RETREAT

Well, the 2013 retreat at the Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center at Higgins Lake is officially over!  We had 40 Black Sheep attend, which is the highest number so far.  The weather was a bit wonky, but no one seemed to mind.  We knit, ate, drank, had massages, got henna tattoos, walked around, and, did I say, we knit!!!  A couple of Black Sheep even went kayaking on Higgins Lake early Saturday morning.

Here are just a few pictures of Black Sheep having fun.

 

We had a beautiful display of items making up our door prizes.  Here are just a few pictures.

Saturday we had a class on color pooling with Lynn Hershberger.  Lynn taught the same class at the Sock Summit.  It was a very interesting class and a great learning experience.  Thank you Lynn!

Thanks to all who helped in making this retreat the success it was.  And thank you to all who attended.  We love ya and hope to see you next year.  And, to those who couldn't make it this year, we hope you will be able to do so next year.  Just ask your friend and fellow Black Sheep who went how great a time we all had.

H.

Last meeting til fall.

Last meeting of the year was held  on 5/13 and lots of fun was had by all.

We had fruit and cake.  Cake was so beautiful, sheep were taking pictures of it.

Tables were filled with items for sale/swap. Great deals and fun, fun, fun.

Judith brought lovely yarn susans to sell.  Note the stuffed animals to the right which were brought in for our charity project.  Not due til October, but knitters are having fun already making cute animals!  Keep it up.  The elephant wasn't even a pattern given out, but used by one of our sheep.  Isn't it great?  Feel free to substitute your own pattern if you like.

More tables filled with items to sell/swap.

Enjoyed several "show and share" projects.  Our Black Sheep are SOOO creative.

Next meeting will be September 9.  Hope everybody has a wonderful summer.  See you in September.  Unless you come by Panera to knit on a Tuesday night.  If so, I'll see you there.  Come join us everyone!

Harriet

April Showers

When we left the meeting,  it was pouring rain, with thunder and lightning. Will we ever have spring? Good thing the swag was distributed – the vests were very nice, and kept us warm.

Our annual (6th!) Sneaky Sheep Exchange was the focus of our April meeting. As usual, the creativity and variety of our members was phenomenal. (this purse was from last year's sneaky sheep)

As you can see, a variety of items were created under the "cozie" umbrella.

A survey on the future of the guild was conducted. If you didn't get a chance to fill out a survey, not to worry, we will send out an e-mail with the particulars.

We had many raffle prizes generously donated by Stacey T., Diane D., and Coralee. And the winners were: Sue S. - Book 1: The Knit Stitch, Martha (lucky guest!) acquired the Little Box of Knits for Baby, Heather P. - a gorgeous skein of Mango Moon with a Scood pattern, Tanya received 8 skeins of Kathmando Aran by Queensland Collection with a vest pattern, Patti S. won a skein of Socks that Rock, Sue W. got 2 skeins of Sock Candy, Kim W. – 2 skeins of Cascade 220, Mimi – Toys to Knit book, Penny D – Cute Knits for Baby Feet, Rita – Wacky Baby Knits, Claudia (another lucky guest) - Alt Fiber book.

In addition, a special raffle for the retreat was held and won by Barbara M.

The annual retreat is scheduled for May 17, 18, 19. Last call to register. Forms were previously emailed out, but if you need one, please contact Charli or Harriet.

Charity kick-off: Bartholomew the one-eyed monster and a cute little bear are the projects for the year.  These adorable creatures will go to children in Project Nighty-Night.  Creatures are due back in October. Judith also included enough yarn and instructions to knit a 7" x 7" square to be collected and made up into blankets for Project Night-Night. If you didn’t pick up a kit and want to participate, please contact Judith, our fantastic and hard working charity coordinator. 30 bear kits and 19 monster kits were distributed. There are 2 monster kits remaining.

April Black Sheep Knitting Guild Meeting Reminder

Hello Sheepies!

Just a quick reminder that we are meeting next Tuesday, April 9. Doors open at 6:30 and the meeting will begin at 7:00. There are a few special things happening this month, so be prepared and bring your pennies!

