that we got some peeks into some of our fellow members’ yarn rooms. We saw baskets, pretty yarn-filled bookshelves, bins, books, and binders. It was a lot of fun!

Su’s Tips and Tricks

After the meeting, Su shared a document with important tips about organizing and protecting our yarn stashes. We’ve invested time and money in our stashes, and it’s worth the effort to keep all the lovely yarn safe and accessible.

Show and Tell

During show and tell, Cindy Barrick shared a lovely knitted Christmas ball from a pattern she found on a blog – www.arnecarlos.com.  If you visit, you’ll need to scroll back a few entries to see the Christmas balls, but there’s plenty more to see, as well.

Upcoming Events

May Meeting – May 8, 10 AM to Noon (see Zoom info below)

We’ll be discussing all sorts of things about socks! Su Fennern sent out questions and is putting together a program that will include Kathy Holt sharing about repairing our precious hand knit socks.

May 11, Newsletter Deadline

If you’d like to share an upcoming event, pattern, or other news with the Guild members, please email Teresa at SalemKnitters@outlook.com. Deadline for newsletter content is the first Tuesday after our monthly meeting. We look forward to hearing from you!

Zoom Info

Join our meetings using your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Call into our meetings (audio only)

  • Dial +1 253 215 8782 (Note: this is a Tacoma number, which is the closest available for Zoom users in Oregon. You could be charged for the call depending on your phone plan.)
  • You will need both the meeting ID and the Passcode.
  • Meeting ID: 826 2206 6475
  • Passcode: 227463

Resources to help you use Zoom:

Zoom video tutorials: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials

YouTube search results for “using Zoom”: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=using+zoom

Zoom’s support page: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362033-Getting-Started-on-Windows-and-Mac

Events, News

Local Yarn Store Day

Salem Millstream Knitting Guild

Wild Knits Event – Saturday, April 17

Wild Knits Salem will be hosting “Local Yarn Store Day” on Saturday, April 17. Local Yarn Store Day (LYS Day) is a TNNA program designed to drive traffic to local yarn stores. LYS Day has brought thousands of ‘yarnies’ from across the U.S. and Canada to go to their local shops to see the exclusive, unique products created specifically for LYS Day. Think of it as an international Yarn Crawl!

Wild Knits is still limiting the number of people in the shop, so please do a quick headcount before entering.

Events, Meeting Minutes, News, Tips

March 2021 Minutes

Salem Millstream Knitting Guild

We had 14 members join our Zoom meeting for our March Guild meeting.

Guild Business

Birthday Cards

Tia Purdy has volunteered to send birthday cards to members and reach out to members who might need some contact. Tia told us all that if we don’t share our birthday months, she’ll just pick one at random. 😊

Charity Knitting Project

Tia also shared about a school project we can get involved in. Every year in November/December they put up a tree and place scarves, mittens, and hats on it. Each of the 300 kids, grades K-5th, can take them off the tree. Contact Tia or Su to provide knitted items. Su shared a great hat pattern with basic instructions that includes size suggestions for various ages that you’ll find attached.

Retreat

Due to COVID-19, Twin Rocks Conference Center could not accommodate our group this year, so we cancelled the retreat, and refunds are being sent out. Contact Su Fennern if you have questions.

Program

Patty Scruggs shared how to make glove fingers, and several members shared gloves they had made. Patty shared that her favorite fitting gloves repeat the pattern of 2 rows of K, then a row of K1, P1. She also shared a link to a YouTube video for knitting gloves with magic loop and one for making top down gloves without a pattern.

Show and Tell

We’re getting a little bit better working with our cameras on these Zoom meetings and enjoyed seeing a whole bunch of projects. I’m sure we missed some, but here’s what we captured:

Free Yarn

The Guild has received a yarn donation that we’re passing on to the Guild members. It’s first come first serve, so if you want any, don’t hesitate to email Su Fennern to claim it.

