T I D E W A T E R K N I T T I N G G U I L D O F V I R G I N I A

Purls of WisdomF E B RUA RYM E E T I N G

Monday, Feb. 4

Help Clinic, 6:30 p.m.Meet and Greet, 7 p.m.

Business Meeting, 7:15 p.m.

Join us for

Wet Felting.

Westminster Canterbury3100 Shore Drive, Virginia Beach

Check tkgv.blogspot.com to confirm the meeting date.

Questions? Email us at tkgv1@yahoo.com.

February 2013

A Message from Our President

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

2 Member Birthdays, In Memoriam,

Calendar

3 Ravelry Weight Loss Group,

Ravelry Tutorials

4 Colorway Contest, Knit Bit

5 Charity Knitting, Book Review

6 Meeting Minutes

plus

Knitting Retreat Information

and Registration

The board recently met and came up with a plan for the year. We will start the year’s programs at the February meeting with a demonstration in wet felting. Though we have a plan for the year, we have a few holes to fill, so be prepared to come to the meeting with some ideas, or you will be at our mercy. We also decided to move the knitting contest to October and add a category for originality. Projects will be submitted in September and winners announced at our October meeting. Look for information and rules in our newsletter, and on Ravelry and Facebook. October is turning into one big celebration, with our birthday and elections also happening. The board also decided to continue with the idea of sponsoring a charity for our holiday party theme. This year our charity will be St. Mary’s Home, which cares for children and young adults with severe disabilities. In fact, our party will be held at St. Mary’s in their beautiful atrium. More details and a wish list from St. Mary’s will follow in the future. Last call for our Knitting by the Sea Retreat. Though plans are being finalized, it is not too late to sign up for the few remaining class slots. There was a question about lodging and yes, rooms can be shared to keep costs down. I am pumped and can’t wait. Finally, Feb. 1 was National Wear Red Day, a national campaign to bring attention to the No. 1 killer of women, which is heart disease. Laura Zander of Jimmy Beans Wool is promoting the campaign through the fiber community with the book Knit Red: Stitching for Women’s Heart Health. The book contains 30 patterns contributed by 30 well-known fiber designers along with their personal stories about heart disease and staying healthy. So, think RED for February’s meeting.

Debbie Henderson

Submissions for the March issue of the newsletter are

due Feb. 15. Email Editor Sonja Barisic at

snbarisic@gmail.com. photo by Lynn Clements

T R E A S U R E R ’ S R E P O R T

The Guild’s current bank balance is: $4,837.92. Beverly Boler

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Mark Your CalendarsGuild meetings start with Meet and Greet at 7 p.m., followed by the Business Meeting at 7:15 p.m. The Guild also offers a Help Clinic, starting a half-hour before the meeting.

Feb. 4 – Guild Meeting. Program will be Wet Felting.

Feb. 23 – Charity Knit-In. At Debbie Henderson’s home, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Let Debbie know if you plan to attend.

March 4 – Guild Meeting.

March 7-10, 2013 – TKGV Outer Banks Knitting Retreat, Knitting by the Sea. Hampton Inn, Corolla, N.C. Details at end of newsletter.

M e m b e r B i r t h d a y s T h i s M o n t h Bonnie Matthews, Feb. 8 Vicky Shearin, Feb. 14

In Memoriam: Ruth Coleman Ruth Coleman, longtime TKGV member, passed away on Jan. 16. A memorial service was held Jan. 20 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk. Ruth is deeply missed. You can read her obituary and sign an online guest book at http://goo.gl/kXG6A.

Thirty-One Gifts’ motto is CELEBRATE, ENCOURAGE & REWARD. January is a great time to celebrate friendships, to encourage those who come into your home with kind words and hospitality and in turn you will reward yourself with close friendships. Thirty-One Gifts offers exclusive products for women that are beautifully designed with many fabric choices from flashy and sassy to reserved and classy. Items include skirt purses, various thermal totes, a wide variety of organizing bins and totes (great for holding knitting projects and yarn) and Mini Zipper and Zip-Up Pouches for your knitting notions. What a better way to get your knitting and yarn organized then with Thirty-One products! Monthly Customer Special: Visit my webpage to view the complete catalog and the monthly special, or place an order. Should you have any questions, or want to receive the monthly specials flyers via email feel free to contact me directly. Mention my ad when ordering -- 5 percent of sales will be donated to the Guild.

