Don't be bored, join our October Board meeting

Our September education topic was the diagonal box stitch aka corner to corner. I forgot to include a link to Barb's handout along with the pattern on the last blog post. For any who may have missed it, here's the Corner to Corner Handout.  If you have problems opening the file, please email ctclist@gmail.com and I'll send it out as an attachment.   This stitch is trickier than you might think, especially when you are getting started on a new project.  Between Barb and one of our newest members, Michele, all 24 were making great progress by the end of the meeting. 

September 14 meeting 

Speaking of new members, we've had 4 new "official" members join since the State Fair, as well as having had several new guest members show up at both our meetup and meeting.  We did not hold our September board meeting this month, so in addition to voting for the 2025 officers, our October meeting will include a board meeting.  Topics being covered include, determining education for December 2024 & January 2025 meetings, planning for the 2024 destash meeting in November, Fall Fiber Festival in Hopkins, CTC swag, sponsoring a second rosette for the State Fair, participating in the Christmas tree competition for the 2025 State Fair, and any other topics members may wish to address. 

Gloria's crochet socks

There's some exciting news about the State Fair, the Creative Arts building is looking to create a new area for demonstrations and has asked for our feedback.  An email was sent to members, requesting responses by 9/28.  I know this is short turn around, but please take time to give us your ideas.  Please feel free to send your ideas directly to Bree, or if you don't have access to the member roster, send to ctclist@gmail.com and we'll forward them to her. 

Just a reminder to join the Crochet Twin Cities group, if you use Facebook and haven't joined us already. We have 150 members in the group, and you do not need to be an "official" guild member to join us on Facebook.  It's a fun interactive way for you to share your photos, ask other members for feedback or assistance and get to know our group.  You must answer all of the participant questions to be added to the group (there are no wrong answers).

For members who do not use Facebook, the blog and monthly newsletter will continue to your best source for information about our group. The newsletter is sent to official members on the first Saturday of each month.  If you have an item to contribute to the newsletter, it must be received about by the last Wednesday of the month.  

Also, I am always looking for guest bloggers, so if you'd like to write a blog post let me know.  I am looking forward to seeing you for the September 29th meetup at Rosedale Center the October 12th meeting at the Merriam Park Library, or both.  Until then, happy crocheting! Theresa

Leap, jump and hop with Crochet Twin Cities

February 24 meet up at the MOA

 

There were 30 members and guests at the February meetup.  It was wonderful to see everyone and welcome 5 new members who joined - that makes 13 new members in 2024, be sure to welcome them when you see them at meetings & meetups.  Seeing so many people crocheting together is enough to make me want to jump with joy.  One of our new members Amelia is making some adorable hoppers: you can find CrochetCroChey's pattern for Froggy Pops in her Etsy shop. 

Froggy Pop

Note: We are missing contact information for 3 of the new members: Jo, Heather H & Katy.  If you know them or see them, please have them reach out to ctclist@gmail.com to update their email address & phone number.

As we leap into March, I am looking forward to our next meeting on March 9, at Penn Lake Library with surface crochet being taught by Marissa.  There will be a board meeting this month as well - the agenda will be included in the newsletter and all members are invited to participate in the board meeting. 

MOA meetup in February

Next up: in April we Yarn Shop Hop. Our navigator and driver are working out the route, for maximum yarnification (is that word?).  8 members are currently signed up for Friday, and 9 are planning on Saturday.  There's still room for a few more, and it's never too late to sign up (unless we fill up first); email ctclist@gmail.com or use the member roster to send a text or call if you make a last-minute decision to join us.  Last year Ann met us at Needle & Skein since it was close to home, If you live near a shop and just want to meet us there, we'd love to see you.  

Chilling with Edie

BRRRR, BRRRR, BRRRR I know it's Minnesota and it's January but BRRR!

We had 14 members brave the cold to participate in-person at the Oxboro Library for A Gathering of Grannies. At least 8 members also joined us virtually. While we had thrown Edie for a loop by having a hybrid class as opposed to virtual only, she did a fabulous job of instructing us on a variety of ways to join granny squares (and any motifs, or wearables that require joining). If you attended the class, you should have received a follow-up email from Edie with links to additional resources from the class. Please reach out to ctclist@gmail.com if you haven't received a copy, so that we can ensure we sent the correct email address to Edie. Edie's policies prohibit us from sending this email to members who did not attend.

