2011 CALENDAR

Please note this calendar is subject to change

15 January
workshop: colour work / Fair Isle (part I) - Terry

19 February
workshop: colour work / Fair Isle (part II) - Terry

5 March
11am: Knitters' Guild of NSW AGM
Target Theatre, Powerhouse Museum, Harris Street, Ultimo

19 March
workshop: garter stitch entrelac - Lynne

26-27 March
weekend workshop: Orenburg lace - Galena
$120.00 for the weekend

16 April
retail: Wooldancer Fibre and Yarn - Michelle Snowdon
workshop: entrelac (part 2) - Lynne

21 May
no workshop this month

18 June
full day workshop: Liz Gemmell
$40 for members; $45 non-members

16 July
retail: The Wool Inn - Anita
workshop:  colour theory for knitters - Terry and Lynne

20 August
retail: Rex and Evelyn Reynolds
workshop: no sew grafting - Lynne

17 September
all day workshop: socks - Lynne
Secret swap exchange
Stash sale

15 October
workshop: steeking - Mary-Helen

19 November
retail: Belisa Cashmere - Bev Cooper
Blue Mountains group AGM

17 December
retail: book sale - Keith Ainsworth
Christmas Party

July 2011

Many compliments have been received for the Darling Harbour dispay in June. Allan Tremain, a past president of the Guild, was responsible.

Friday 5th August: Knit In ant the ABc studio in Ultimo, for Wrap with Love. There will also be a knit-in at Springwood Aquatic Center at 8 am, Everglades (Leura) at 10 am and Penrith library.

The workshop today was on colour theory which is a very broad topic. We were given a a short talk on the colour wheel, colour in culture and society, and how colour influences us.

Today's retail was The Wool Inn. Anita and Bess brought many yarns to tempt us, including some new yarns from Noro. Anita donated two books to be raffled.

The raffle was won by Donna, Stanis and Bev.

Next month

• Retail: Rex and Evelyn Reynolds - yarn sales
• Evelyn will give a short talk on an aspect of knitting
• Workshop: no sew grafting (as demonstrated by Galena Khmeleva). Please bring two small samples of garter stitch, 20 rows on 10 stitches and leave live stitches on separate needles.
• afternoon tea: Penny, Yvonne and Ann

June meeting and Liz Gemmell workshop

A small group gathered for the June meeting; some members were at an all-day workshop with Liz Gemmell and some had gone into the city for the WWKIP (World Wide Knit In Public) Day. Perhaps the cold kept others away?

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WORKSHOP

The tutor for our all day workshop was Liz Gemmell. We learnt about using colour when knitting Feather and Fan patterns. In the morning we learnt or revised the Feather and Fan (aka Old Shale) pattern and tried some variations. Liz brought some examples to show us and one of our members, Judy, also brought her version.

samples knitted during the workshop

After morning tea, Liz explained how to read the schematic of her "upside down cardigan". This was challenging for many but we got there in the end.

After lunch, Liz showed us some of her knitted "jewellery"

knitted "necklace"

and how to transfer colour to synthetic knitting using disperse dyes, lithopaper and a hot (not steam) iron. She also showed us that we can create any shape we want by heat setting and it will hold its shape, even after washing. This can only be done with synthetic yarns.

transfer paper on left, printed fabric on right


Thank you, Liz, for a most interesting and informative workshop.

May 2011

Terry thanked all those who showed up for the first meeting of the Knitters Gild of NSW upper Mountains Group . The meeting was a great success with many visitors from the North shore group attending. Donna is the Secretary and the next meeting will be on Saturday June 4th at 1.30 pm. All are welcome.


The annual Back-to-Back Challenge is on at the Turpentine Tree, Bells Line of Road, Kurrajong, on Sunday 5th June, starting at 8am. It is a wonderful day out with great food, kids entertainment and lots of woolly things to see and buy.

The workshop, Colour Theory for Knitters, that should have been held at the May meeting has been postponed until later in the year.

Kate explained that all new members have to pay a $10 joining fee. This is a one-off fee, then the annual fee is $30. The first two meeting that you attend are free then $2 per meeting afterwards. As a paid up member you are able to attend meetings at any number of the 22 branches of the Guild in NSW.