The yarn is 3-ply Persian Wool by Paternayan Yanrs. Each hank is 4 oz with 160 yards, except for the Mixed Lot – not sure how much is there.

Persian yarn is well known the world over for its superiority for needlework such as needlepoint, embroidery, and cross stitch. It can also be used for knitting and felting.

Su’s Tips and Tricks – Weaving in the Ends

A class on weaving in ends could take 2-4 hours, but Su put together a one-pager for us to help make weaving in all those ends a bit more bearable. Thanks, Su!

Upcoming Events

April Meeting – April 10, 10 AM to Noon (see Zoom info below)

We’ll be sharing with one another how we stash our treasure – aka yarn and tools. 🙂
Some things to consider talking about during the meeting:

  • What helps you keep your yarn/knitting stash available – organized or not?
  • Where do you keep your yarn stash?
  • Do you sort by: color, yarn weight, or projects?
  • Is your yarn in plastic bags, bags, or containers?
  • How do you store your needles: all longs, double points, circular?
  • Are needles sorted by size? Or something different?
  • Do you have a chart listing which needles you have?
  • Do you have a chart for your yarn?
  • What is the oldest yarn you have?

If you have a picture or link to a helpful “knitting thing” for stash organization, please send it to Teresa at SalemKnitters@outlook.com by Thursday, April 8. You can also share your screen or camera during the meeting if you’re comfortable with the technology.

April 13, Newsletter Deadline

If you’d like to share an upcoming event, pattern, or other news with the Guild members, please email Teresa at SalemKnitters@outlook.com. Deadline for newsletter content is the first Tuesday after our monthly meeting. We look forward to hearing from you!

May Meeting – May 8, 10 AM to Noon (see Zoom info below)

We’ll be discussing all the different types of sock heels that we use. Su Fennern is planning to get some folks lined up to share their favorites. She said she has a list of oodles of different heels that she’ll be sending out and asking us to share what we use, so keep an eye out for it!

Zoom Info

Join our meetings using your computer, tablet, or smartphone.

Call into our meetings (audio only)

  • Dial +1 253 215 8782 (Note: this is a Tacoma number, which is the closest available for Zoom users in Oregon. You could be charged for the call depending on your phone plan.)
  • You will need both the meeting ID and the Passcode.
  • Meeting ID: 826 2206 6475
  • Passcode: 227463

Resources to help you use Zoom:

Zoom video tutorials: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/206618765-Zoom-video-tutorials

YouTube search results for “using Zoom”: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=using+zoom

Zoom’s support page: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362033-Getting-Started-on-Windows-and-Mac

Events, News

Love on a Lamb Day

Salem Millstream Knitting Guild

Wild Knits Event – Saturday, March 13

Wild Knits Salem will be hosting “Love on a Lamb Day” on Saturday, March 13 from 11:15 AM – 1:30 PM. The Iron Water Ranch of Albany, Oregon will bring their lambs to the courtyard outside of the Wild Knits shop in downtown Salem for folks to hug and take a selfie with. Social distancing and masks are required (except while you’re taking a photo).

Meeting Minutes

January 2021 Minutes

Salem Millstream Knitting Guild

We had 16 people attend our Zoom meeting on January 9.  That was our biggest turnout since we started meeting virtually.  Hopefully we’ll have even more in February!

Guild Business

Dues for 2021

Last month, we sent membership forms and ballots along with a stamped envelope to return info to us. We received 28 dues responses with dues as of January 9. We have not yet deposited the dues because of the transition of board members, but if we received your dues, we sent you an email.  If you sent your dues and did NOT get an email, please let us know.  We will stop sending emails to past members who have not paid dues by the end of January.  Of course, you can rejoin any time!  If you would like to be a member but cannot afford dues right now, please contact us.

