September 2010 meeting

Guild News

The meeting with the Easter Show Arts Committee has resulted in changes to the schedule to include new categories such as Intarsia, Young People, Tea Cosies and Accessories. The Guild will now work with the Arts Committee to continue work on the schedule and to help with the displays. There were complaints after some articles were damaged in this year’s show. A proposal was put up to have an after show meeting with feedback from Guild members about the Show.

The Guild’s Standards Committee are doing an in-house publication of hints and tips for the show.

There will be a second crochet group meeting on the 4th Monday of every month from 12.30 to 2.30 at Epping.

We have been advised that the Australian Defence Force no longer needs helmet liners . Alison will know more at the next meeting.

Our Meeting

Welcome to the visitors (Julie and Therese) from the West Ryde group. We hope you enjoyed our visit.

Alison will start a suggestion book that will be kept near the sign in book. Please write in any workshops or changes that you would like to see happen. One suggestion was to purchase more books for the group especially the two Loani Prior tea cosy books. Another was to get-together and make tea cosies to enter in the Morpeth show.

Congratulations to Joanne who won a prize at the Penrith Show. Joanne urged us all to enter next year .

Retail: We welcomed Michelle from Wooldancer who came to talk about her lovely spinning fiber and yarns. Her young daughter Alia showed us her handknits that won a prize at the Bendigo show. She made a hat a bag and a scarf from yarn that she spun herself.

Workshop: Our workshop was cast-on techniques with Lynne. Her guide was Montse Stanley's fabulous The Hand Knitter's Handbook. Lynne talked about the loop cast-on , two-stranded (long tail) cast-on and tubular cast on, and how to choose the right cast-on for your project. Thank you for another workshop Lynne. (Written by Diane)


Dates for your Diary

25th and 26th September: Alpaca show at Hawkesbury Race Course. There will be a spinning and knitting competition that Suzanne and Alison will be involved in. Petlins, Virginia Farm , Kurrajong and Springwood Spinning groups will all be there.


Next Month

For our October meeting we will have a stash sale and a talk from Fiona Donovan of the Inner City group on colour. We will also have an Official Visit from the Guild President. For the stash sale please bring your unwanted books and yarn to sell or give away.

The raffle was won by Janette. First Prize was a $25 gift voucher from The Wool Inn. Three balls of yarn were won by Vicki , Robyn and Clare.

Jude Skeers Workshop

An all day workshop with Jude Skeers was held on Saturday 21st August. Jude was very gererous with his knowledge, expertise and gifts of "Moda Vera" yarn from Spotlight - thanks Jude.

We worked very hard learning all the techniques to create mobius knitting. The cast on proved very difficult for some but we all mastered it in the end. In the first part of the workshop we knitted a sample piece so that we could learn the techniques. After morning tea we cast on for the "real thing". Keeping an eye on increases and decreases was a challenge so there wasn't a lot of chatter in the room. No one finished their wrap before the end of the workshop so we look forward to seeing wraps in  future meetings.

Thank you, Jude, for pushing us to to what we thought was impossible!

August 2010 meeting

Guild News

There will be a lace knitting workshop held at the Epping Centre on a yet to be determined date. The tutor will be Smila Smithers. Please keep an eye on your newsletter or contact Yvonne (NSW Knitters' Guild) for further details.

Sally Ogilvie has been appointed as Publicity Officer for the Knitters' Guild of NSW. She will be responsible for promoting the Guild and its activities at craft shows and will handle media enquiries.

A new Guild group called South Village is being established in the Bundanoon area. New groups are looking at being set up in the Blacktown and Campbelltown areas. To start a new group you need 10 members. Anyone interested can contact Merrin. There is some discussion of this on the NSW Knitters Group on Ravelry.

In the last newsletter there was a pattern for caps for Australian Armed Forces. The Guild is in discussions at present as to whether these are suitable.

Camp organizers are required for next year’s Guild Camp at Kurri Kurri.

Please contact Kris at the Guild if you have any information for the Guild website such as patterns, workshops or charity knitting details.


Dates for your Diary
28 – 29 August: Signatur Knits open day; 99 Ballyshannon Rd Killarney Heights
Hours: Sat - 10am to 4pm; Sun - 1pm - 4pm
Up to 40% OFF - Discontinued Designs - Colours - Yarns - All sizes! All lengths! And a Guild discount.

