Black Sheep Knitting Guild

Here's a link to a cute seasonal YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edIlyY5_6EU&feature=player_embedded and one more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndRhCDiA4pw&feature=fvw As always, we had lovely raffle items this month, donated by Michelle Dagenais, Paula Kelley, Rachel Lawson, Joan Koelsch and Sally Pituch. the lucky winners were Judith Davis - Namaste circular case, Annette Ervin - a book and tape measure, Merritt Collins - Briar rose yarn and circular dog tags, Tanya Thomann - yarn and a knitters handbook, Sharon Hagen - notion kit and a book, Michelle Dagenais - Mirex silver yarn, and Kim Thorsen - cotton yarn and a bag pattern. Joan Koelsch gave a new spin to a Trunk Show. Calling herself a *dabbler* she showed how her love of knitting, sewing, weaving and other crafts were handed down from her ancestors. She put a new spin on family trees, too. We learned to do a cute project that involved knitting on toothpicks !!! Something to challenge fin...

Did you know Kelley Kencik is our V.P.-elect? 1. what was your first project and when ? my first project was a feather and fan scarf that used 4 skeins of brown sheep wool. It's really long, but I love it and still wear it. I think it was 6 or so years ago. 2. what was your most difficult project ? My first real lace project. I was a really new knitter and I decided I would make my mom a scarf for Christmas. I think I knitted the scarf about 12 times when all was said and done. I was grateful for the the internet and life lines when I finally read about them about half way through the project. 3. what is your favorite project? I LOVE SOCKS!!!! 4. salty or sweet? Salty mostly, but sweet on occasion. 5. tell us something interesting about yourself I own chickens and hope to have a beehive this year. 6. aside from knitting, what are you passionate about? Cooking and gardening and books.

and we have our meeting on December 14. Don't forget to sign in and buy your raffle tickets between 7 and 7:30. Only 3 Black Sheep were born in December: Joellen Smith, Gloria Shelton and Michele Dagenais. Happy Birthday! There are no field trips planned for December or January. You'll have to make your own.

Brown bags were in good supply at the November meeting. Black Sheep were eagerly awaiting the chance to choose and steal. No wonder Tanya says it's her favorite meeting of the year! Amidst all the goodies there were a few that seemed to catch the eye(s) of more than one of the Sheep.... and they were stolen repeatedly. To add to the fun, the 2010/2011 swag was presented to the Guild and orders were taken. Sorry - I didn't get a picture. There seemed to be a surplus of raffle items donated by Wendy Marvin and Stacey Totzke. The lucky winners were: purse - Rachel Lawson, 1955 yards of Mission Falls yarn - Erika Proschkow, 1445 yards of Mission Falls yarn - Michelle, lots of chenille yarn - Linda Ervine, felt wine bag - Marguerite Winer, needle organizer - Jackie, Baby Knit book - Linda Mayotte, Big Girls Knit book - Barb Boren, 5 knitting magazines - Rhys Hunter, Knitting Color books - Barb, and Pattern and notions - Paula Kelley.

You don't want to miss the meeting next Tuesday, November 9 ~ it's going to be busy! We'll be having a Quarter Hour Quickie with Nancy Brown, order 2010-2011 swag, elect a vice-president and have our annual Brown Bag Exchange. There will be a sign up sheet for the local Shop Hop on Saturday, November 13, if you want to car pool. Be sure to wish a Happy Birthday to Rita Perrone, Dawn Jensen, Toni Loiacano, Erika Proschkow, Joan Koelsch, Tanya Thoman, and Barbara McAuliffe.

5 generous people donated items for the October raffle: Kathleen Endlein, Colleen Robbins, Sharon Hagen, Heather Perrone and Tanya Thomann. The lucky winners thank them: Rachel Lawson - Knits to fit & Flatter , Sharon Hagen - Textured Knits , Joyce Crabtree - Knitting With Novelty Yarn and some novelty yarn, a guest named Sue - pink Berrocco Chinchilla yarn, Linda Francisco - Mother Daughter Knits , Sue Waid - a project bag, and Laurie Goodman - a notions bag. 11 guests joined us to see the Trunk Show starring LindaLu, to learn about knitting with tshirts and plarn, and to make felted soap [thanks Kate!]. Judith received a large number of white items for our charity project. They will all be put to good use warming people this winter. In addition to all of this activity, nominations were made for vice-president. Charli Osborne and Kelley Kencik are the nominees. The election will be held at the November meeting. Also in November, you can sign up for the local shop hop o...