Board Elections

Along with membership dues, we also received ballots.  Members elected Teresa Furnish as Secretary and Debbie Juul as Treasurer.  We had some write-in votes for Vice President and are checking with them to see if they are interested. If not, we will need to have some volunteers step forward if we want to have a program at our monthly program.

Show and Tell

Slideshow

We asked for photos from members so we could put together a slide show to highlight some of our great knitting.  We had 8 people respond, and Teresa put together a presentation with pictures of these amazing projects!

It’s a bit time-consuming, but it was also really fun to see, so we’ll be doing one every three months.  The plan is to have one for April, July, and October.  So, look for a call for photos!

Projects

  • Knitting from Books and TV
    • You can find many cute “Miss Marple” patterns on Ravelry (if it’s safe for you to use), including the sock patterns by Ambrose Smith, who also has two Jane Austen collections in addition to her Miss Marple Collection.
    • If you’re a fan of a book or TV show, try searching for it in Ravelry.  Here are some from Downton Abbey, Star Wars, and there’s even a Great British Baking shawl and cowl.  There’s also a shawl worn by the character Nakia in the Black Panther movie. It came into existence because knitters noticed the shawl in the movie and talked about it all over social media. The costume designer, Ruth E. Carter, responded and shared Jeff Gillies’ pattern on Twitter.  It has since been added to Ravelry. The point here is that if you love a knit you see in a show, there just might be a pattern for it!
  • Stephen West’s Hiberknitalong is going on now. During the discussion about Hiberknitalongs, we discussed weaving in ends and how much so many of us dislike it. Stephen West has a video about weaving in ends as you go!  You can find it on YouTube:  Weavin’ Stephen
  • We also discussed where to find unique buttons.  Both Mission Mill in Salem and Brigittes’s Place in Albany came up.  If you have any other sources, let us know, and we’ll share with everyone.

February Meeting

Patty Scruggs and Kathy Goebel will be sharing how to make fingers for gloves. To knit along, please prepare a fingering weight swatch. It should be 25-30 stitches by 2 inches. You could also choose to start making yourself a pair of Basic Plain Gloves or Gloves for Kids, or a pattern of your choice. Work them up to where the fingers start, and you’ll be ready to go! Thanks, Patty, for the patterns! Kathy works on DPNs, and Patty uses Magic Loop, so you should be able to participate with either method.

Without a Vice President, we need members to come up with ideas and reach out to potential presenters. Let us know if you can help.

The same Zoom link works every month, but we’ll send it again closer to the meeting date (February 13).  Hope to see you then!

Meeting Minutes

December 2020 Minutes

Salem Millstream Knitting Guild

This Month:

We met via Zoom and had 11 participants.  It was great to see everyone who joined us and get caught up on one another’s lives.

Program

Laura Wegman shared a wonderful presentation about historical knitting.  It was full of photos of knitters during various war times and even a song and a poem.

Show & Tell

We saw socks, hats, cowls, scarves and more.  Lovely, beautiful work, as always!

Business

Voting and Membership

Our president, Janet Bubl, has been working with Su Fennern to get ballots and membership forms mailed out to past and current members.  Be watching for that in your postal mail box in the coming weeks.

Address Changes

We’ve made efforts to keep the roster updated, but sometimes edits get missed.  As mentioned, we’re mailing out ballots and membership forms to you soon and want to make sure it gets to you.  If you have moved in the last two years, please send us your postal address.  Thank you!

Future Meetings

We miss all of you and hope you’ll consider joining us for future Zoom meetings. You can join on any device – phone, tablet, computer – using the link below (the link is the same every month).

Topic: SMKG Monthly Meeting
Time: 10:00 AM to noon; Every month on the Second Saturday
Join Zoom Meeting Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82622066475?pwd=L2drUXBoSmNIeERHTGZPd2p0dld3dz09
Meeting ID: 826 2206 6475
Passcode: 227463

Dial by your location
+1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma)
Meeting ID: 826 2206 6475
Passcode: 227463