By Katie Gerwien I find myself, at age 51, unhappy with my current weight and reduced physical fitness status. After years of maintaining a healthy weight and exercising regularly, to include running in local races, now I am more than 50 pounds heavier than I was the day I married my wonderful husband 6.5 years ago. In addition to having a willing partner for delicious dinners, I am getting older and have a reduced metabolism. I have a sedentary job, and I spend more time knitting than I do exercising. I do not want to give up knitting, as many of you can understand, but I want to return to a healthy weight and improve my physical fitness.  I am a Ravelry addict. Given limited time in a day, I will go to Ravelry to review new patterns before I will go to Facebook or check my personal email. While I was pondering my situation, I decided I probably am not the only one on Ravelry who loves to knit and wants to change their weight and physical fitness status. Just after Christmas Day, 2012, I started a Ravelry forum called "2013 Healthy Weight Loss and Enjoying Knitting" for the purpose of providing knitters support, encouragement and healthy weight loss tips. I expected a few folks might join. The forum took off very quickly.  As of mid-January, there were about 350 forum members. We share our stories, support each other and offer tips for such things as eating at restaurants, preparing lunches, when to exercise and the like.  If you have not joined Ravelry yet, I recommend Ravelry to you heartedly. Even if you just use portions of Ravelry -- such as the "My Notebook" area, where you can store your project information, your stash, your needle collection and your pattern collection -- you will benefit from Ravelry. If that tempts you, I encourage you to search for patterns on Ravelry, as well as review the various Ravelry forums, or groups, where you will find kindred spirits who share your love for knitting and what topic the forum or group adddresses.  I wish every TKGV member a healthy and happy 2013.

L e a r n H o w t o U s e R a v e l r y w i t h E a s y T u t o r i a l s By Lora Marin There are still many of Guild members who aren’t taking advantage of the knitters’ best resource: Ravelry. This link below will help you navigate some of Ravelry’s wonderful features:http://www.ravelry.com/guided_tips. Remember, Ravelry is free. Please take a few minutes and enjoy the tutorials. You can find Lora on Ravelry as Lorameow.

I m p r o v e Y o u r K n i t t i n g a n d Y o u r H e a l t h W i t h R a v e l r y

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Join Rusty for an amazing class knitting super bulky yarn into a beautiful lace cowl.The Clydesdale Cowl class is Feb. 9 from 12-2 p.m. Rusty is a professional designer who has been published with Skacel and in Love of Knitting magazine. And he is fabulously fun!

We have lots of new classes from our own wonderful gals: Learn to Knit a Hat, Fix Your Mistakes, Seaming and Finishing Techniques, Top-down Raglan Baby Sweater, Socks from the Cuff Down and more. Check the website or stop by the shop for details, www.yarnclubnits.com. Knit-a-longs seem to pop up all the time. Right now we have the Drift Shawl, the Inspira Cowl, Vanilla Crisp Cardigan, and knit any of your favorites from Baby Cocktails. I’m deciding between Dark and Stormy or the new Chocolate Stout cardigan. This month we welcome Misty Alpaca to our family of hand-dyed yarns. We carry Pima Silk and the scrumptious Chunky Alpaca hand paint.This yarn is just yummy! So just come by and join the fun with a knit-a-long, a class or on Wednesday evenings with our social knit group. Andrea

240 Mustang TrailSuite 8Virginia Beach, VA 23452

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By Cheryl Cauthen Bond Thank you to all Guild members who participated by submitting pictures and voting in the retreat colorway contest. Winning photos were sent to Laura at The Unique Sheep to design our first Guild custom gradient colorway. We received a total of 30 photos from Denise Call, Lora Marin, Linda Johnson, Amy Upson, Chris Goudeau, Lynn Clements, Vicki Shearin, Melanie Perez-Lopez, Nancy Curles Quintilone and Cheryl Cauthen. Several members submitted more than one photo. The retreat committee voted for their five favorite photos and the top 10 pictures were presented to the Guild members to vote for their three favorite at the January meeting and in an online survey. There were a total of 34 ballots received. The three photos that received the most votes were:

Submitted by, from left, Cheryl Cauthen, Lynn Clements and Nancy Curles Quintilone The Unique Sheep will select a photo and design our yarn. Therefore it still will be a surprise. Retreat participants will get the fingering weight yarn in their goodie bag. Stay tuned, Guild members -- you will have the opportunity to order yarn in our gradient colorway. Details on how to order will be announced at the next meeting. Congrats to the winners. The person whose photo is ultimately chosen will get a gradient set.

R e t r e a t C o l o r w a y P h o t o C o n t e s t W i n n e r s

Want to learn to knit socks? Check out this great Knitting Fever blog post, passed along by Lynn Clements: http://knittingfever.com/blog/?p=692.