Happy birthday to the October Sheep: Barbara Burt, Sue Chase, Jackie Gregorich, Mary Lambert, Linda Mayotte, Lillian Molitz, Kathleen Reichenbach, and Opal Ritchie. Saturday and Sunday October 23 and 24, is the Fourth Annual Fiber Expo in Ann Arbor.

Bags and Books: Bobbi Tisher, Sarah Turner, Tanya Thoman, Joan Koelsch and Kelley Kinzik Books: Dawn Lemon, Merritt Scott Collins, Suzanne Sullivan??(guest), Suzanne Hueng, Brenda, Diane Dinisky, Sue (guest), Kathleen Heinlein, Dawn Jenson and Lois. We do great raffles. Can't wait til October!

The September meeting was a great kick-off to the year. We had a full house in addition to about 20 guests! We are selling BSKG t-shirts again, you should have gotten an email if you didn't have a chance to sign up at the meeting. Lots of upcoming events - Spinners Flock, Shop Hops in both Lansing and Metro Detroit, Mt. Bruce, the list goes on. The White Scarf/Winter White Charity project is due in October. Keep those needles or hooks flying making scarves, hats and/or mittens for SOS. We displayed the 135 hats we got at Stitch N' Pitch for the homeless vets. We are still looking for more - so if you are willing to make a hat or two, please bring them to the October meeting. The Silent Auction was a great success. We had tons of gorgeous things to bid on, including 2 incredible shawls donated by members! The raffle prizes were great also - lots of books! We signed up for committees; retreat and a new long term planning. Next month's meeting will have a trunk sh...

Wishing a Happy Birthday to our September Sheep: Marilyn Grazioli, Rhys Hunter, Marcia Kaline & Donna Mrozek. You'll have the chance to sign up for Guild field trips at the September 14 meeting: Saturday, 9/19 - Spinner's Flock Fall Fleece Fair in Chelsea and/or Saturday-Sunday, 9/25-26 - Mt. Bruce Station Sheep & Wool Festival in Romeo. Other yarn events this month include: 9/11 - Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario; 9/23-26 - Lansing Shop Hop; and 9/25-26 - Northern Michigan Lamb & Wool Festival at the Ogemaw County Fairgrounds, West Branch.

Do any of the Black Sheep need reminding there’s a meeting coming up? It’s Tuesday, September 14! The meeting is at 7:30, so get there in time to sign in and buy your raffle tickets. Remember, raffle tickets will only be sold from 7-7:30, so don’t wait to buy yours. There’s a busy year ahead including Trunk Shows, Quarter Hour Quickies with Nancy Brown, speakers, the charity kick-off, Knit Michigan participation, the Sneaky Sheep Swap, our pre-holiday mystery trade, and much more. The September meeting will include a Silent Auction, sign-up opportunities, and a by-law vote. Guests – 18 and over! – are invited to attend 2 meetings to get to know us.

Stitch N' Pitch was a great success. And the Tigers won!! 9-4. We passed out 161 goodie bags and collected 65 hats for homeless vets. The weather was sunny and hot! Here is a link to the photos

Happy birthday to our August sheep: Barbara Sump, Harriet Atlas, Dawn Lemon, Sally Pituch, and Cecile Scott! Enjoy your day[s].

On Wednesday, June 30 about 7 BSKG members attended a cross-guild picnic sponsored by the Oakland Guild at Firefighters Park in Troy. The weather was cool (hard to believe right now), and there was tons of great food. We had a show and share, and as usual, there were some beautiful items, including the gorgeous shawl, and the entrelac shawl pictured above. The Oakland Guild also had some fabulous door prizes - both Kim and Rita won something. A great time was had by all.

Happy Birthday to our hot July Black Sheep: Sharon Hagen, Colleen Robbins, Joyce Crabtree, and Stacey Totzke. And many s'mores!

Just a reminder, we have been invited to a "cross-guild" picnic by the Oakland Knitting Guild this Wednesday June 30th, 2010 from 4:00-9:00pm. Location is Fire Fighters Park in Troy which is on Square Lake between Crooks and Coolidge (it's big you can't miss it!) they have rented out the pavilion. They ask that you bring a dish to pass, your own beverage and chair and of course knitting, spinning, show and share etc. (All paper products, cutlery and ice will be provided) This will be a great opportunity to meet and spend time with other fiber lovers in our area, lots of new fibery friends! Hope to see you there :)

Stitch N’ Pitch is coming! Sunday Aug. 8th at 1:30 There will be a new twist this year – bring a (winter) hat and be entered to win a fabulous prize! The more hats, the more entries! The hats will be distributed to homeless veterans in the Metro Detroit Area. This year there WILL be goodie bags. MORE INFORMATION» Check our Ravelry group discussion board for information on tickets, we will order as a group, so that we all sit together.