After education, we held our first board meeting of 2024. The board and members in attendanced voted to award lifetime membership status to members in good standing for 10 or more years. Lifetime membership status is primarily an acknowledgement of your longstanding membership and participation, however, if you are a lifetime member who is also retired, you will no longer be required to pay dues. If you have questions about lifetime membership, please send an email to ctclist@gmail.com.

We'll be meeting at Rosedale Center on January 27 for January's fourth Saturday meetup. I hope to see many of you there. February's second Saturday meeting on February 10th will feature thermal stitch, and is open to the public. Oh, I nearly forgot the most exciting news: We're having a baby! Well, okay we are not ALL having a baby, but one of our member's will be having a baby in July. I'll be organizing a CAL baby blanket, with each member who wishes to participate contributing a square or motif that will be joined together to create a one-of-a-kind gift. I'll be figuring out the details regarding size, yarn, etc, and sharing by the February meeting. If you have any ideas and/or are already sure that you would like to participate, reach out via ctclist@gmail.com.

The excitement is building...

I have so much I want to share with you!  

Let's start with October's 4th Saturday meeting. We met at the Mall of America in the North Food Court. We had a new member join, and it was a good time as always. I do so need to get more people taking pictures, as it's always fun to share pictures from our events. If you happen to take pictures of your work, yourself crocheting, or any fiber related events, be sure to share them to ctclist@gmail.com

Back to 4th Saturday, you may have seen AJ working on his goose bag during previous meetings; today we got a peek at the finished project.  He has completed it now and it is EVERY bit as wonderful as expected!  I love the way the gooseneck forms the bag handle and the details of the feet, tail and wing are just too cute!  Excellent work AJ! I am looking forward to seeing what you make next.

The first Saturday in November was the Fall Fiber Festival in Hopkins, and CTC had a demonstration table for the event. The wonderful thing about the world of fiber is the people. In addition to the volunteers staffing the table, we bumped into other members and decided we needed a group picture. Since Joy had run out to pick up lunch, I held up her octopus to mark her presence. I also bumped into fiber friends from retreats, my employer's craft group and other places. Somehow, it seems like everyone went home with extra bags... did I mention there was shopping involved?

The destash is coming, the destash is coming! I can hardly wait. The destash will be on Saturday, November 18th at the Penn Lake Library (check the calendar for time and address). 

Bring any new or unused yarn you are wanting to donate to the destash. Yarn should be bagged, if possible and like items (i.e. by brand, weight, color or fiber) should be grouped. Books, magazines, notions, tools, storage bags & containers are also welcome. 

Donated items will be sorted and displayed by a team of dedicated volunteers.  There will be time to socialize and browse the donations before the real fun begins.  We'll play games to earn chances to shop the destash, have a few door prizes, talk about planning for 2024 and in the end all of the donated yarn will go to new homes, including yours*.   

You should also bring refreshments for yourself (bringing extra to share is optional), as food and covered beverages are allowed. You'll want to have a shopping or tote bag to bring home all of the goodies you collect. So much will be going on, you may not have time to work on a project. If you choose not to bring a project, please at least bring your stitch markers to use as BINGO markers.

If you have any questions at all, reach out to me, a board member, a member who has participated in previous destash events or ctclist@gmail.com 

I can't wait to see you all there! Sweater weather = crochet for the win!  Theresa

*P.S. One final note, while you must be a dues-paying member to participate in the destash, you do not have to donate to participate in the games and distribution of donated items. 

Drumroll, please...

...and your 2024 Crochet Twin Cities board members are: President-Theresa, President-Elect/VP-Brenda, Treasurer-Carla, Secretary-Barb, and Education Chair-Bree.   An oral vote was taken, and the results were unanimous. The official announcement will be made at the annual meeting in November, held in conjunction with the destash.  

Tony's Yoga Bag

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun today's meeting was.  While the parking at St. Anthony Park Library wasn't ideal, the company and discussion was fabulous!  Having the Finnish Bistro (and coffee shop) close by was a bonus.  

After voting, the real meeting started with show and tell.  I wish I had captured more of the show and tell; every project deserved to be shown off online!  If you have a photo of a project, you are willing to share, or from an event that you would like to share, feel free to send it to ctclist@gmail.com. 

Tony is one of our newer members and he does incredible mosaic work, as you can see in the yoga bag here.  You can find Tony on Ravelry in the Crochet Twin Cities group or by checking out his project Ravelry: Thermal Beanie w/ Ponytail Hole pattern by Mountain Fiber Works. It's is a pattern of his own design.  