"Show and Tell" was a big hit this month with Venetta as "Master pf Ceremonies". Those of us who missed it are very disappointed - please do it again Venetta!

Next Month

• Lynne will be giving a workshop on different cast-on techniques. Please bring needles and 2 different coloured yarns as well as a crochet hook.
• Michelle Snowdon from WoolDancer will be here to sell us fibre and yarn and talk about her business.
• Afternoon tea will be provided by Monica, Alison , Sharne and Helen

The raffle was won by Shirley and three balls of Yarn Barn yarn were won by Lesley , Helen and Shirley .

Feral Knitting Workshop - Lynne Johnson

On Saturday 17th July an all day Feral Knitting Workshop was held with Lynne Johnson as guest tutor. Everyone who attended had a fun time. Lynne has a way of drawing people to use skills they didn't realise they had and everyone produce a work of art without a pattern!

Thank you, Lynne, for your patience and inspiration.

July 2010 meeting

Dates for your diary

• 24 July: Spotlight knitting party
• 7 August (9am - 3pm): private sale of knitting, cross-stitch, patchwork and dressmaking supplies in Castle Hill; email pamhoy@bigpond.com for more details
• 30 October: lace workshop with Smila Smithers at the West Ryde group - see Ally for more details

Kurrajong Back to Back Challenge raised $10,700 for breast cancer research.

Terry is teaching Knitting Level One at Katoomba, Tuesdays 10am-noon, for 8 weeks. Cost $164. Lessons at his home can be arranged.

We received an email from The Yarn Barn in Victoria offering us a sample pack of 27 balls of yarn (9 x 3 balls of each). These will be offered as raffle prizes. A response has been sent thanking them for the offer.

Retail: We welcomed Suzanne's House of Wool today. She had hand-dyed and handspun yarn and fibres for spinning available.

Next month
Afternoon tea roster: Margaret P, Meera V, Bev C, Marilyn B.
More volunteers are needed for coming months. Please speak to Ally.

All day workshop on Mobius knitting with Jude Skeers. Please bring interchangeable circular needles, 8, 10 or 12 ply yarn and 3 or 4 ply yarn. Bring your own lunch.

June 2010

GUILD NEWS


Direct Deposit has now been approved for payment of membership fees. Please a copy of the deposit form with your membership form and put a reference of some sort, e.g. your name or member number, on the deposit form.

The Guild Ravlery Group now has 73 members.

Members of the Guild have access to advice from a professional conservator, Tamara Lavrencic, who works for The Historic House Trust of NSW and was the guest speaker at the 2101 AGM. Questions to her can be sent either via Ravelry or the Guild Website or via the post addressed to The Secretary Kate Venn at the Knitters Guild.

The Guild will appoint a Publicity Officer in the next few months. The PO will be responsible for all Guild publicity and to assist with media enquiries.

2011 marks the 25th anniversary of the Knitters’ Guild of NSW. There will be a double page spread regarding this in the next newsletter.

The display at next year's Stitches and Craft Show (June 2011) will be “Christmas in July”. A knitted Xmas dinner, including a turkey, will be featured. Volunteers are needed to knit silver leaves for this display. Yarn will be supplied. please leave your name with Ally if you can help. Members are also asked to supply objects of interest to display.

Because The Knitters’ Guild of NSW has a reciprocal agreement with The Spinners and Weavers Guild of NSW, members of one can attend the workshops of the other for member price. A list of workshops of the Spinners and Weavers Guild van be found at http://nsweave.org.au/



DEMONSTRATION

Jenny and Phil Dunne from Virginia Farm Woolworks were our guest retailers. Jenny gave a talk on needle felting, showing three different gauges of needles .The needles have small barbs at the end that tangle the fibres. The meanings of terms like roving and wool top were explained. Jenny recommends wool top as the best for needle felting .The coarser the fleece the easier and quicker the results will be. Needle felting is quick but not as fine as wet felting. You can make balls, teddies and flowers for brooches. Knitted garments can be decorated with needle felting. The longer you work it the more solid and finer the felt will be. Start with a coarse needle and slowly work your way down to a finer one.

Instructions for making a ball
Put a bell into a pill bottle and wrap the bottle in wool and start poking it with the needle to felt it. Be careful not to hit the bottle as the tips of the needle break easily. Work your way around so as to keep it a sphere. These can then be embellished by felting different coloured tops or commercial wool onto it. These balls are great for cats and small children as they tinkle when they roll.

