Next Meeting: December 19
Doors Open: 6:30 for social knitting | Meeting Starts: 7:30
Location: Innis Town Hall
December Speaker
ROBBIE LAUGHLIN Knitwear Designs
Robbie Laughlin is a knitwear designer and instructor from Toronto who has just self-published his first book! Architexture: Shape and Surface was recently released in yarn shops and as an ebook, and contains 12 designs centred around the Canadian yarn industry. With a keen eye towards texture and alternative shaping, Robbie has used materials from companies that pay attention to creating yarns that are both environmentally and ethically sound.
Join us at our December meeting where Robbie will talk about how he approaches design, having a creative process, getting your work noticed, and how to approach self-publishing for the very first time.
Toronto has a strong male creative knitting and fibre arts community. To celebrate and feature the talented men in this community, we’d like to extend our theme into our Show & Share segment by welcoming these men to our meeting. Please bring items made by men, made for men, and items made from male designers. Men wearing their garments is encouraged! Bring your husband, brother, uncle, friend ... Men attend for free!
December Vendor
Patrick Madden will be bringing assorted goodies at 25%-70% off, including Prism, Blue Heron, Trendsetter, Noro, Debbie Bliss, Rowan, and Lana Grossa. He carries a variety of yarn weights (sock yarn, DK, lace, worsted, chunky) and fibres (wool, cotton, linen, mohair, tencel). There will also be kits available featuring Robin Hunter, Avid Knitter, and Laura Bryant Designs.
Patrick accepts cash, debit, and credit cards. Pay cash and save the tax; come early, don't be disappointed!
New Member Orientation and Member Meet Up
We hear you! You want to meet other Guild members, mingle and orient yourself at our meetings. Cheryl De Ville, our Programme Coordinator, will be available 20 minutes before the December 19 meeting to show you around and get you oriented. New members or any member, who would like to meet more people, join Cheryl at the front of the room at 7:10 PM for a quick chat. Cheryl will be wearing a skein of yarn around her neck, like a super quick cowl, to identify herself. We’d like to continue this mini meet up prior to meetings from time to time.
Breaking the ice can be tough, but we have a super Guild and a few ideas to help you connect and make a new friend or two.
Here are your winners of the donation draw at the November meeting.
Donated by: Mount Sinai for the 10 portable phone chargers, Knitomatic for the Wool and the Gang Magic Sock Kit, and a few members for the 16 prizes we gave away. Thank you to the 33 members who donated knitted items, yarn and needles to our donation drive. The grand total of donations is 112 items!
The donations comprise 50 hats / chemo caps, 24 scarves / cowls, 11 pairs of socks for Nunavut, 7 tiny angel gowns, 5 pairs of Knitted Knockers, 4 PIC line covers, 3 pairs of mittens, 2 pairs of fingerless mitts, 2 shawls, 1 poncho, 1 shrug, 1 cape, 1 blanket, and lots of yarn and needles!
Judy Platt and Brock Fisher of Universal Yarn presented an overview of the company and the 2018-19 Fall / Winter Yarn preview.
All Universal Yarn is manufactured in Turkey and follows the highest standards to ensure conformity and to reduce environmental impact. They offer a wide assortment of fibres from a basic 100% acrylic to 100% natural fibres at competitive price points. There are four major brands in the Universal line - Universal Yarn, Fibra Natura, Rozetti, and Wisdom Yarns.
There are 45 different yarn brands under the Universal family: anti-pilling and regular acrylics, acrylic blends, cotton, cotton blends, wool, fine merinos, superwash wool, raffia, and polyester. The strongest selling brand is the Uptown Worsted, a 100% anti-pilling acrylic. New for 2018/19 is Bella Cash Worsted, a 60% merino superwash, 30% nylon and 10% cashmere which comes in 20 shades and Finn, a 50% acrylic, 25% superwash Merino Wool, 25% Alpaca which comes in 12 shades.
Fibra Natura concentrates on natural fibres such as cottons, organic cotton, merino superwash, linen, hemp, superwash wool & silk, and blended options too. Whisper Lace, a luxurious 70% superwash Wool, 30% Silk blend, is the leader in this yarn family.
Rozetti is more fashion forward. Alaska, a new yarn in this line, is 44% acrylic, 26% polyamide, 15% superwash wool, 15% alpaca, and perfect for lightweight pieces that will still surround you with warmth.
Wisdom Yarns offers many variations in striping patters for socks in a #1 superfine yarn weight. Wacki Saki is a 50% superwash Merino, 25% rayon from bamboo and 25% nylon, perfect for socks, shawls, and baby garments.
Visit Knit Much for recent reviews of Universal Yarn.
In addition to bringing luscious yarns to add to our stash, Amelia from Yarns Untangled and Karen Malin of Feisty Fibres talked a bit about how they started their Kensington Market store and their philosophy around yarn and making things.
November Meeting Announcements
November 21 was World Hello Day - yes, there is such a thing and we honoured the holiday by saying hello to someone we didn't already know. Carol Mather-Miles provided a short report on the status of the Guild incorporation. Papers have been received from the lawyer and will be reviewed at the next Board meeting. After consulting with the people who had developed and managed Frolic workshops in previous years, the Board has decided that there is not enough time or human resources to properly handle the various tasks required to offer high quality Frolic workshops. Are you interested in getting involved with the Frolic? We are searching for a new Workshop Coordinator and team to help out! Please email frolic@torontoknittersguild.ca.
Dr. Knit, a.k.a. Denise Powell, gave a short history of the Guild, including a picture of the flyer announcing the first meeting on January 15, 1997 and the first Frolic on June 13, 1998. Although Dr. Knit was not the doctor on call during those first few years, she has been offering Guild members the benefit of her expertise for many years.
The Doctor is In! You can find Dr. Knit at monthly Guild meetings to help with the thorniest of knitting problems, preferably before the meeting, but she can also stay for a short while after.
November Prize Draw
The following exciting prizes were given away at the November meeting. We hope members will support the organisations that make this possible!
Cardigans (book) by Louisa Harding, donated by a Member; Won by Nelia Glover
Red Sock Blue Sock – Skein of Sock Adventures colour "Grasshopper/Soot", donated by a Member; Won by June Murray-Lim
A Ticket to the Book Launch Party at Bookhou and a copy of Emily Foden's book – Knits About Winter, donated by PomPom Magazine; Won by Caroline Innis
Feisty Fibres – Twinkle yarn, donated by Yarns Untangled & Feisty Fibres; Won by Holly Yip
3 skeins of Finn yarn plus a variety of tools including tape measure, scissors, stitch markers, needles, and a pattern, donated by Universal Yarn; Won by Dahlia Wagner
At the January meeting, Kate Atherleywill speak about 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Working with Handpainted Yarns'. Our January vendor will be Stix & Stones.
GUILD BUSINESS - INCORPORATION
At the general Guild meeting on January 16, 2019, we will take a formal vote about whether we may proceed with incorporating the guild, and to accept the Articles of Incorporation. Our lawyer will attend the meeting, will present the reasons for incorporation, and will be available to answer questions (for up to 30 minutes). The vote will follow immediately after. Questions prior to the meeting may be sent to info@torontoknittersguild.ca