World Wide Knit in Public Day (WWKIP) will be held on Saturday 18th June at Customs House in the city. There will be many raffle and door prizes donated by yarn shops and sellers. Unfortunately this date clashes with our next meeting day.

Those attending the Liz Gemmell workshop in June need to bring yarn in five colours and either dark blue or black. Bring needles to suit the yarn that you have chosen. Please come at 9:30 for a 10am start.

The raffle was won by Pam.

Next month’s afternoon tea is being provided by Janette, Shirley and Rosie.

April 2011

GUILD NEWS

A new group called Upper Blue Mountains has been formed and sanctioned by the Guild executive. It will hold its first meeting on Saturday May 7th at 1.30pm at the Katoomba Senior Citizens Centre. Merrin will be there to officially open it. Drinks and nibbles will be served. There are already 24 members and the North Shore group is visiting for the opening.
The Senior Citizens rooms are at 30 Katoomba Street next to the library. There are 2 rooms and a fully fitted kitchen. It has heating and lots of natural light.

GROUP NEWS

Terry wishes to encourage all of us to enter upcoming shows (e.g. St Ives, Bathurst)

Congratulations to our president, Merrin, who won a prize at the Castle Hill show with her knitted Dalek and second prize for a pair of socks.

Kate suggested that, if we are attending the Easter show, we look at the knitting because there are new categories. There will be more new categories next year.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
Sunday 5th June: Back to Back Challenge: The Turpentine Tree, 1665 Bells line of Road, Kurrajong starting at 8am. It is a lovely day out with spinning and knitting activities for the kids, the Back to Back Challenge, good food and lots of fibre related things to buy .

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

• Fiona Donovan from the Inner City group will be presenting a workshop on Colour Theory at our meeting in May.
• In June, there will be an all day workshop with Liz Gemmell. This is $40 for members and $45 for guests. Please pay Vicki at the next meeting. There will be a maximum of 15 people. Liz Gemmell’s workshops are about stranded colourwork and are very interesting.

WORKSHOP

Entrelac Part 2 was held today. Participants learnt to knit foundation and side triangles for traditional entrelac and "garterlac".

a picture of concentration

completed homework

RETAIL

Michelle from Wooldancer visited with beautiful fibre and yarn to sell. She also had some environmentally-friendly dyes for dyeing fabric and yarn without the use of heavy metals.

some of the goodies from Wooldancer

RAFFLE
Terry won the raffle which was drawn by Michelle.

MAY AFTERNOON TEA
to be provided by Sue, Diane, Jo and Rhonda


SHOW AND TELL
The following is a small selection of the objects at "Show and Tell" at the April meeting.

puppets for Samaritan's Purse by Maree and Yvonne

Noro Tayo striped cardigan by Lois

Noro Silk Garden baby's socks and mitts by Mavis

Diane's sample from Galena's workshop

Diane's Orenburg scarf in progress

Terry's jumper

Clare's sock

Meredith's cardigan



Diane's hat



Orenburg Lace workshop



Galina Khmeleva

On 26th and 27th March, thirteen members of the Blue Mountains group of the Knitters' Guild of NSW, participated in an Orenburg Lace workshop with Galina Khmeleva, a Russian born knitter now living in the USA.

On Saturday we learnt how to cast on, follow graphs and bind off. The beautiful delicacy of Orenburg Lace belies the fact that it is mostly made up of only knit stitches, with a combination of yarn overs and knitting stitches together. It is deceptively simple.

participants working on their first sample (on Saturday)

We were given homework to knit a border of four "teeth" and two simple garter stitch squares of fifteen stitches and thirty rows each.

a participant's unblocked sample #2 (from Sunday) - borders and corner

On Sunday we learnt how to graft without sewing, how to turn corners and how to block our lace.

Galina demonstrates her method of blocking

pinned out for blocking

Late on Sunday afternoon, Galina also gave us a demonstration of using the Russian support spindle.

Russian support spindle

On both mornings and throughout the lunch break, there were books, magazines and yarns for sale and lots of Galina's knitted items for us to admire.