Items available from Virginia Farm Woolworks
many coloured tops
needles in different gauges
a Wooden Needle Felting Handle which holds five needles ($29.95)
books on needle felting


RETAIL (Jenny Dunne in pink, Phil in background)

BACK TO BACK CHALLENGE
The teams at the Back to Back Challenge at Kurrajong didn't do as well as last year. From sheep’s back to finished jumper took 7 ½ hours this year as the fleece was very sticky from all the rain that we have had. Over $10,000 was raised for Breast Cancer research. The raffle prize was a hand-painted spinning wheel and was won by our convenor, Alison.


ADDITION TO THE LIBRARY
The NSW Knitters Guild Website Made Easy


SHOW AND TELL
This intarsia blanket was made after being inspired by a Liz Gemmell workshop . Judy brought this to show newcomerswhat the Guild can do for you.





RAFFLE
The raffle was won by Denise.


NEXT MONTH
All day workshop with Lynne Johnson on feral knitting and colour work starting at 9.30am. $40 per member and $50 for non-members. Please bring your own lunch. Morning and afternoon tea supplied.

Retail : Susanne's House of Wool selling hand dyed roving and yarns.

Afternoon tea: Robyn G, Robyn C, Denise and Stanis.
PLEASE NOTE: We need more volunteers for the next six month's roster

photo of our second youngest "member"

May meeting

Executive Business:

A Ravelry Group is being set up for the Knitters Guild of NSW. It will have threads discussing events but not Guild business, please use the Guild website member login for that.

Next year the Guild is 25 years old. Ideas are being formulated as to celebrations. There will be a competition with prizes. There will be a formal dinner table presentation with all items hand knitted including a turkey. We will need volunteers to knit silver leaves by August. Alison will have more details at the June meeting as nothing is finalized yet.

Group News
A wool winder and a swift are now available during meetings. You are more than welcome to bring your skeins to the group and wind them.

Alison and Kris are setting up an email group for our group; please make sure that Alison has your correct email details.

Diary Dates

Sunday 6th June  - Back to Back Challenge - 1665 Bells Line of Roads, Kurrajong from 8am till finished. One of our group, Suzanne, will be in the team again. It is a really good family day with exhibits, and items for sale.

Monday 7th June  - annual ABC - "Wrap with Love" Knit In  - ABC, Harris Street, Ultimo, from 7am Details can be found here. Other Knit In venues on 7th June are:
* Penrith Library 9.30am - 3pm (tea and coffee supplied). Bring 8 ply wool and needles.
* Springwood and Katoomba libraries 10am-noon
* Springwood Pool

Saturday 12th June - World Wide Knit In Public (WWKIP) Day - Abraham Mott Hall, The Rocks from 1.30 - 5.30 with loads of fun and raffles.

Thursday 17th June - WWKIP - Epping Library, 9am - noon.

16th - 20th June - Craft and Quilt Fair  - Darling Harbour.
The theme for this year's Guild exhibit is "Christmas in July". If you want to contribute or help contact Veronica Moschione.

knitting for charity

Guardian Angel Knitting is a partnership between Guardian pharmacies and the Salvos. Spotlight is selling discount yarn to use in the making of sweaters for the charity. Details in a Guardian pharmacy or here. Knitting must be finished by 31st July 2010.

Local events:

The Red Cow group meets upstairs at The Red Cow Hotel opposite Penrith station from 1.30 - 4.00 on the first Sunday every month.

Penrith library has a Knit In on the first Monday of the month from 10 am.

Retail: Lush Yarn

Marie from Lush Yarn had a large selection of merino and merino/silk and cashmere blends. She was also selling buttons, shawl pins and books. Sadly, Marie will no longer be part of the Lush team; she has chosen to to spend more time with her boys. We wish her well.

Michelle from Lush Yarn will continue the website and clubs.

Workshop (written by Diane)

Lynne Byass gave a workshop on slip stitch colour work; another technique new to me. It is quite simple and effective once you get the hang of it. Lynne brought books and samples for us to look at. Very interesting, thank you Lynne.


Show and Tell

Forthcoming meetings and workshops

Next meeting Jenny Dunne from Virginia Farm Woolworks will give us a demonstration of needle felting. She will also have fibre, yarn and spinning tools for sale.

Vicki needs the money now for the Jude Skeers workshop in August and the Lynne Johnson workshop in July; $40 each please.

The raffle was won by Yvonne.