SMKG Blog

This Month

Birthdays

Happy July Birthday to:

• Deborah Juul
• Marjory Lange

Happy August Birthday to:

• Sandy Galbraith
• Kathleen Hold
• Tia Purdy

If we missed your birthday or have you in the wrong month, please let us know!

July Meeting Minutes

Wanda Jenkins presented about drop spindle spinning. She showed many different types of drop spindles from many different countries and some over 100 years old. She gave everyone an opportunity to try out the Jenkins Turkish spindle. They come in a variety of different sizes and different types of wood.

Ed and Wanda Jenkins make beautiful Turkish spindles and other items, which are available on their website, Yarn Tools.

Aran Learn Along

Su talked about the Diamond stitch as the next stitch in the Learn Along. More information and all the monthly patterns are on the Guild’s Learn Along page.

Some Show & Tell projects shared:

• Liana Shawl
• Shaelyn Shawl
• Hitofude Cardigan
• Mouse by Arne & Carlos
• Sea Cucumber
• Basketweave Baby Blanket
• Bosc Pear Shawl
• Window Cat

Upcoming Events

August Meeting

Join us for a picnic at Silver Falls Park for our August 13 meeting.

At the August meeting, we will be off-site at Smith Creek Village (formally known as Silver Falls Conference Center). Don’t forget to RSVP to Marcia Smith no later than August 11.

Our next Aran Learn Along stitch is the Trinity Stitch. Member Ginny Floyd found some interesting facts about the Trinity Stitch that have been included in the pattern. If you have any questions, please contact Su Fennern or bring them to the picnic. More information and all the monthly patterns are on the Learn Along page of the Guild’s website.

Looking forward to seeing how everyone’s scarf is coming along. There are only three more stitch patterns remaining!

Coral Reef Project

Check out the Coral Reef Project on the Salem Millstream Knitting Guild website, including a selection of patterns – both knit and crochet. You can also visit Coral Knit Fiber Arts and click on the “The Community Coral Reef Project” for more information and inspiration.

Other Local Events

• Trailing of the Sheep Festival October 5-9 in Sun Valley, Idaho
• Bead & Creative Arts Festival October 8-9 in Portland, Oregon
• Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival (OFFF) October 15-16 at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany, Oregon

This Month

Birthdays

Happy June Birthday to:

• Nancy Campion
• Karen Lemmon
• Sue Tyvoll

Happy July Birthday to:

• Deborah Juul
• Marjory Lange

If we missed your birthday or have you in the wrong month, please let us know!

June Meeting Minutes

We met at the Willamette Heritage Center and learned techniques to help make things for the Coral Reef Project.

Kathy Goebel showed us how to knit corkscrews (wiggly worms). They are often used as decorations on top of hats. She also showed us how to make a knit rose that can be used for a flower on a hat. The knit rose just so happens to look like it could come from under the sea.

Aran Learn Along

Su talked about the middle neck ribbing section of our Learn Along scarves. More information and all the monthly patterns are on the Guild’s Learn Along page.

Upcoming Events

July Meeting

Join us at the Willamette Heritage Center on July 9 from 10 a.m. to noon on the first floor of the Mill building.

At the July meeting, guest presenters Ed and Wanda Jenkins will present drop spindle spinning and talk about different spindle types. They make beautiful Turkish spindles, which are available on their website, Yarn Tools. They will bring some spindles along for people to try.  If you have your own spindle, you may want to bring it so we can see the different styles. We will have time to try spinning and then time to shop the fine wood items the Jenkins bring.

Our Aran Learn Along scarves are half finished, and we will be moving to the stitch after the neck, which is the Diamond Stitch.  Karen Lemmon will present on the Diamond Stitch. More information and all the monthly patterns are on the Learn Along page of the Guild’s website.

We will have updates on our picnic at Silver Falls Park for our August 13 meeting.

Coral Reef Project

Check out the Coral Reef Project on the Salem Millstream Knitting Guild website, including a selection of patterns – both knit and crochet. You can also visit Coral Knit Fiber Arts and click on the “The Community Coral Reef Project” for more information and inspiration.

