Charity Projects Update: October 2012 Meetup

We held our first Charity Projects meetup on Saturday, October 20 and it was a resounding success! Not only did we complete a number of items but we also had a great deal of fun.


Here's a picture of us working away - and, as you can see, since we met in Bruegger's, several of us took advantage of the location by having a snack and coffee as part of the party.

By the way, the picture is courtesy of a fellow customer who happened to be sitting next to us in the little room where we held the meetup. He was a very nice gentleman from Rochester whose wife is a crocheter! We gave him one of our business cards and hope his wife will look up our blog and maybe even join us sometime.


Since this was our first meetup, we weren't sure how many items we would complete - or even what Warm-Up America afghan blocks for at least part of the meetup. We also had several completed blocks ready to go - ones that other members had donated at the October meeting - so just decided to talk a picture of them all, both complete and in-progress.
everyone would want to work on. As it turned out, all of us ended up working on

By the way, one of our attendees is a beginning crocheter and this was the perfect opportunity for her to work on a project and get immediate help and answers. The green block to the far right is the one she worked on. Mary, we all wish that our beginning pieces had looked as straight and even as yours!

We also used this meetup as an opportunity to collect items for the Prospect Park United Methodist Church Art Fair / Bazaar and for the Harriet Tubman center. This group of scarves, slippers, and gloves was all made and donated by one member. Julie, the recepients of these items will really be thrilled!





Here are two more items that will be donated to the Art Fair - a Dragon Hat for some lucky kid and some kitchen towel toppers for some lucky moms. (The kitchen towels were donated by one of the church members who asked if we could help out be adding nice crocheted holders to the top of them.)

And finally, we left some W-I-Ps for next time - the blue round item is the beginning of a kid's hat, scarf, mittens set for Harriet Tubman and the multi-colored is the beginning of a woman's scarf for Harriet Tubman.

We hope even more of you can join us for the next meetup, watch the blog and your email for details. And if anyone has suggestions for other meetup locations, please let us know at ctclist@gmail.com.

Meeting Highlights: Specialty Stitches

Here’s a quick thank you to those who volunteered for tasks at the September Expo.  Those of you who volunteered to review a yarn store can mail in your review forms or scan and email to ctclist.  Our fiscal year starts in January.  We will be emailing out membership forms later this year so you can mail in your dues.  What will you get for your membership dues?  For starters, you’ll get a copy of the membership list and a summary of those yarn store reviews.  We need everyone’s help and participation to keep our guild moving forward.

Here’s another reminder that there will be a charity meet-up at Bruegger’s in Sun Ray shopping center from 9am to noon on Saturday, October 20th.  Beginners are welcome; you’ll have a chance to work on a single stitch, making a swatch that will eventually make its way to an afghan  For more into, see the blog post.

At the October meeting, Maxine led us through a quick explanation of linked, extended, and post stitches; provided a variety of swatches using these stitches; and she turned us loose to pursue new stitch patterns on our own. 

Linked stitches will eliminate that annoying space at the beginning of a row of double crochet.  When doing a linked stitch, you do not yarn over.  Instead, you use one of the horizontal bars (or chains) of the previous stitch.  Check out the October project gallery to take a look at Melanie’s sweater.  She used link stitches at the beginning of each row.  The linked stitches provide a sturdy seam without unwanted holes when setting in sleeves and assembling a garment.

You can extend any stitch other than a chain or slip stitch.  An extended stitch does not begin with an extra yarn over.  Instead, after you insert your hook and pull up a loop, you yarn over and pull through that one loop alone, then continue with the stitch as usual, doing a yarn over and pulling through loops as needed for the stitch.  Extended stitches result in a softer fabric and add about a half stitch in height; in other words, an extended double crochet is slightly taller than a regular dc and slightly shorter than a treble.  That beginning loop is used when making foundation stitches, particular those that include a chain between stitches.

Post stitches lend texture to your fabric.  In the right combination, the end result can be crocheted cables or a firm ribbing.

You can find out more about these stitches at crochetpatterncentral.com and at crochet.about.com.

Our next regular meeting will be Saturday, November 10^th at Prospect Park United Methodist Church.  We will learn all about the good, the bad and the ugly of joining stitch motifs.

Project Gallery October 2012

 Remember the September Expo?  Erin won a Japanese book of amigurumi, as in a Japanese language book of patterns for small crocheted toys.  Here we have a kitten and a small carton of "angry" milk.  Click on the image to blow it up and see the word "milk" on the carton.  Very cute.  In the picture on the right you see three bracelets made to donate to the Prospect Park United Methodist fall art and craft show.  The bracelet on the bottom was the pattern that Jodi taught us in August but with very tiny seed beads.  The tiny beads really gave a different look to the pattern.  Sometimes simple changes make a very big differenct to the outcome.

This isn't crochet, obviously, but a picture of an embroidery sampler that Jodi made.  Each flower showcases a different type of stitch.  She had this mounted in a type of framed display case with a hinged glass top that allowed for the view to open the frame and inspect the stitches.  The thread used was rayon, which had a nice sheen.  Instead of an S twist, this thread had a Z twist, which required Jodi the wrap stitches in a particular way to keep from unraveling the threads.

Here are three felted bowls crocheted by Jody.  The bowls were crocheted with two strands of yarn using the mosaic stitch technique.  The patterning is more obvious on the bowl on the right.  The double strands result in a very thick end product that holds its shape well.  For those interested in the technique, Lily Chin has book out on it, as well as a video.

