Black Sheep Knitting Guild

Time flew by between the November and December meetings! In November... ...there were numerous lovely items in the member show and share. The Honey Cowl (Tracey K's. KAL-of-the-month pattern pick) had already been completed by a member or two. Harriet A. also shared a Daybreak made with Miss Babs and Happy Fuzzy yarn and Vangie had a great sweater with a 'scrunched' cable pattern that was really eye-catching. Raffle prizes were donated by Marie W., Linda M. and Kim W. Books, yarn (can knitters ever have too much yarn?!), a needle case and bags were among the prizes...as well as a Lamb Shoppe Yarn and Coffee Bar travel coffee mug with stitch markers tucked inside. Kate P. won the special raffle of a spot in the upcoming Anne Hanson classes in March. (Anne Hanson in March?! yee-haw) Voting for the new vice president took place...with the results to be announced in December. For the November program we were lucky to have the wonderful Jillian Moreno as a guest sp...

Up bright and early on this crisp, fall Saturday...a group of Black Sheep met at 8 a.m. to drive over to Saline, Michigan for the sixth annual Fiber Expo. There were a few more Black Sheep at the event—both shopping and vending! The Fiber Expo was full of great yarns, colors, critters (including a camel!), baubles and bits. We came away three hours later with a bit less cash (okay, probably a lot less) but happy and excited by our individual finds. I can't wait to see the items that start to get knit up...wonder how many of us are casting on tonight?!   After Max & Erma's for lunch, chatter and warm chocolate chip cookies, a group of us headed to Northville to stop in at Center Street Knits and browse a few shops before calling it a day. And what a day it was!

Our October meeting was a busy evening. We have two nominees for Vice President: Harriet A. and Tanya T. Voting will take place at the November meeting. Drew gave our first trunk show of the year...hope the Honey Cowl and Slouch hat made it back to his table...they looked lovely on Kelley and Charli! Raffle items were donated by Donna and Merritt — thank you! Winners: Claudia — 4 skeins of Knit Picks 'Bare' and a copy of Yarns to Dye For ; Judith — Schaefer Anne yarn and beads; Chris H. — Misti Alpaca lace weight and Best of Knitters Shawls and Scarves ; Kathy P. — Black Sheep Irish Collection magnet and Tracey — Swallow Studios Woolly Sheep pin and Zen and the Art of Knitting . Brown Bags:  and green bags, pink and polka dot bags...it was the annual brown bag swap, where bringing a knitting-related $10-$15 item in a brown bag entitles you to join in the fun. Bags were selected from the table and opened...or sheep could decide to 'steal' one that ...

Join us for our monthly guild meeting Tuesday, October 9, from 7 p.m.–9 p.m. (doors open at 6:30 p.m.).  Don't forget we’re at Our Sheperd Luthern Church; enter through the door on the north side and turn right for the elevator and stairs—we meet in the lower level. As usual we have a busy night planned! There will be a trunk show featuring Drew J., nominations for vice president and we will have our brown bag exchange (knitting/sheep related item in the $10–$15 range tucked inside a simple brown bag).  Remember that charity blankets need to be turned in to Judith as well.  Hope to see you there!

The new location for our guild meetings is great — plenty of room, good lighting, nice tables...it looks like the Black Sheep will be very, very comfortable here! (l) Erika did french knots on her sheep! (r) Look who the sheep dragged in!                 The Welcome back meeting started out with show and share and many members had lovely finished items to show — some of us were busy knitters over the summer. Erika finished her sheep coozie (which Mimi had designed for the KAL at the retreat last May) ...and there were numerous lovely shawls, a sweater, a first pair of socks (yea for firsts!), and many, many charity blankets already finished creating a big mountain of cozy goodness in front of Judith. It's the season for fall fiber festivals...Harriet had quite a list of upcoming events to choose from. See the Events page for dates and links to more information on each. If you'd like to attend an event and want to carpool, just begin a ...

The Black Sheep flock has changed pastures! Our NEW meeting location is the church on 14 Mile Road, in front of our old location. Our Shepherd Lutheran, 2225 E. 14 Mile Road, Birmingham. We will have a larger, better lit room in the basement of the church with both stairs and an elevator available for easy access. Parking is in the back (north side) of the church and the entrance is in the center of a wall of windows. We meet from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., and doors open at 6:30 p.m. so you can sign in, buy raffle tickets and visit. Speaking of visiting, please respect speakers and other members by not visiting  during the meeting. Speaking of speakers , on September 11 we kick off the fall knitting season at our Welcome Back meeting with a program from one of our very own. Rose, of Cakewalk Yarns, will have a colorful presentation about the Dyeing Process. Speaking of dyeing, are you dying to be more involved in the guild? There will be a variety of ways for y...