• Sneaky Sheep - all of our sneaky sheep swap efforts will be revealed! If you have ever participated in Sneaky Sheep in the past and didn't have the opportunity to give your gift, now is the time - bring it in and present it to the person it was originally intended for.
• Swag will be passed out - if you ordered swag, payment on that will be due.
• For those going on Retreat with us in May, the final Retreat payment will also be due.  If you paid the $75 deposit and are in a twin room, you owe $110.  If you paid the $75 deposit and are in a single room, you owe $145.
• We will be holding our last special Raffle for a Retreat registration. Raffle tickets will be $5.
• We will be kicking off our Charity knit for the year - kits will be available to pick up at the meeting. 

Guests are invited to attend 2 meetings to try us on for size.  All BSKG meetings and events are for those 18 and over, unless otherwise stated, so please leave children at home.

Happy Spring, everyone - I'm looking forward to seeing all of you next week!

Going to Bowling Green, OH

Hello all you Black Sheep!

This is my first attempt at posting on the blog.  Just wanted to let everyone know how great a time we had at the Black Swamp Spinners Guild Market Day in Bowling Green, OH yesterday.  We had an extremely large group of Black Sheep who ventured south - 17 in total!  We had a wonderful time there, going from vendor to vendor, trying not to spend our entire bank accounts.

We chatted with Amy of Bad Amy Knits - bought her yarn and lots of her bags.

Across the aisle from Bad Amy was one of our favorites - Briar Rose.

 I got to show Chris (Briar Rose) the lovely sweater I made from her yarn and pattern.  Her yarn is so lovely.

And finally, we had our yearly group photo taken by a friendly knitter.

I know , I know.  The number of Black Sheep in this picture is only 15.  Wylie and Judith had left before we took it.

Oh, and Michele won a beautiful knitting book in one of the raffles they had.

We did manage to hook up with Wylie and Judith when we all drove into downtown Bowling Green and ate at the Easystreet Cafe.  It's a great bar/restaurant with wonderful food.

Some of us then drove to Perrysburg, OH to visit a great yarn shop - Yarn Cravin.  It's a wonderful little shop in an old house.  Yarn in every room.  We manage to visit every year. (and purchase more yarn, of course!)

The drive home was uneventful.  It was a lovely day and we all had a great time.  Some also went over to Kim T.'s house afterwards to knit and help her celebrate her birthday.  Happy Birthday Kim!

...out like a lamb

Here it is again two months past. Spring is bounding towards us and Black Sheep have been busy!

Our February meeting was extending your craft: non-knitting activities that extend or complement our love of fiber and stitches. Have you ever made a sweater and had trouble finding the perfect button? Make your own Dorset buttons with leftover yarn. Other activities included needlefelting on thick industrial felt to create a little sheep keychain, and making a pipe cleaner and roving sheep mascot to guard your yarn stash.

Harriet's trunk show featured shawl after lovely shawl...I'm sure she inspired some people to sign up for the Anne Hanson beginners lace class in March.

Feeling the love, the February meeting also gave us time to socialize and visit while enjoying a lovely black sheep decorated cake--yellow cake with a lovely raspberry filling. Rita, who is that baker? It was delicious!

Door prizes donated by Kim T, Joan D, Noreen S and Kate P. were a great variety of items: Rowan magazines (Karen S), Divé yarn and pattern (Anne R), Ella Rae yarn and pattern (Dawn J), American Red Cross Knit kit (Kim W), Koigu, beads and pattern (Linda L), Namaste Oh Snap bags (Mary M), Butterfly cotton yarn (Linda F) and Simply Chic by Jill Eaton (Ann T). Whew!

And on top of all that abundance, a special raffle of a kit for the Euclid sweater generously donated by Philosopher's Wool was won by our vice president Harriet A. If you have not heard of Philosopher's Wool take a look at their website...it is a lovely company and makes one heck of a field trip...I've visited once and would do it again. Field trip plan, Wylie?