 June has a new grandbaby.  The parents didn't want anything pastel or "sex specific" so June opted to use a variety of colors in this baby blanket.







June is a member of PPUMC.  Because of the road construction on University Avenue, she and Jody are planning to yarn bomb the route to the church.  They are making covers for old political yard signs.  This arrow will point the way to the church.  Bright idea!

Those who attended the retreat watched Maxine work on this sock monkey hat.  She is now in the process of making four more for a family that wants to look alike.

Melanie is working on another sweater.  This one might look done, but she's still working on the details.  She's currently working on the seaming.  This sweater has set-in sleeves, which are a challenge since the fabric is triple crochet.

From Carol: This hideous thing was a dog from beginning to end.  I know, I made it.  I fell in love with a skein of Paton's Lace Sequin (ooh, shiny!).  I used Ravelry to find a use for it.  This is a scarf crocheted all in single crochet using a size P hook.  With an all-natural yarn, one could probably felt it slightly and block it into shape (which I think was the intention of the designer).  Alas, this is only 9% natural (mohair).  It grows several feet longer as you wear it.  I might be able to salvage it by stitching it into a loop, but I doubt it.

You can't tell by the picture, but this is a triangular shawl crocheted by Jodi.  This Vashti Braha design, Tunisian Neck Lattice, can be found in Robyn Chachula's Book "Simply Crochet."  You can't tell it by the photo, but this shawl is lighter than air.

What do you do when one of your kids gets married?  If you are
Gail, you start crocheting stuff for the new household  The bright stripes are part of a blanket.  The squiggles are kitchen scrubbies.  Gail also made hot pads and potholders.  Gail wasn't able to come to our meeting because she was out of town at the wedding.  Thanks for the pictures, Gail!

Specialty Stitches: October 13 Meeting Preview

Have you heard about speciality stiches but not sure how to make them or what they'll look like? If that's the case, then this is the meeting for you! We invite you to join us Saturday, October 13 from 2:30PM to 4:30PM at Prospect Park United Methodist Church.

Crochet truly does have an endless variety of stitches and in this meeting, Maxine will show us how to make the variations shown in this picture plus give some options for the starting stitch in a dc row. From left to right, the swatches are regular dc, linked dc, front-post and back-post dc, and extended dc. A whole family of double crochets!

After the demo, then the fun begins! We'll split into smaller groups for the remainder of the class, with each group including a member of the program committee to assist and answer questions. During this part of the meeting, everyone will have a chance to practice the stitch variations plus exchange ideas about how to use these stitch variations in projects.

To participate in the class you'll need to bring:

• Several ounces of worsted weight yarn (2 to 4 ounces) - don't bring a dark color, it's too hard to see the stitches
• An approxiately size hook to work with the yarn; for most people, size I9 or J10   

We hope to see you there!

Charity Projects: October 20 Meetup Announcement

The community outreach committee invites all interested crocheters to join our first CTC Charity Project Meetup on Saturday morning October 20 at the Bruegger's in Sun Ray Shopping Center in St. Paul. Since this is our first meetup, here are some answers to questions you might have.

• Just what is a Charity Project Meetup anyway?
  Meetups are informal meetings where we spend the time crocheting and socializing. A Charity Project Meetup is a meetup where we gather to work on charity projects that we're participating in as a chapter. This year, we're planning meetups at least once a quarter; we hope this will be a fun opportunity to practice crochet skills, to relax and visit socially (maybe grab a bagel and a cuppa java) while working on projects that give back to the community.

• What time is the meetup?
  We have the private room at Bruegger's Sun Ray reserved on Saturday October 20 from 9:00am to noon. You're free to come and go at any point during that time to work on charity projects. We're hoping that most people will be able stay one and a half to two hours - but any length of time you can come is fine. There's really only one rule: if you show up, you have to work on charity projects, not other projects.

• What projects are we working on?
  Currently, we have four specific projects that we're participating in as a chapter.
• Warm Up America provides afghans to homeless and needy persons nationwide; we are participating by making 7 in. x 9 in. blocks that are used in the afghans.
• Harriet Tubman provides shelter to women and children escaping domestic violence; we are participating by making scarves, hats, and mittens for this local center.
• The Mother Bear Project helps provide comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations; we are participating by making bears using the approved pattern.
• Prospect Park United Methodist Church Art Fair / Bazaar is an annual event  (November 3, 2012) that helps fund the programs and operations of the church where we rent space; we are participating by making small crocheted items (such as hats, purses, kitchen towel toppers) for the 100% donation table.

• What do I need to bring?
  You need to bring the following items:
• A skein of smooth worsted weight yarn - a machine-washable material such as 100% acrylic is best so that donated items are easy to care for. Look for brands like Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, Red Heart Super Saver or Classic Yarn, or Caron Simply Soft - usually available at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores, Michaels Stores, or even Walmart.
• A suitable hook for the yarn - for most people, this will be an I9 or J10 size hook.
• Tapestry needle for weaving in ends

• Do I need to bring a pattern?
  No, there will be some patterns for hats, scarves, and mittens at the meetup plus templates to use for making Warm-Up America squares. (If you're interested in the Mother Bear project, it's a little more complicated - ask at the meetup or email ctclist@gmail.com for details.)

• Can I come if I'm a beginning crocheter?
  Absolutely! In fact, we welcome beginners - this will be the perfect opportunity for you to work on some simple items in a fun, supportive environment with plenty of people to help if you get "stuck".