K n i t B i t : S o c k F i t a n d C u f f s

Two new bookcases = 50 more cubbies = lots more yarn. With the advent of the spring season I realized I was going to need lots more shelving space in order to accommodate all the new yarn. So, I'm making the trek up to Ikea to pick up two additional bookcases for the back wall. And I'll have the yarn to fill them. Juniper Moon Farm's Yearling is already on the shelves in seven luscious colors. With 60% merino wool and 40% cotton in a bulky weight, it's perfect for jackets and wraps to transition between seasons. JMF's Findley Dappled should arrive before the end of January. Sublime's Egyptian Cotton DK is available in 11 shades. I'm adding Berroco to my list of yarn lines. The first yarns to arrive are Lago, Seduce, Karna and Linsey. There will be plenty of pattern support for these great yarns. The first Knit One Crochet order includes Ty-Dy. There are 25 new pattern book titles on the shelves. Laura Nelkin's new jewelry design, Soutache, comprised of a necklace and bracelet, will also be on the shelves soon.  

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Thank you

to the members of the Guild who have made me feel

welcome in the Tidewater knitting community. I look

forward to meeting many more of you. Roz Klein

Baa Baa Sheep LLC754 W. 22nd Street

Norfolk 23517

By Chris Goudeau Our top three charity winners for 2012 were:

• 1st place, Denise Call• 2nd place, Margaret Faust• 3rd place, Wanda Gunnoe

Two dozen members participated for 2012 and included Helen Prestipino, Debbie Henderson, Chris Goudeau, Jackie Scott, Katie Gerwein, Angie Brown, Marilyn Estrada, Vicki Shearin, Nancy Quintilone, Linda Johnson, Lee Werblin, Cindy Call, Mary Oliver, Amy Upson, Sue Von Ohlsen, Catherine Stokoe, Lora Marin, Vici Kahookele, Lynn Clements, Cheryl Cauthen Bond and Teresa Hammons. Many thanks to everyone. We will be having our annual knit-in at Debbie Henderson’s home on Saturday, Feb. 23, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please let Debbie know if you plan to attend. Remember, if you have donated your charity items to an organization out of town that still counts for our purposes. Remember to sign the charity sign-in sheet each month, or email me at chrisgoudeau64@gmail.com (please note new email address).

C h a r i t y K n i t t i n g U p d a t e

By Roz KleinShort Story by Cathy Carron, Sixth & Spring Books, $19.95

Cathy Carron continues her successful formula, established in Hattitude and Cowlgirls, for creating a great pattern book by designing Short Story. With 35 different patterns there's one sure to please every one on your knitting gift list. The myriad styles represented include cardigans, pullovers, shrugs, ponchos, boleros and wraps. The patterns use a wide variety of yarn types, making the book perfect for using up your stash. She labels each pattern on a skill level of 1-4. It's not too early to start thinking about those warm evenings when you only a need light coverup. 

B o o k R e v i e w : S h o r t S t o r y

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TKGV PROPOSED MEETING MINUTES, 1/7/12The president opened the January 2013 meeting at 7:23 p.m. by welcoming and introducing our visitors. The president extended the Guild’s happy birthday wishes to members celebrating their birthday in January. The November 2012 and December 2012 meeting minutes were approved. The president gave the treasurer’s report, advising the Guild has $4,458.00. The board will post the 2013 budget in the next newsletter. The charity chairperson announced the 3 winners of the charity knitting contest. Each winner will receive a check as a prize. The knitter with the greatest number of knitted items donated to charity for 2012 is Denise Call, with Margaret Faust, second, and Wanda Gunnoe, third. Carrollyn Cox extended a warm thank you to the Guild members who knitted scarves for the Eastern Shore Chapel’s Homeless Shelter event. Mrs. Cox advised the scarf recipients were truly touched by the gifts of handmade scarves.  The Guild will hold a charity knit-in on Saturday, February 23, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the president’s home.  Participants may contact the president to confirm participation. The Guild will attend the January 26 Admiral’s hockey game. For guild members who want to participate, please contact the president prior to the game to arrange for tickets in the same section of the venue. The newsletter chairperson thanked those members who are submitting articles and requests members to continue submitting articles on topics of interest to knitters. Yarn Shop/Vendor News:Baa Baa Sheep: is having two knit-alongs. Please contact the shop for further information on the events. The Knitting Corner: has received new Ella Rae yarns and has posted the current classes on Ravelry. The Yarn Club: has several trunk shows and will offer a Super Bowl Sunday yarn sale. The TKGV Knitting Retreat team continues to receive registrations for the March 2013 retreat. The colorway contest is underway.  Please see the TKGV Ravelry group for further information.   The president asked the members to write down their 2013 knitting resolutions. We will review our 2013 knitting resolutions at the December 2013 meeting. The Ways and Means committee conducted the raffle of items donated by Baa Baa Sheep and Thirty One. The Guild enjoyed the show and tell.  The members enjoyed the stash sale.   The February program will focus on women’s heart health. Members are encouraged to wear red to the February meeting. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted,