March into spring: We were so, so lucky to have Anne Hanson of Knitspot come to teach three workshops over the weekend prior to our March meeting. Saturday was beginning lace — we have a group who are now fearlessly searching out lace yarn and patterns. I see a lace KAL and mention of other lace projects popping up in our Ravelry group. Sunday was a project oriented workshop featuring Anne's Bittersweet Vines cowl and mitts pattern. Imagine the delight of working on a pattern with the designer right there over your shoulder! At least six of the students already finished their cowls. Monday evening was a Designing off the cuff workshop -- on taking your basic go-to sock pattern and understanding how to add stitch patterns, and understanding how stitch textures and yarn varieties will play out.

Our guild meeting on Tuesday night was one last chance to rub shoulders with Anne — she presented her story and thoughts on knitting and design as well as offered up a trunk show with an opportunity to see and touch so many of her lovely samples.

Anne donated a special raffle item of a subscription to her 2013 Bare Naked Knitspot 2013 eBook. Lucky winner was Noreen S.

Our guild raffle included items donated by Erika P, Kathy P.: Road to China yarn (alpaca, cashmere, camel and silk blend!) with a pattern in a lovely handmade bag (Cheryl L), Simply Felt book (Vangie A), Manos del Uroguay yarn (Michele D), lovely purple handspun by Kathy P and Knit: Mittens book (Mary C), a skein of our beloved Yarn Hollow yarn (Terry S -- new member luck!) and Knitting Beyond the Edge (Patti N -- lucky guest!)

Oh! AND another special raffle for spot at the retreat won by Linda D. So excited to have you joining us again for the retreat weekend...it's going to be a great weekend.

Be sure to check our group on Ravelry for upcoming events info and carpooling plans. Also the events page here for other events to consider.

The new year: Cast on...Bind off.

Our January meeting had special guests and special moments...

Special guests Rita, Laura and Maureen shared with us their enthusiasm for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Detroit and the fight against breast cancer. A heartwarming video, presentation and a great Q and A period made their visit with us an inspiring opening to the meeting. Race for the Cure is May 18.

Pat K. followed by speaking about Knit Michigan, the fundraising annual event dedicated to bringing awareness and support to local cancer patients, their families and the organizations that support them. Under the guidance of Judith D. the guild has long supported the event with volunteers at the Learn to Knit table. Knit Michigan is coming up fast...the first Saturday of February.

The program in January ushers in the new year by welcoming the new president and vice president and ends the current president's term, allowing us the opportunity to thank them for all they have brought to the guild in that position.

The new president teaches a cast on at this meeting, and Charli shared with us the i-cord cast on—great for at the hem of a sweater, it prevents curling and creates a clean edge. Our new vice president, Harriet, stepped up in the middle to share a couple of joining techniques. First, the tried and true favorite when knitting with wool or other feltable fibers—the spit join. Harriet also shared the russian join for fibers that won't felt, such as cotton. Ending the program, Kelley stood in front of us for one last time. She led us in a bind off technique that creates a stretchy—great for lace—bind off, called appropriately, the lace bind off.

Raffle this month was donated by Helga, Tanya and Joan. An impressive array of items included a Be Sweet Sweetie Pie pattern and yarn kit (won by Marie), a couple of great books including The Knitter's Handy Book of Top-down Sweaters (won by Wiley). Eileen won the Artful yarns and handmade project bag, Donna won the prize she knew she would win: Kollage yarn in a lovely Bermuda Green with a Little Iris Shawl pattern. Oh and did I mention that I won the prize that I wanted so much that I doubled my ticket buy? Five cones of Habu Textiles Gima yarn with a cocoknits pattern, Paulina. Thanks so much, Joan, Helga and Tanya!

The final special moment: a group of sneaky sheep had been busy at work, each knitting squares that were pieced together into a lovely afghan and presented to Kelley. The beautiful hand dyed yarn was donated from our very own Rose, of Cakewalk Yarns. Nice work, knitters! (photos coming soon)