Hi BSKGrs! This Tuesday is our First General “open to all” board meeting. Consider this your invitation if seeing what the board does interests you. It is at the church at our usual meeting time (7:30pm), but not in our usual meeting space, we will be in classroom 1 & 2. (to the left when you come in).

Happy Birthday to: Coralee Anderson, Linda Irvine, Kelley Kencik, Linda Lutomski, Kelley Andersen, Mary Moylan, Andrea Lafferty, Rachel Lawson, Barbara Murdock and Sarah Turner! The Oakland Knitting Guild is sponsoring a Knitter's Picnic on Wednesday, June 30, from 4 to 9 at Fire Fighter's Park in Troy. Bring a dish to share, a beverage, a lawn chair, and knitting or spinning. Paper products, cutlery, and ice will be provided.

Well, the retreat is over. Another eagerly anticipated retreat has come and gone. This year, 35 people attended. We laughed, learned new techniques, got to know each other better, and overall had a fantastic time. The setting was nice, the woods and the lake were all that we had hoped for. Even the weather cooperated. The lodge was nice, rooms were more like dorm rooms, but we spent very little time in them. The common room was great – lots of comfy chairs and couches. The area for training was set up to suit our needs. The food was good, and the staff was very accommodating to special dietary needs. Walks in the woods, a bonfire on the beach Saturday night, classes taught on the beach, kayaking (Tanya brought her kayaks), massages, and a member sale. Goodie bags and door prizes, oh my. What more could a knitter ask for? We learned how to do mobius, entrelac, double knitting, magic loop, way too many to mention. We did a bit of shopping in Gra...

The May meeting was the end-of-the-year swap/barter/sell meeting. There was a lot of yarn, handmade bags and other handmade goodies, including shawl pins. For the second year in a row my camera died, so we don't have a lot of pictures. Coffee/tea and dessert was provided by the guild. I loved the mini-eclairs, personally. :-) If you missed this fun event, be sure you make it next year!

We have a lot of Black Sheep celebrating birthdays this month! Have a Happy Birthday: Barb Boren, Marguerite Winer, Kara Hamilton, Kathleen Hearne, Suzanne Huening, Annette Ervin, Linda Seley, Sue Carter, Katy Race and Betty Mathie!

loved their time in Colorado. At The Modern Ewe they played in yarn and met the knit-shop dogs. One of their many meals out was at the Fresh Fish Company. No lamb on the menu made them very happy! They climbed the 13 steps at the state capitol to reach one mile above sea level. Then they checked out the views from that altitude. The rest of the time they lounged about and went out to eat a lot.

I'm so, so sorry I missed the Sneaky Sheep Swap.... but I'm also sorry I missed another fun raffle. Sally Pituch, Chris Hamel, Barbara McAuliffe and Dawn Lemon supplied wonderful items won by: Sue Waid - a squeaky pig kit, Rhys Hunter - ribbon yarn kit, Sarah Turner - It Itches , Sharon Hagen - Fabulous Felted Hand Knits , Kathy Pawlik - The Knitting Way and Two Sweaters for My Father , Charli Osborne - yarn and a circular needle, Kathleen [I'm not sure which one] - yarn and books, Sally Pituch - sock yarn, Stacey Totzke - lace knitting kit, and Mimi Lambert - handmade project bag, merino yarn & a 'Soak' sample.

April Birthdays! A very happy birthday to our April members. . . Chris Hamel, Marie Woodcox, Joan LaForest, Barbara Carter, Charli Osborne, Denise Rubenstein, and Andrea Champagne. and the Sneaky Sheep Swap v.3 Hopefully all knitting and crafting is coming to a close. . .the meeting is Tuesday, April 13, and is bound to be inspiring when you see all that has been created by members for members! and Retreat Sponsors If you haven't done so already, check out the retreat sponsor list to the right. . . in our economy, we've been treated to some extremely generous contributions from local, national, and international businesses. Please remember to support those who support us when you're enhancing your stash.

Just a quick note to everyone about the retreat. There is only 1, possibly 2 spots left, unless we look into getting more rooms in another bldg! So if you are thinking about going, now is the time to contact me and get your form in! Also, don't forget to check the sidebar for names of people who have donated to our retreat so far!! It's going to be fun! I can't wait till May!

was filled with wonderful items donated by Linda Lutomski & Laurie Goodman, Paula Kelley - owner of PK Yarn Over Knit, Rita Perrone and Kate Pultz. The lucky winners were Claudia - a Clinique bag with yarn and a pattern, Stacy - Baby Knits kit, Diane - sock kit, Charlie - Dolly Bag kit, Kathleen - black sheep case and a black sheep ornament kit, Rachel - the book "Three Bags Full", Dana - a gift basket,Nancy - the book "It Itches", Kate - a yarn bowl, Linda D - " Big Needle Knitting", Dawn - 2 books and lace patterns, Sue - 2 skeins of sock yarn and a shawl pin, Opal - 2 skeins of sock yarn and a shawl pin, and Heather - the book "All New Homespun Handknit" and a shawl pin.

