JULY NEWSLETTER

Maryland Metro Knitters Guild Newsletter June 2003

President’s Column
I have lots of news to report!

Thanks to Genia, we have a new website for our guild:
www.mdmetroknitters.blogspot.com
I suggest you make a note of this so that you can always check the site for updated information.

We had a good turnout at our last meeting for the holiday ornaments and the TKGA trunk show. See the minutes by Lorena on our website for details.

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 2, at 7:30 P.M. at the College Park Community Center. Our program is a lesson in steeks given by Christine. This is a wonderful technique for knitting in the round and then cutting open fronts and armholes after knitting. It’s especially important for fair isle designs. Homework is 2-3 swatches (in at least 75% wool) of about 4”x 4” as follows: 1 in seed stitch, 1 in stockinette stitch, and an optional one in 2 colors. Bring a crochet hook and a yarn needle.

We will have a new location for meetings, beginning with our August meeting: the First United Methodist Church in Hyattsville – across the street from the Prince Georges Plaza Metro Station. Directions will be posted on the website. We will have the room from 7:00 to 9:30 so you can come early and stay late! Our meetings will still begin at 7:30. Thank you to Sharon Piper who arranged for this room for us, which will cost us less than the College Park Community Center. Note that we will still meet in the old location for our July meeting.

We have a new librarian, Kathleen Walton. If you want to borrow a book or tape from the library, e-mail Kathleen at: busywoman@eudoramail.com The cost for rental is just $1 for a month.

Retreat
We are working on planning a retreat for Friday through Sunday, November 7, 8, 9, 2003. Participants will stay at my apartment in Sea Colony in Bethany Beach, Delaware, and in the two rental apartments that Marilyn Riffkin has in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It takes about 20-25 minutes to drive from Marilyn’s places to mine when traffic is sparse, which it should be then. We will have room for 12 people, including Marilyn and me.

We have tentatively decided on a few arrangements for the retreat, but most things are open for discussion. We can have a brief discussion at our July meeting (but most of the time should be on our wonderful program). We are trying to keep costs reasonable, but we will have to pay for cleaning the apartments and for meals and snacks. Please share with me before the meeting any thoughts that you have (msegal@socy.umd.edu).

As of now the plan is to gather at my apartment, which looks out on the beach and the ocean, on Friday afternoon. We’ll need to decide what to do about dinner. Most likely, we’ll go to a nearby restaurant.

For the Saturday of the retreat, Mary Stevens has volunteered to host us all at her lovely house in Rehoboth. Her living room is large, with plenty of chairs, lots of windows, and a partial view of a marina and the bay. We will probably have lunch and dinner there. Mary is looking into ways to cater the meals with reasonable costs. Mary suggested that we have a yarn swap/sale on Saturday at her house and I think that’s a great idea: one person’s unwanted stash is another’s treasure!

There is a yarn shop, Knitty Gritty, in Rehoboth, where those who wish can visit on Saturday. There is also a wonderful yarn shop called Sea Needles in Bethany Beach. I hope we can have a field trip there on Sunday. The shop opens at 11 A.M. on Sundays, so we can immerse ourselves in more yarns before we head back to reality!

We will sign up participants for the retreat on a first-come, first served basis. We may begin signing up at the July meeting. This depends on whether we can firm up some of the arrangements by then, including an estimate of the cost per person. We will probably also need volunteers to help with arrangements (e.g., purchasing paper goods, snacks, etc.)

Activities of other groups
There will be a Knitters Day Out on September 20, 2003 in Summerdale Pennsylvania. The cost is $35 for the day. There are classes and a market. Information is on the website: www.geocities.com/knittersdayout

The 3rd annual Knit Out & Crochet will be held on the Washington, D.C. national mall on Sunday, September 21, 2003. Volunteers are needed for all sorts of activities; our guild members have participated actively in the past Knit Outs. Remember that there will be fashion shows, show and share, charity knitting, a chance to see some of the latest yarns, and even get some free yarns and patterns. For information, visit www.knit-out.org or call 301-530-5821.

Ernestine’s Knitting Studio in Silver Spring is having a Valentina Devine workshop on Creative Knitting on September 13 and 14, 2003. The cost is $75 per day. For information, check the website: www.knit-crochet.com

More from me
I look forward to seeing you at the meeting on July 2nd at 7:30 P.M. at the College Park Community Center. If you have any questions or ideas about the guild, please e-mail me at msegal@socy.umd.edu

Cheers and happy knitting,
Mady