The 6th annual Stitch N’ Pitch will be held Sunday September 23rd, at 1:05 pm at Comerica Park. Detroit Tigers will be playing the Minnesota Twins. We will again be accepting donations of warm winter hats at the game (washable, please) to be donated to the Michigan Veterans Foundation. For every hat donated, you will be entered to win a fabulous prize! We would love to see you all there. Tickets are $27 each, with a $6 service fee per order. So get together and place one order for a bunch of tickets (one $6 service fee then!), and that way you will all be sitting together. We hope to see you there. It is always a great time, and it is great to meet other fiber artists. More information (pdf) »  

The weather on Sunday is supposed to be HOT.  After consultation with the leader of our flock it's been decided that indoors - with air conditioning - would be best. We plan to gather at 12 Oaks Mall this coming Sunday, June 10..  We'll see you in the Center Court at 1pm.  Wear a BSKG shirt if you have one..... all the better for flash mob knitting.

Kelley [aka the head sheep aka leader of the flock] has decided that we will celebrate World Wide Knit in Public day at Shain Park, Birmingham.  We'll start gathering at 1PM on Sunday, June 10, in the north-east section of the park.  In sheepish fashion we will follow the sun... or rather, try to stay out of it.  Hope to see ewe there.

Our last guild meeting is always a busy one...after a few opening announcements from Kelley and Charli, we cut into the Black Sheep cake—delicious! It's quickly becoming a favorite tradition!    Members showed off a few finished objects: a great charity blanket, a finished April KAL and a felted and embellished bag from the retreat were a few of the inspiring items shared.    The silent auction and the swap and sale took place as well...with many great items available! Our sheep are so talented!    Have a wonderful summer...keep up with the sheep Tuesday nights at Panera...and keep knitting (especially on those great charity blankets!).

Black Sheep :: May 4–6, 2012 :: Higgins Lake   Friday  About half of the attendees did the early start and sidetrip to Stonehedge Fiber Mill for a mill tour and shopping experience on the farm. Arrived back at the RAM Center in time for dinner, followed by a short game of Last Knitter Standing. Door Prize Gallery Friday evening we had an amazing display of gorgeous colors and fibers, and members had time to stroll around and enjoy their first glimpse of all the donated door prizes. Asked to cast ballots to vote for some favorites, retreat attendees took it quite seriously and skeins were handled, fiber content inspected and colorways were closely examined. Along with all the beautiful yarn, we were happy to have a few additional items, such as project bags, a book and a great yarn swift. See the list of  independent dyers and small businesses  at the right who donated — please support these wonderful folk who have been so generous to us! Notice...

Another incredible Sneaky Sheep Swap.  Our members are so crafty, clever, creative and inventive.  The bags were all beautiful.  There were knitted bags, felted bags, crocheted bags, fabric bags, and combinations of the above.  Check out the photos on the right side of the blog. The raffle prizes were donated by Sharon Hagen and Katy Koelb.  It was an interesting coincidence that many of the prizes were purse related. Mimi won the purse book and handle kit; Joan Duncan won the purse and book kit with grey yarn; Vangie Agemy won the Knitting Experience: Color book; Rita Perrone won the book and hand ease gloves; Stacy Totzke the red purse kit; Drew (our newest member!) the Noro purse kit; and Chris Hamel the sock yarn and pattern.   This was the last meeting before our annual retreat.  We have lots of yarney goodness planned, a fantastic weekend of fiber!  There is still time to sign up for the retreat - so far we have 39 members g...

We saw KAL cowls and look-alike shawls Raffle prizes were donated by the Guild, Marilyn Grazioli, Kathleen Endlien, Joan Duncan,Kathy Pawlik, and Charli Osbone. Dawn Jensen and Sharon Zmick won the retreat raffle, Helga ~ the Spin, Spindle and Fiber class, Kathy Pawlik ~ spindle, Kim Whelan ~"Shaping Shawls" book, Dawn Jensen ~ yarn and "Knitters Book of patterns",Susan Campbell-Fournel ~ a scarf pattern and yarn, Marcia Kaline ~ green sock yarn, Linda Mayotte ~ blue sock yarn, Kate Pultz ~ Regia and Cascade Fixation sock yarn, and Dawn Lemon ~ brown novelty yarn. Marilyn Grazoli, owner of Ewe-nique Knits, was the guest speaker. Marilyn discussed spinning with "different" fibers such as silk strips, coffee filters, and dog fur. It gave us the opportunity to explore other options.