Katie GerwienSecretary, TKGV

T i d e w a t e r K n i t t i n g G u i l d o f V i r g i n i a

“Knitting By The Sea: Knitting with Sock Yarn” Retreat

March 7 – 10, 2013Hampton Inn, Corolla, N.C.

Join the Tidewater Knitting Guild of Virginia for the “Knitting by the Sea: Knitting with Sock Yarn” Retreat from March 7 – 10, 2013, at the Hampton Inn in Corolla, N.C. Classes (which are optional) will focus on knitting designs/patterns and techniques using sock yarn.

Friday afternoon and evening enjoy meeting everyone, a reception and knitting fun. Saturday will be busy with yoga, knitting classes, a boxed lunch, vendors, knitting time and surprises. After dinner Saturday night (on your own) there will be desserts and more knitting fun. Sunday morning get energized with yoga before taking another knitting class and join everyone to close the retreat and bid farewell.

Retreat with classes: $125.00* Includes 1 class on Saturday morning and 1 class on Sunday morning, Friday evening reception and activities, Saturday evening dessert reception and activities, Saturday lunch, and a registration goodie bag.

Retreat without classes: $100.00* Includes Friday evening reception and activities, Saturday evening dessert reception and activities, Saturday lunch, and a registration goodie bag Payment (check or cash) is due with registration. *Non-Guild members pay an additional $20.

Cancellation: Full refund minus, $25.00 processing fee until Jan.15, 2013. After that date no refunds, but finding a replacement is acceptable.

Lodging: You will make your own room reservations directly with the Hampton Inn & Suites, 333 Audubon Drive, Corolla, N.C. Phone: (252) 453-6565. Rooms are $89 plus taxes and fees (about $100/night) and include breakfast. When making reservations mention the Knitting Guild. Reservations must be made by Feb. 4 to get the group rate.

Class DescriptionsDesign a Stranded Cowl: Using the two-handed knitting technique for stranded color knitting (sometimes called Fair Isle) and a few charts, design your “one-of-a-kind” cowl in fingering weight yarn. We’ll make a sample size in class. Techniques: two-handed stranded knitting, corrugated ribbing, reading charts in the round, inserting your design and maybe a few more. You should know how to knit, purl, cast on, bind off.

Design a Shetland Style Shawl: Starting with one stitch, you’ll increase, bind off, pick up. Knit down and knit across to design your one-of-a-kind triangle-shaped shawl using fingering weight yarn. We’ll make a sample size in class. Techniques: knitted bind off, yarnover at beginning of row, suspended bind off, reading charts and maybe a few more. You should know how to knit, purl, yarnover, knit front and back, and knit two together.

Mosaic Knitting Technique: Would you like to add a little color-work to your socks without carrying or stranding colors? Using a simple slip stitch technique or mosaic technique, you can create intricate and beautiful patterns in your socks or anything you knit. Need to be able to knit, purl, and slip a stitch.

Sweet Tomato Sock Heel: Learn to knit the Cat Bordhi sock heel of short rows without wrapping and turning. Must be able to knit in the round using DPN, 2 circulars or Magic Loop and purl.

Tidewater Knitting Guild of Virginia

“Knitting by the Sea: Knitting with Sock Yarn” Retreat

Registration Form

Name________________________________________________________________________________

Address_______________________________________________________________________________

Email________________________________________________________________________________

Amount enclosed ______________________________________________________________________

Make checks payable to: Tidewater Knitting Guild of Virginia or TKGV

Class Choices: Pick one each day: limited to 15 students/class.

Saturday: _______ Design a Shetland Style Shawl Linda Johnson _______ Sweet Tomato Sock Heel Chuck Dunn

Sunday: _______ Design a Two-Stranded Cowl Linda Johnson _______ Mosaic Design Sock Chuck Dunn Return or mail form with payment (check, money order, or cash*) to:

Linda Johnson1009 Shoal Creek TrailChesapeake, VA 23320

* Do not send cash if mailing. Can be handed in at the Guild meeting.