Other Local Events

• Trailing of the Sheep Festival October 5-9 in Sun Valley, Idaho
• Bead & Creative Arts Festival October 8-9 in Portland, Oregon
• Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival (OFFF) October 15-16 at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany, Oregon

This Month

Birthdays

Happy May Birthday to:

• Cindy Barrick
• Kathleen Goebel

Happy June Birthday to:

• Nancy Campion
• Karen Lemmon
• Sue Tyvoll

If we missed your birthday or have you in the wrong month, please let us know!

May Meeting Minutes

A group went to Ewethful Fiber Farm and Mill in Halsey, while the rest of the group met at the Willamette Heritage Center and enjoyed some knitting and good conversation.

Judith shared her Ripples Make Waves hat by Casapinka. It’s a beautiful hat, and the pattern is free, but she encourages everyone to donate the price of a pattern to a charity doing work in Ukraine. Charity suggestions are included in the pattern.

Aran Learn Along

The Aran Learn Along continues. Su Fennern is leading the Salem Millstream Knitting Guild (SMKG) in a year-long Learn Along of Aran knitting stitches, in the form of a sampler scarf. Each month, we get a new stitch. May was the Irish Moss Stitch, and June is the middle neck ribbing section. More information and all the monthly patterns are on the Guild’s Learn Along page.

Upcoming Events

June Meeting

Join us at the Willamette Heritage Center on June 11 from 10 a.m. to noon on the first floor of the Mill building.

This month, we’ll learn techniques to help make things for the Coral Reef Project. Marsha Graciosa will share with us how to knit little things. She has made many little gnomes and animals and will share with us her secrets to connect arms and legs to bodies.

Kathy Goebel will show how to knit corkscrews (wiggly worms). They are often used as decorations on top of hats. She will also show us how to make a knit rose that can be used for a flower on a hat. The knit rose just so happens to look like it could come from under the sea.

Please bring things to show that you have made for the Coral Reef Project. Also, if you have found a great different pattern for something let us know. Also bring some yarn and needles, so you can try out some of these things.

Check out the Coral Reef Project on the Salem Millstream Knitting Guild website, including a selection of patterns – both knit and crochet.

Su will also talk about the neck area of our Learn Along scarves. If you need help using doubled pointed needles or magic loop let us know.

Other Local Events

• Black Sheep Gathering June 24-26 at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany, Oregon
• Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival (OFFF) October 15-16 at the Linn County Expo Center in Albany, Oregon

This Month

Birthdays

We have no April birthdays listed on our roster!

Happy May Birthday to:

• Cindy Barrick
• Kathleen Goebel

If we missed your birthday or have you in the wrong month, please let us know!

April Meeting Minutes

Coral Reef Project

We enjoyed an engaging presentation from Christina Harkness about the Coral Reef Project. We met in the Dye House and had lots of guests! You can read more about the Coral Reef Project on the Salem Millstream Knitting Guild website, including a selection of patterns – both knit and crochet. You can also visit Coral Knit Fiber Arts and click on the “The Community Coral Reef Project” for more information and inspiration.

Aran Learn Along

For 2022, Su Fennern is leading the Salem Millstream Knitting Guild (SMKG) in a year-long Learn Along of Aran knitting stitches, in the form of a sampler scarf. Each month we get a new stitch, and April was the 4 Stitch Cable.  In January, information was shared on “How To Work Cables.”  More information and the monthly patterns are on the Guild’s Learn Along page.

Upcoming Events

May 14 Field Trip!

May’s program is a field trip to Ewethful Fiber Farm and Mill in Halsey, Oregon. May’s Aran Learn Along Pattern Stitch 5 will be provided in advance, so you can get started on the Irish Moss Stitch when you’re ready.  Cindy Barrick has provided research on this stitch that will be included with the pattern instructions.  Cindy will be visiting Ewethful Fiber Farm and Mill where she can share other information she might have gained.

For members who will not be going on the field trip, come join us at the Willamette Heritage Center in our normal room, regular meeting time 10:00 a.m. to noon where we will work on the Aran Learn Along Stitch Pattern 5 Irish Moss, or previous stitch patterns, or whatever you might be working on.  It’s time to knit and chat.

You can visit the Guild’s website if you have missed a meeting or you are a new member to access all the monthly patterns for the Aran Learn Along.

