June Meeting Model Call! Fashion designer Peggy Sue Collection is seeking models to show her stunning knitted, woven, and sewn garments at our June 15 meeting! If you are a women's size 4, 6, or 8 and wish to be on stage for a portion of our June meeting, please contact Bree Zorel programme@torontoknittersguild.ca Thank you!
World Wide Knit in Public. Saturday June 18th is World Wide Knit in Public day. Neilson Park, The Yarn Guy, and The Purple Purl are hosting events. For a listing of events, check the WWKiP website for a location near you. If you know of an event, or are planning one, you can post your information on our TKG Forum on Ravelry.
Message from the President
We are so "On Trend"! Our June 15th meeting will be featuring Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks with her farm fibre fashion. There was an article in the Toronto Star about the Fibreshed and slow fashion movement recently. Remember our September meeting with Becky Porlier and Jennifer Osborn of Upper Canada Fibreshed. Thank you to Bree for your wonderful Programme events this year. Your perspective and enthusiasm for this wonderful world of fibre is truly inspiring.
Our Programme role is still available for the upcoming year. This is an opportunity to put your personal stamp on our guild. I encourage anyone interested to please step forward.
Thank you to Michelle Marin for taking on the role of Secretary for the upcoming year. I am sure Michelle will redefine the role with some fresh ideas.
We are still looking for assistance with Communications and Social Media.
Kim Hume has offered her expertise with photography, and started last month taking pictures before the meeting, and show and tell.
In September 2016, we begin the guild's 20th year, and hope to have our best year ever, celebrating our 20th anniversary. You are encouraged, more than ever, to get involved with your guild. Suggestions are always welcome, and the guild should reflect its members.
I am thankful for all the support I have had this year.
Have a wonderful summer, and we will see you in September,
Knittingly yours,
Debra Rowland, TKG President
June Meeting
Peggy Sue Deaven-Smiltnieks
Peggy Sue will be speaking on her experience in the fashion industry; her beginnings in mass market, fast fashion, and high end luxury goods through to her present company that exclusively uses North American fibre and labour to create heirloom womenswear. Her presentation will explore her experiences within the local fibre and labour industry and how those interactions have shaped the collections for her company to include more knitwear and outerwear garments. She will be presenting her 2016/17 clothing collection which will be available for pre-order as well as her 2017/18 collection just off the Toronto Fashion Runway. www.peggysuecollection.com
June Meeting Vendor: Agrestal Yarn.
At the June meeting, Kylie McDonnell-Wade of Agrestal Yarnwill be bringing a selection of naturally-dyed yarn, all sourced from small Canadian farms and mills. The selection will feature lighter weight sock and lace yarns, as well as some heavier weights and patterns.
At the May meeting, Michelle Gibb from The Knit Kabin graced the hall with an amazing array of yarns from Shalimar Yarns, Sweet Georgia, Tough Love Sock, Fiberstory Fave Sock yarn and Gradient sets, and Mythic yarns.
Raffle
Many thanks go to a TKG member for donating the Power Cables book by Lily M. Chin, and to the Guild for donating a skein of Fleece Artist Howick, and combination skeins of Hand Maiden Angel Hair and Sport Wool. A special thank you to Michelle Gibb of The Knit Kabin, for her generous donation of the Sweet Georgia Party of 5 Gradient Kit. Congratulations to all the lucky winners!
Show and Tell
As always there were great projects on display at our May meeting. See our spotlight on one member's project below, or visit the May Show and Tell post on the guild site.
Main Event
Monika Stramaglia thrilled and delighted with her demonstration of machine knitting! It is easy to see how the speed of production would be compelling, but Monika also showed that the machine was capable of dealing with complex patterns too. Thank you to Monika for the great talk, and the chance to view all her wonderful samples.
LYS Year in Review
As knitters, we are very fortunate to have the selection of yarn stores and variety of yarns available to us in the GTA and surrounding areas. I have had the pleasure of personally visiting most of the stores listed on the TKG website. Although there may be some overlap in products, every store has a unique quality and some feature unique yarns as well.
This past year, we have welcomed new store openings such as The Knit Kabin, Porch Swing Yarnsomniacs, and Yarns Untangled, as well as independent dyers like Agrestal Yarns. Sadly, we have said goodbye to The Wool-Gathering, LadeeBee Yarn + Beads, and soon to close, Americo Original. Thankfully, we will continue to see them online and at knitting events, and perhaps as a Vendor Table at a future TKG meeting.
