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Next Meeting: June 20 | Doors Open: 6:30 | Meeting Starts: 7:30 Location: Innis Town Hall
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June Meeting
2018 Work of Our Hands Show
Only a few more sleeps!!!!! It is finally here. The Guild’s annual Work of Our Hands Show celebrating our members’ creations is June 20. We’ve had a wide range of submissions and can’t wait to have members show them off. We are all looking forward to seeing the parade of items. In particular we can’t wait to see the Playtime sandwich and tea set… or maybe the Frolic Zick Zack… or…
Thanks to our volunteers who have been working behind the scenes to pull things together, in particular Katrina MacAlpine (our event MC), Cheryl De Ville and Mary McNulty!
Vendor: Red Sock Blue Sock Yarn
 Red Sock Blue Sock Yarn is a family run business based in Ontario, Canada and was founded in 2013 by Ashley Ratnam as a way to further share her love of fibre with others. The name of her company is inspired by her daughter’s love of all things Dr. Seuss and the wonderful and crazy adventures to be had.
Red Sock Blue Sock Yarn strives to provide high quality yarns in a fantastic array of tonal solids all the way to vibrant and highly variegated colors. Each skein is hand dyed with care on high quality fibres spun in Canada.
- We will have the following items: sock kits, gradient kits, a mixture of our comfort sock, singleton, and cashmere sock yarns.
- Payment methods: we will be able to accept credit cards and cash only. No Interac.
- Discount will be 10% off everything but we do have to charge tax.
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Message from the President
It’s amazing to me that it’s June, and we are at the end of another Guild year!
Thank you to everyone who came to our Annual General Meeting (AGM) in May, including Kirk Dunn’s fascinating talk about his Stitched Glass project.
I am very happy to tell you that the Members of the Guild in attendance at our AGM unanimously agreed to the proposed revision to Article 2 (item 4) of the Guild’s Constitution. The full text of the Constitution is on our Guild website, under the About menu.
During the AGM, the Board presented reports to the Membership. As Treasurer Carole Adams was unable to attend the AGM, I provided a very brief overview of our financial status. Carole has provided a preliminary financial report, as our year-end is August 31. We will provide a final financial report and budget early in the 2018-19 season.
We also finalized the slate of Executive (in bold) and Board members of the TKG. I present to you:
- President – Carol Mather Miles
- Vice President – Tammy Elliott
- Secretary – Jill Cameron
- Treasurer – Jeff Stewart
- Registrar – Anastasia Pelechaty
- Programme Coordinator – Cheryl De Ville
- Local Yarn Store (LYS) Coordinator – Susan Loube
- Social Media Coordinator – Ramona Ng
- Newsletter – Anastasia Pelechaty
- Wendy Dempsey
- Anne Marie Corrigan
- Creative Director – Patrick Madden
- Webadmin – Susan Gibson
- Webmaster – Vivian Goffart
We will be transitioning the new members, Tammy, Jeff, Cheryl, Wendy and Anne Marie, into their roles over the summer, and we will introduce ourselves to you at the September 19 Guild meeting.
Thank you to Carole Adams (outgoing Treasurer) and to Roberta Brown (outgoing Newsletter Editor) for their service to the Guild.
Thank you also to the Membership for all of your support, encouragement, and kind words.
Carol Mather-Miles
Guild President
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Announcements
Come with Us!
Kitchener-Waterloo Knitters Fair, September 8
The Knitters Fair is coming soon! Would you like to ride there in an air-conditioned luxury coach, while you knit, chat and relax?
If you’d like to take a luxury coach trip from Toronto to the Knitters Fair, would you please send an email to info@torontoknittersguild.ca by June 29th confirming your interest. We have budgeted this trip at $50pp, and will only book it if we have a minimum of 34 people expressing interest.
Attendance on the last 2 bus trips (to Woolstock in October and to the PEC Fibrefest in May, each priced at $40) was less than expected, and the Guild has subsidized both trips. Our budget won’t allow us to continue to run bus trips at a deficit, so we need some good preliminary numbers if we’re to go forward with booking a bus to the KW Knitters Fair.
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Bus to Rhinebeck – October 19-21
Join Mari and Diana on their 5th annual Rhinebeck trip, to the Dutchess County Sheep and Wool Festival! Do some shopping, stock up on yarn, or simply admire the fall colours.
For just $575 CAD, your trip includes:
- Private 1st class return coach
- Travel with an experienced driver
- Complimentary water and soft drinks on the bus
- Transportation to/from Fairgrounds
- 2-day fair pass
- 2 breakfasts
- 2 nights shared accommodation
For more information, please contact Diana Jones or Mari Cairns
Diana will also be at our June meeting, if you’d prefer to speak with her in person.
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Summer Fibre Festivals & Events
Look at all these knitting-related events over the summer! This is exciting! Follow the links for more details
July 14 – The Great Toronto Yarn Hop on Facebook and Instagram
August 15-19 – Twist Fibre Festival
August 25 – Fibre Spirit in Barrie
Throughout the Summer – Cottage Country Yarn Crawl
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New Memberships for 2018/19
2018/19 Memberships are now available for purchase.