June Meeting

We’ll be meeting on June 11 from 10 a.m. to noon on the first floor of the Mill building at Willamette Heritage Center. Hope you can join us!

This Month

Birthdays

Happy March Birthday to:

• Mary Blossom
• Lynda Hoodward
• Ginny Mahoney

We have no April birthdays listed on our roster! If we missed your birthday or have you in the wrong month, please let us know!

March Meeting Minutes

Hooker’s Corner

We had a presentation from Catherine, owner of Hooker’s Corner in West Linn. She shared how she started dyeing yarn, her flight from the Paradise fire in California, and moving to Oregon. Of course, she brought lots of beautiful yarn for us to purchase. If you missed it, check out her store.

Aran Learn Along

We began our next section of the Learn Along with pattern #3, Blackberry. We heard the history of the stitch from Sandy and got started on it.

In case you missed it, we have a Learn Along page on the website with all the information you need to get started.

Support for Ukrainian Designers

You’re undoubtedly aware of the current situation in Ukraine. If you’d like to support a designer living in Ukraine, Ravelry’s filter function allows you to view and purchase patterns by designer country. There are sweaters, hats, socks, mitts, toys and much more in the more than 3,000 patterns in the list.  

If you’d like to see other ways you can help Ukrainians – and others in crisis – you can visit the Red Cross website. If you’re considering donating to a charity, please take a moment to read this AARP article on how to make sure a charity is legitimate. It includes a handy list of Do’s and Don’ts to help spot a scam and make sure that the gifts you provide fulfill your good intentions.

Upcoming Events

April Meeting

Coral Reef Project

We’ll be meeting from 10 to noon Saturday, April 9. We’re pleased to have Christine Wertheim from the Coral Reef Project. We’ll be in the Dye House for this month, so there will be room for lots of guests!

Janet Bubl and Su Fennern put together a handy one-pager with a link to project information and links to 15 knit and 15 crochet patterns. We now have a new Community Fiber Coral Reef page on our website with all of this information. Thanks, Janet and Su!

Coral Knit Fiber Arts is creating an installation which will allow people to walk through an underwater fiber art world. They welcome donations of healthy and bleached corals, underwater creatures, and items knitted and crocheted from reclaimed and recycled plastics. The goal is to emphasize the beauty and diversity of the undersea world while educating about climate change and pollution by maritime plastics.

A group meets in Lincoln City at the Lincoln City Cultural Center every second Saturday from 10-4. The deadline is August 1, 2023. They hope to display the reef at a number of locations throughout the Pacific Northwest starting at the Lincoln City Cultural Center in September 2023. 

You can visit Coral Knit Fiber Arts and click on The Community Coral Reef Project for more information, patterns, and inspiration. All techniques and skill levels welcome! Tag your projects on social media #pnwcommunitycoralreef.

Aran Learn Along

For 2022, Su Fennern is leading the Salem Millstream Knitting Guild (SMKG) in a year-long Learn Along of Aran knitting stitches, in the form of a sampler scarf. Each month, we get a new stitch, and April is the 4-stitch Cable.  In January, a handout was shared on “How to Work Cables.” You can locate this information on the Guild’s Learn Along page if you need a review.

Reminder: the Hatch Stitch borders and the 6 rows of garter stitch before and after each new stitch continue with pattern #4.

With Christina Harness’s presentation of the Coral Reef Fiber Project, April’s pattern is being provided in advance. You are more than welcome to get started on your cables, just print out the April pattern from the Learn Along page. There will be copies available at the April meeting for members without home printers.

May 14 Field Trip!

We’re taking a field trip to Ewethful Mill in Halsey. Bring your own lunch. There is room for us to sit and knit after the tour. Tours cost $10 for members and $15 for guest. Sign-up and payment will be in April.

You also may want to take a side trip to some of the area yarn shops.  A quick Google search found these two — if you know of any others nearby, please share:

• Brownsville Stitching Parlor, 104 Spaulding Ave, Brownsville
• Knitty Gritty Yarn Store, 824 S Main Street, Lebanon

The Learn Along stitch for May is Irish Moss, which is being researched by Cindy Barrick.