Look at me!

Galina's quick wit and dry sense of humour made the workshops all the more enjoyable. Her recount of the history of the Orenburg region and the lace making industry were fascinating.

Thank you, Galina; we look forward to your next visit.

March 2011

GROUP NEWS

• Katoomba sheltered workshop requires ponchos. They have people that must wait for the workshop bus in cold conditions. Getting a sweater or coat on and off is time consuming and ponchos are ideal. However after many washings, they are running low. Anyone who wants to help should see Noreen. They are to be knitted in acrylic as it isn't as heavy as wool and will stand up to repeated washing. All sizes are needed.


• Patterns for the puppets for Samaritans Purse boxes are again available from Terry.


• The Craft Fair was held at Rose Hill for four days. Terry had three sweaters on display which attracted lots of comment and admiration. People were very surprised that a man had designed and knitted them. One woman saw the patchwork sweater and wanted the pattern, however Terry's sweaters are not charted they just evolve. He did offer to sell it to her for $500 but she was not happy to spend that much. More than 200 memberships forms were handed out during the 3 days .

EXECUTIVE NEWS

• Our President, Merrin, talked about the AGM and thanked all that made the effort to come. The new constitution was passed and a copy will be sent with the next newsletter. The newsletter has been held up so that all the information from the AGM can be included.


• Thanks was given to Clare for her work as the newsletter editor. She is stepping down after several years.


• Terry was elected Vice President but will remain our convenor. Merrin was re-elected as President.


• A verbal diary project is underway to get memories of the original Guild members explaining the history and background of the Guild in NSW.


• A proposal has been put to the guild that group names be location rather than locale so that they are more specific. No changes will be made without extensive consultation with each group as there is a lot involved in a name change.


• The new Katoomba group hopes to open May 7th and then be run on the first Saturday of the month from 1.30. It will be held in all new rooms in the Katoomba town centre which has 2 rooms, an exhibition space and a full kitchen.

ORENBURG LACE WORKSHOP: 26th & 27th March
Those attending the Orenburg Lace workshop are reminded to bring $25 to cover yarn, 2.5mm -3.5mm needles, lunch and afternoon tea.

BUS TRIP
On 9th April, the Blue Mountains Bus Company is running a bus trip to the Farmers Markets in Orange and the Yarn Market at Molong. Pickup at Panthers and various places in the Blue Mountains.

WORKSHOP
 A workshop was held during today's meeting in which we were introduced to the techniques of entrelac knitting. The goal was a 6" share of garter stitch knitting. Participants voted to have a second workshop covering knitting entrelac "on point", in either garter stitch or stocking stitch.



some of the participants in the workshop



The raffle was won by Rhonda.

NEXT MONTH

• Retail – wooldance yarn and fibre
• Workshop - part 2 of the entrelac workshop
• Afternoon tea – Robyn M, Rosalin, Monica and Lynne

SHOW AND TELL PHOTOS

our capable MC

President Merrin with a piece of her jacket
designed by Jane Slicer-Smith

Kate's White Lies cardigan

Ambassador of Love mitten

Jo's shrug

Denise's crocheted blanket

Venetta's fair isle cardigan

February 2011

GROUP NEWS 

• We had an email from Kay McBride of the Imperial Hotal at Mount Victoria . She has a large amount of pure wool in packs of ten that she wishes to sell for as little as $2 per ball. Anyone is welcome to go up and see her.
• Sew Beautiful at 1/ 121 Macquarie Rd Springwood is organizing a toy drive for the children of Toowoomba. She is after toys, blankets or gifts by March 1st . phone 47517988 for more details.
• Samaritan's purse in Glenbrook is after hand knitted toy puppets for their Christmas Child boxes. Terry has copies of the pattern if you wish to contribute.
• Terry also has copies of the Hawkesbury show schedule. Entries close early April.

THIS MONTH’S MEETING
Veronica Moschione, the exhibitions convenor, paid us a visit . She talked about this year’s events. Castle Hill, St. Ives, Darling Harbour and The RAS are all upcoming. Terry is going to be part of the team setting up Darling Harbour and the RAS.