This means New Members get an extra meeting for free, plus up to 4 extra months of discounts at the Local Yarn Shops who participate in our discount program.
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2018-19 Program Preview
We hope you are looking forward to an exciting 2018-19 season of speakers, events, and vendors. To give you a little taste, here is a listing of what’s booked already: Gaynor Homestead (vendor); Songbird Yarns (vendor & speaker); Universal Yarn (speaker) and Yarns Untangled (vendor); Signature Yarns (vendor); Stix and Stones (vendor); Knit School (vendor & speaker); Yarn Indulgences (vendor); and Alpacas from Eighth & Mud (vendor & speaker).
More details will be finalized in the coming months.
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World Wide Knit In Public (WWKIP) Day!
We had a Fantastic WWKIP Day at the Wychwood Barns Park! The weather was perfect – partly sunny, not too hot, not too cool. And lots and lots of people! At the peak, I think we had 19 knitters sitting under and around the tents, and with people coming and going, I think at least 30 knitters sat with us at some point in the morning. We taught several children to knit, including one 7-year-old boy who stayed with us just about the whole time. Several people who sat for a bit said they used to knit but had forgotten, but the muscle memory kicked in and they were knitting up a storm within minutes! And we handed out TKG business cards and flyers for the nearby Grand Opening at Romni Wools. All in all, it was a very successful event.
Thank you to the Farmers Market Organizing Team for offering up the space, and for providing so much support to us!
Have a look at the Flickr album with all the pictures from the day.
We had so much fun at WWKIP Day that we’re going to keep it going!
Come out and knit with us on:
- July 4
- July 21
- August 4
- August 18
Time:
8am – 1pm.
Location:
Artscape Wychwood Barns “Orchard”,
601 Christie Street, south of St Clair.
The Orchard is at the NW corner of the property.
These events take place during the Farmers Market, so there’s lots of opportunity for shopping. Goodies and treats are available for purchase, or you may bring your own snacks/beverage. Please bring a blanket or chair to sit upon, if possible.
This event will run Weather Permitting. Please check the guild website or Guild’s Ravelry page for up-to-date information.
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May Meeting In Review
See more pictures from the May meeting on Flickr >>
Raffle
Book - Crocheted Abode a la Mode: Janet Elias
Fingering-weight yarn - Rhichard Devrieze: Marnie Armaly
80/20 Sock Yarn - Lichen & Lace: Beryl Lau
Selection of mini skeins from Viola: Suzie Larouche
Show & Tell
We did not have a show and tell for our May meeting, but we look forward to showing off guild members' wonderful projects durning the Work of Our Hands show during the June meeting.
Feature Speaker: Kirk Dunn
What a treat it was to listen to Kirk Dunn as he took us on his creative journey, from learning how to knit to pass time on a night shift, to the renowned knitter and fibre artist he is today. There are so many parts of his story to marvel at.
For example, Kirk is an actor and writer but he says his greatest love is knitting. I’m sure many of us can relate to that, I know I can. But Kirk’s knitting is at a different level then most of us. I was mesmerized watching his video as he slowly and methodically translated his tapestry “cartoon” graphs into his amazing tapestries - Christianity, Judaism and Islam - using yarn. Handling 6 or more stands of yarn at a time, stitch…by stitch… by stitch…checking his chart, arranging his next colours of yarn, stitch…by stitch…with such love and care. Watching him was a bit hypnotic, and his love of knitting and his talent, is plainly evident. It’s been 15 years since he started his first tapestry and he’s still lovingly working on his 3rd and final piece in this series.
And what about those ends! I heard gasps all around me, including my own, when we saw ALL THOSE LOSE ENDS! The back of his tapestry was literally buried in them! I for one will NEVER complain about sewing in my ends, ever again. I will simply remember Kirk’s tapestry ends and gently but firmly tell myself to get over it and get darning.
There were so many wonderful lessons in Kirk’s talk. Like, taking a step outside your comfort zone and finding you have the courage you didn’t think you had. Being open to ideas outside your norm and grabbing the opportunities that come to you. I revel in his passion to use his knitting as an artistic expression for social change or to better civil discourse by simply starting a dialogue through his play “The Knitting Pilgrim”. I wonder if Kirk ever marvels at his journey? All of this from learning how to knit Icelandic sweaters in 1988, to pass the time on a night shift.
I’m glad for the opportunity to take in Kirk’s story and for giving me pause to marvel and wonder. And I do wonder, if we were to look at our own knitting journey, what would we see? I bet we’ll see our love and passion for the craft, stitch by stitch by stitch; the care and attention we’ve poured into our work; the love and pride in gifting our creation; and the beautiful friendships we’ve made.
I’m grateful my knitting journey is still unfolding and I cherish every stitch along the way. I hope you do too.
Kirk Dunn’s play, “The Knitting Pilgrim”, will be showing at the Aga Khan Museum in early May next year, and the TKG is planning a group booking to see it. More details to come as they’re available.
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