As you plan your road trips during the summer, remember to check the TKG website for a map of yarn store locations that participate in our discount program. It is a great opportunity to stop in and visit a new site and experience what they have to offer. You never know; you may just find that perfect yarn for the project you have been dying to make!
It has been my pleasure to serve as the Local Yarn Store Coordinator for the Guild this past season. An important objective of mine was to bring Guild members and yarn stores closer together, as this is a key element in the continuation of the selection of yarns and stores available to us.
Have a great summer and happy knitting!
Knitted Knockers 2016 Campaign a Success!
We made our final drop off of the season to Nancy Thomson of Knitted Knockers Canada. This round consisted of over 5 dozen pairs of knockers; in total TKG members contributed over 7 dozen pairs this season. Thank you to all who participated in making our 2016 campaign such a success. A special call out goes to Willow, who single handedly contributed at least half of the knockers out of her own stash! Many thanks to Jonathon Leonard of Romni Wools and Linda Benne of Linda’s Craftique for donating the yarn to kick start our campaign.
I personally feel good in knowing that we have helped to bring comfort to so many women who have undergone such a radical change to their bodies. If you would like to continue to support this worthy cause, (the most requested sizes are B, C, and D) drop off sites are located at many local yarn stores around the GTA and throughout Ontario. For a complete listing, visit their website. As a final note, I would like to congratulate Nancy Thomson on the tremendous job she has done in creating awareness across Canada.
Cindy O’Malley
LYS Coordinator
Upcoming Meeting
June 15th
Peggy Sue
Innis College Town Hall
2 Sussex Ave.
7:30 - 9:30 Doors open at 6:45
This month's meeting marks the end of the season. The 2016/17 starts with a meeting on September 21 at Innis Town Hall. A membership reminder will be sent out towards the end of August.
Visit the Toronto Knitters Guild website for more information on upcoming events.
Guild Member Show and Tell Spotlight
I fell in love with the pattern as soon as I saw it during a random Ravelry search because it just looked so cool! It was written by Kim McBrien Evans of Indigodragonfly for their yarn club - I had to wait impatiently for it to go on public sale, but that gave me more time to choose what colour I wanted to make it in. The pattern is written for yarns with short colour changes of 7-13 cm/3-5 inches, and I decided on Indigodragonfly’s CaribouBaa in the colourway Beige.
I loved the knit right off the bat - it’s a brilliantly written pattern! Watching how the colours changed to make up each little flame never got boring. It was much easier then it looks as it’s all short rows without picking up the wraps on the way back. But one word of warning, you have to always count! The pattern is given as a chart of just the working stitches, so I took the advice of other knitters and wrote down the count of each row first. Then went a step farther and made an excel spreadsheet that included the total stitches in each row of the main chart to work from. That made it much easier for me to check if I was on the right track during the 100 row repeat.
At the Knitters Frolic I spoke to the designer and she’s writing a second version of the pattern that lets you customize the width as well. I’m looking forward to that since I would definitely make this pattern again!
– Christine (Knobknitter on Ravelry)
Pattern: Optical Delusion: Conflagration by Kim McBrien Evans Yarn: Indigo Dragonfly CaribouBaa Needle: 2.75mm
At the June meeting, Kylie McDonnell-Wade of 
We made our final drop off of the season to Nancy Thomson of Knitted Knockers Canada. This round consisted of over 5 dozen pairs of knockers; in total TKG members contributed over 7 dozen pairs this season. Thank you to all who participated in making our 2016 campaign such a success. A special call out goes to Willow, who single handedly contributed at least half of the knockers out of her own stash! Many thanks to Jonathon Leonard of Romni Wools and Linda Benne of Linda’s Craftique for donating the yarn to kick start our campaign.
I loved the knit right off the bat - it’s a brilliantly written pattern! Watching how the colours changed to make up each little flame never got boring. It was much easier then it looks as it’s all short rows without picking up the wraps on the way back. But one word of warning, you have to always count! The pattern is given as a chart of just the working stitches, so I took the advice of other knitters and wrote down the count of each row first. Then went a step farther and made an excel spreadsheet that included the total stitches in each row of the main chart to work from. That made it much easier for me to check if I was on the right track during the 100 row repeat. 
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