Newsletter for November-December 2003

Message from the President, Mady W. Segal

Hi Everyone! Wow we had a great retreat! There were 9 of us, plus Mary Stevens. Thank you to Mary for hosting us at her lovely house in Rehoboth all day Saturday and for arranging for the personal chef, Kris, to make us delicious food. We even had a reflexologist, Marie, working on our feet and hands. Thanks to Lauri Katz for buying the food for our breakfasts and snacks and to Ginny Frank and Marilyn Riffkin for helping to make and serve lunch on Sunday. We had a weekend of camaraderie, fiber, knitting, and shopping trips! We visited Knitty Gritty in Rehoboth, Sea Needles in Bethany Beach, and Made by Hand in South Bethany. (Some also went to the outlets.) Many of us had thinner wallets at the end of the weekend (and fuller stomachs)! I certainly enjoyed it and I hope everyone else did too.

At our November meeting, we did an extended show and share, with all of us showing and talking about our latest projects and our latest purchases of yarns and accessories. We shared many things, from luxurious kiviut to the Bass Pro Shop “worm” container that serves as a wonderful and inexpensive storage case for needles, etc. We also had a yarn swap/sale that enabled some of us to clean our stash and others to find bargain goodies.

This month our meeting is our annual holiday party, which will be a potluck dinner at my house - on December 3. (Directions are below.) We will start at 6:30, but if you can’t come until later, that’s fine. We probably won’t eat until about 7. Please send an e-mail to Marilyn Riffkin (mriffkin@juno.com) to tell her what category of food you will bring. I’d like to make a special request: if you bring something vegetarian, it is best if you don’t put any milk products in it (some of us, like me, can’t eat milk products and others can’t mix it with meat). I will provide paper plates, cups, napkins, and beverages.

We will have a special kind of gift exchange at the party (some call it a Swedish auction, but others call it by different names). Please bring a gift-wrapped item that is either homemade or handmade and that cost $10 or less. Here is how it works: We will draw numbers and open presents in order of our number. Each person can pick one of the un-opened gifts or can take a gift from someone who has already opened it. A gift can only be taken 3 times; the third person who takes it gets to keep it. The first person gets to be the last. This is lots of fun, but only if we are willing to take gifts from others. (And when it’s over, trades are permitted!)

Also at the party we will knit swatches of reversible stitches for our article to appear in InKnitters magazine. Please bring size 4 needles. Lauri Katz will bring patterns for the stitches and DK weight yarn. Lauri and I will also ask you to sign up to be part of the article by knitting an item in a reversible stitch (we need at least 6 of us); tell us what you intend to make. Remember that this will earn $300 for our guild!

Dues (a mere $15) are payable at the December meeting. Please bring a check (made out to Maryland Metro Knitters) or cash. Marilyn Riffkin is our treasurer.

Last, and VERY IMPORTANT, we will have elections at the December party. I will be stepping down as President, having fulfilled my term of one year. We also need to have a Program Chair, a Membership Chair, a Newsletter Editor, a Website Manager, a Librarian, perhaps a Secretary, and perhaps a Charity Knitting Chair. I have not asked the incumbents if they wish to continue to serve but we can do that at the meeting. Remember that self nominations for these offices are welcome; indeed, they are encouraged. The work of the Guild is best when spread around – and it’s more fun.

I look forward to seeing you at my home on December 3rd.

Mady