On Saturday more than 20 members of BSKG made the trip to the Detroit Public Library to hear the Yarn Harlot ~ Stephanie Pearl-McPhee ~ speak. Our very own Kelley Kencil planned the event. Vendors were set up at 11 to sell their wares, including two of our own: Tanya with lots of her goodies, plus hand-dyed yarn by LindLu. Stephanie had us all laughing out loud ! She is a funny lady and a great knitter!

It all started with our March guild meeting. As usual we had [lots of] wonderful raffle items... which I didn't get the list of. :-( Two lucky winners won free retreat trips, too. Joan Sheridan, owner of Heritage Spinning & Weaving, was our guest speaker. She taught us about Rigid Heddle Weaving showing us how to do it and some results.

Happy Birthday to all the March lambs: Pat Baker, Kim Whelan, Suzanne Jones, Sue Waid, Judith Davis, Linda Dean, Kathleen Pawlik, Kim Thorsen, Ellen Rancilio and Laurie Goodman. For those that weren't at Panera a couple of weeks ago - here's a darling baby blanket Laurie made!

We are sorry to report that there will be no rescheduling of the February Guild meeting; we are not able to use the church this week, and anything later would get too close to the next meeting. Since we had such fun things planned, we are going to simply drop this meeting in it's entirety into the October 2010 slot! The only things that will not be held off are Nancy Browns mini lesson and the Retreat Admission Raffle; both of these will take place at the March meeting, so bring your knitting ready to learn the Kitchner Stitch and bring extra cash to buy a chance to win a BSKG Retreat admission!!! Kim and Rita

Looking at the snow coming down, it's been decided to cancel tonight's BSKG meeting . While getting there would be OK, it might be difficult when it's time to leave Kim & Rita are looking at a new date; possibly next week. We'll let you know!

to our February birthday sheep: Adina Rubenstein, Jodi dietz, Diane Dininsky, Merritt Collins, Valerie Greenberg, Kate Pultz, and Heather Perrone. Happy Birthday! Don't forget... our BSKG meeting is Tuesday, February 9, at 7:30.

Here is the link for picking up dropped stitches http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/secure-html/onlineec/instructionalArticle.asp?iaid=23 NOTE: this method results in a twisted stitch, so you must untwist it. If you don't want a twisted stitch, when picking up the ladder yarn - insert the needle from front to back, not from behind as the instructions state.

Sorry about the wait, here are the links for the i-cord cast on and bind-off (scroll down) and the step-by-step directions for picking up a dropped stitch without a crochet hook: Stop in the row you are knitting at the location directly above the dropped stitch—where the stitch should be on your needles Insert the tip of your left hand needle into the loop from the dropped stitch from front to back. Make sure the right leg of the stitch is in front so that the stitch isn’t twisted. Place the yarn from the row directly above the dropped stitch on the left needle to the right of the picked up loop. Use your right hand needle to pass the stitch over the yarn you just placed on the left hand needle. Repeat until you have come up to the row that you are currently knitting on. Make sure you pick up the dropped strands in the correct order. Also, anyone who needs a registration form for the 2010 retreat, e-mail your request and we will e-mail one back to you!

We've just completed a fun year with Kate & Kim at the helm. Last night we transitioned to Kim & Rita as our leaders. We were taught an I-cord cast on by Kim and an I-cord bind off by Kate. In between, Rita showed us how to repair a dropped stitch using our knitting needles. I'm constantly amazed by the talent and generosity of the BSKG. Sue Waid, our Trunk Show presenter this month showed us items including hats, scarves, shawls, afghans, sweater and stuffed animals. I loved the dog! As for generosity, Judith collected over 50 hats for SOS - lots of styles & colors. Some of them are pictured here. She had four items for a thank you drawing for contributing members. The generosity continued with Heather Perrone, Barbara Burt, Rhys Hunter, Suzanne Jones, Nancy Brown, and Stacey Totzke providing raffle items this month - and there were a bunch! The lucky winners were: Adina Rubenstein - Stitch n Bitch Book on CD, Chris Hamel - a mitten kit, Kathy Pawlik - a...