Trudy's Study of Rage

Trudy's work with thread is awe inspiring.  She's working on this very textured doily using a very complicated pattern created by Mikey at the Crochet Crowd.  Find his pattern at: Crochet Study of Rage Blanket Tutorial (thecrochetcrowd.com). Trudy's Study of Rage is a work in progress that I am excited to watch come to completion.  Carla completed a Gryffindor scarf you may have seen in progress.  I didn't get a picture because Carla was sharing a technique that she found for a better Tunisian cast off.  I was so busy trying to see and hear the details. I missed my chance.  If you look her up in Ravelry, you might be able to find the project. You can certainly check out many of Carla's works of art along with those of other members.

Chris is working on a very lovely, cabled blanket for her son and I suppose I could send you a link to her Ravelry, but instead I'll give you the link to ours: Ravelry: Crochet Twin Cities.   Our group pages and forum are not very active, but it's still a great way to connect with other members and see their projects. We're looking for a member or two willing to be admins and post updates about meetings and other events and opportunities.  Another project I missed getting a photo of was Joy's cowl made with a Yarn Shop Hop pattern and yarn.  Very pretty, and of course, it served the purpose of a memento; it reminded me of the fun that we had in April.

Gloria's Tiffany Windows scarf

Our main event was a presentation by Joy & Gloria; they shared stories and pictures of their crochet trip to Ireland with Moogly, through Craftours,  Gloria and Joy showed us several projects made in preparation of the trip, on the trip, during the class (that gorgeous purse in the lower left corner.  And of course, the souvenirs, which can often be yarn. They also brought fresh scones and clotted cream, yum!   Yep! You read that right, Gloria & Joy actually baked; and presented us with a charming spread of jams and clotted cream!  It almost felt like we were there in Ireland with them. Or at least really made us wish we had been. Everyone has asked for the recipes to be shared, so watch for those in the next newsletter.  Gloria has already found a use for some of souvenir yarn: making the September 2023 CGOA Quarterly Member Crochet-A-Long, the Tiffany Windows scarf.

Crocheting with other crocheters is always so much fun!  It's been wonderful to see the new members who have joined us over the past months and starting to get to know them better.   

Theresa's Phlox Duster & Hat

I hope you made it this far and are still reading, because there's important information ahead. Our schedule is going to be a little wonky in the upcoming month or two with changes due to holidays, so be sure to check our calendar.  

Our next gathering is the meetup at the Mall of America on October 28th.  Some of us will be demoing at the Fall Fiber Festival in Hopkins on Saturday, November 4.  There are still a few spots available, so please use the link to sign up: CTC at 2023 Fall Fiber Festival — Signup Sheet | SignUp.com.  

I feel like I can't say this next one often enough.  We will not be meeting on the second Saturday in November; we will be holding our Annual Meeting & destash at the Penn Lake Library on November 18.   Members who've attended know how it works - bring any yarn, notions, hooks or books you no longer want or love, and be prepared to take home something that catches your eye.  If you are a dues-paying member*, you are welcome and in for a treat!  There will be door prizes, and games and surprises.  Generally speaking, most libraries do not allow food or drink in the meeting rooms, but you'll want to bring your lunch or a snack.  

Now that the board is officially set for the upcoming year, planning for 2024 events will begin.  Listen and watch for opportunities to participate in the events and planning. We'll be talking a lot about plans and ideas and looking for suggestions and feedback. We'll be looking for volunteers to help us with planning events.

*Speaking of being a dues paying membership: the 2024 membership form is available on the Crochet Twin Cities: Member Policies pages.  Turn your annual dues of $24 and membership form to Carla or any officer at any meeting between now and January 31, 2024 to remain on email distribution list and be eligible for member only events.  If you are unable to pay the dues, please speak to Theresa, Carla or any board member.

If you were inspired to look for more opportunities to combine crochet with travel, here are just a few upcoming opportunities to consider. NOTE: none of these events are endorsed by Crochet Twin Cities, we are sharing information that we hope our members will find helpful or interesting. 

January 4-7 (Hudson, WI): Contact Theresa for details

July (St. Lebanon, MO): Home - Fiber-U

November (Reno, NV): Jimmy Beans Wool Biggest Little Getaway Retreat 2024 at Jimmy Beans Wool