• The Guild will have a stand at the Craft Expo to be held at Rosehill Racecourse (10 -13 March). It will be alongside the Handspinners and Weavers, The Embroiderers and the Machine Knitters Guilds. Volunteers needed.
•  As yet, the Guild has no date for our stall at the RAS. Volunteers will be also be needed for this Show.
•  Veronica has received over 300 silver leaves for the Guild display at the Darling Harbour Craft Show; many thanks to those who have helped. Each group will need to contribute five articles for display as a sample of the group's work. So far, we have a pair of socks from Rosie. You can contribute anything you have hand knitted or crocheted.
• Volunteers will be needed to help people learn to knit at the Darling Harbour Show and to assist with enquiries at the Guild's stand.

raffle
The raffle was won by Diane.

Show and Tell


Show and Tell was conducted very capably by Venetta. Jude Skeers attended our meeting this month and showed as garments made from Lara Downs yarns. Please scroll down to see photos of Jude's work and other items displayed at Show and Tell.

WEEKEND LACE WORKSHOP WITH GALENA

 Those who are attending the workshop will need to bring their own lunch and afternoon tea for both days. Needles : 2.5mm to 3.5mm. Yarn will be supplied on the day at a cost of about $25.

   

NEXT MONTH

•  Lynne is facilitating a garter stitch entrelac workshop. Those attending will need to bring two yarns of different colours, and needles to suit.
• Afternoon tea for March is being provided by Sharon, Susan, Ann R and Helen.

SHOW AND TELL PHOTOS

close up of two of Jude's mobius wraps knitted in Lara Down's Merino laceweight

Yvonne's jacket modelled by Marie



Marie's Mitred Wrap (design by Jane Slicer-Smith)

Ally's Advent Scarf

Mavis' crochet blanket




Lynne's Fair Isle "homework"

January 2011

EXECUTIVE NEWS

• Membership renewals are now due. Whether you pay by cheque or bank deposit, please let Ann know that you have renewed your membership.
• The Darling Harbour exhibition requires five articles from each group. They can be five of the same sort or five totally different to showcase our group’s work. There are 19 groups who will have work displayed. The work can be knitting or crocheting. Perhaps some tatting could be included. Please consider what you would want to display. Terry is going to help put up the display so that our work will not be damaged We need to have our display delivered 2 weeks before the Craft Show which will be the 22nd - 26th of June 2011. If anyone can knit a fork, knife, spoon, plate or a wineglass please let Terry know.

GROUP NEWS

• If you are interested in a hard plastic badge that pins on please see Monica. They cost $10 each and she would like payment in advance.
• The Orenburg Lace workshop will be on Saturday March 26th and Sunday March 27th 10am to 4pm. There is a waiting list for this workshop, but there places still available in the Guild workshops. The requirements for the workshop will be advised by Vicki before March.
• The One Skein swap questionnaires have been handed out . If you missed out and want one please see Diane. Could we have them all filled in and returned at the February meeting please.
• A reminder that on the first Sunday of every month the Ravelry group, Up the M4, meet upstairs at The Red Cow pub opposite Penrith station. We meet at 12 to eat, drink, laugh and knit until about 3pm. Everyone is welcome.
• Terry intends to start an upper mountains group. It will be at the Community Centre in Katoomba at a cost of $2 per meeting. He hopes to start in late February. The group will be a combination of chat and teaching/learning. It will be informal to start with and probably on a Saturday afternoon.
• Terry proposed that when the convenor is doing a workshop we should have a stand-in to run the meeting. He has talked to Venetta who is happy to do this.
• Merrin was asked about the Guild doing something for Flood Relief. There is talk of collecting yarn and accessories for those in Northern NSW who were affected by the floods. Merrin is monitoring this to see whether donations will be needed. Please let Merrin know if you know of any groups co-ordinating this. Merrin will get back to us id anything is needed.

WORKSHOP
Terry held a beginners’ introduction to Fair Isle workshop. He was very helpful in his instructions and everyone who attended learnt something.
Part two of Terry's Fair Isle workshop will be held at the February meeting.

Lois won the raffle.