In the business portion of our meeting, we discussed the
September membership expo. The Expo will
kick off a membership drive. To spur
participation, we’re using treats and raffles as bribery. For example, if you bring a potential new
member, you get a raffle ticket. If you check
out a volunteer opportunity with one our four committees (Publicity, Education,
Program and Charity) you will get a raffle ticket. Sign up to do anything, you get a bunch of
tickets. The Expo should be a lot of fun,
with lots of chances to win crochet-oriented prizes while enjoying some
delicious treats. We’d like a wide
variety of projects to display during this event. Anything you have completed within the last
year will be welcome for the display. You’ll
find more info on the Expo in a separate blog post.
It isn’t too late to sign up for the September retreat. Just email ctclist for a registration
form. The more people we have sign up,
the cheaper it will be to attend; we have a single fee for the facility and
will divide the cost equally among attendees.
Think of it as a big girls’ pajama party complete with crochet. Sounds like a good time to me.
The August meeting topic was crocheting with wire. Jodi led us through a simple wire bracelet
project using chains and half-double crochet.
As always, when using a new material, you should swatch, swatch, swatch,
and Jodi has done just that. She passed
around a small jewelry box containing swatches utilizing different stitches and
hook sizes. However, she had many
examples using other crochet techniques with wire, such as Tunisian, hairpin,
filet and even granny squares.
Some things to remember when crocheting with wire:
- Thread all your beads on the wire before beginning.
- Most patterns call for 28 gauge wire, which is not readily
available in chain craft stores.
- The heat from your hands can make the wire more supple as
you work.
- When doing hairpin, thread beads in reverse order of the
pattern layout (last on, first off).
- If your stitches are a bit uneven, you can use pliers to
tweak them into shape.
- The finished project can stretch a bit, but the wire itself
can break if kinked or overworked.
Our next meeting will be the September 8th Expo.
It isn’t too late to sign up for the September retreat. Just email ctclist for a registration
form. The more people we have sign up,
the cheaper it will be to attend; we have a single fee for the facility and
will divide the cost equally among attendees.
Think of it as a big girls’ pajama party complete with crochet. Sounds like a good time to me.
