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by Shela Perrin June was a hybrid meeting with the in person meeting at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church located at 1907 NE 45th Ave, in Portland, Or. Doors opened at 6:00pm for social knitting. In person and virtual program began at 7:00pm. Masks were recommended but not required. To continue to be accessible to everyone we will continue to have a virtual format. Meeting volunteers are needed to set up and put away chairs and tables, set up AV equipment before meetings, greet other members, and help monitor the zoom chat. If you are interested write to info@puddletownknittersguild.com. Acknowledgment was made that the land we are gathering on was traditionally stewarded by Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. 2023 membership is available for 1/2 the year after July 1st in the amount of $17.50. You can join or renew online. Scholarships and Gift memberships are available. Go to membership page for links to pay and more details. If you know if any upcoming fiber events or have guild speaker or topic ideas please email: programs@puddletownknittersguild.com. Virtual Knit Nights are every Monday evening from 6-8pm Pacific time. Knit and chat from the comfort of your own home. Pajamas are encouraged. Raffle prizes given to on line participants are: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes 100% Peruvian Highland Wool - 6 skeins of brass heather and 3 skeins of bouquet heather Knit Picks Paragon 50% Merino, 25% Alpaca & 25% Silk - 6 skeins of Breeze Raffle prizes given to in person participants are: Brooklyn Tweed Arbor 100% American Targhee Wool - 3 skeins of Firebrush Mystery Alpaca and silk lace weight yarn - 3 skeins Service Project - Summer Sprint Challenge - Diverse Dolls for Foster Kids! Baby blanket challenge is year long. Create dolls of any size using your fiber of choice. Dolls with darker skin tones are especially needed. Machine washable yarns strongly preferred - think toddler toys. Please play it safe use safety eyes or embroider facial features. Dolls are due by September meeting in person or email a photo to outreach@puddletownknittersguild.com. Dolls earn 2 entries and non-doll stuffed animals earn 1 entry in the random drawing for prizes. We happily accept other knits for children and youth too! Bonus for all service knitters! Free patterns courtesy of designer, Susan B. Anderson. Mary, Millie and Morgan and Leaf Sprite Mermaids are available. Request your pattern by emailing outreach@puddletownknittersguild.com and confirm that you are participating in the Diverse Dolls challenge and that you agree you won’t share the free patterns outside the guild. Check our Ravelry group for other pattern suggestions. Member tips with Susan Plack: If you would like to suggest or volunteer for future member tips reach out to info@puddletownknittersguild.com. Susan shared with us many of her techniques of washing yarn. We may need to wash yarn if we are taking an item apart, if you are dying yarn or using hand spun yarn or washing hand knit items. If your item is handspun don’t wash it if weaving or felting. Wash it if you are knitting or crocheting with it. Use a Kniddy Noddy for winding. Fill your sink with warm to hot water. NOTE: woolite is not a good option - get a good wool soap for washing. If you are doing multiple soaks be sure to always keep the water temperature the same, if its too hot it will felt and if too cool the oils and/or lanolin will go back into the wool. Squeeze the water out, do not wring. Spin cycle only on your machine if it will be with no water while spinning. If the process stresses you out don’t proceed, roll in a towel and squeeze our the excess water. Susan showed us how to snap the yarn and hang it to dry. She does not recommend hanging with weights as fiber material has a tendency to go back to its natural state. Let the water do the work and be extra sure the yarn is dry before putting into a ball. Do not wind the ball too tightly. Wind over two or three fingers, then turn sideways and wind over two or three fingers, over and over so you have a nice spongy ball of yarn. Guest Speaker: Seth Richardson Seth began explaining how every knitting pattern presents a myriad of problems to solve and creative decisions to be made. We love to make things and those creative decisions are fun along the way. Being able to modify and customize a pattern lets us make creative choices and decisions. As crafters we are all creative and the choices we make are all part of who we are. Seth shared the basic definitions of art, craft and creativity and how they show skill, creativity and workmanship and suggested we might find another word other than crafty to use when describing an item or person who produced the item. We did a visualization exercise, closing our eyes and imagining a few simple items. He gave us a pattern and we chose all the aspects of those things. Everyone had come up with unique aspects. Seth said creativity happens in the brain. Things that influence us come from the outside but on a very basic level we create. The left side of the brain is analytical and the right side is insightful. If we can’t solve a problem with the left side, the right side has to think outside the box to come up with a creative solution. This is a complex process that we can all do. This works best when we are relaxing or daydreaming because in a more relaxed state we have fewer distractions. First thing in the morning is a good time to think creatively or focus on your craft. Meditation is also a good way to get into a relaxed state. Also find your inner child or think like an outsider, as a person new to the field. Travel is a good way to change perspective and collaborate, creativity is contagious. Also experiment, we have to be open to making mistakes. Some ways of applying creativity to our knitting is change your space, travel, plan new projects, museums, local library and explore cultures new to you. Seth is a Portland based pattern designer who enjoys creating pieces that use simple texture. He can be reached at: @Sethrichardsonknits on Instagram SethR on Ravelry www.sethrichardsonknits.com sethrichardsonknits@gmail.com World Wide Knit in Public Day is Saturday June 10th. Join Puddletown at IKEA Portland from 9am to noon. We will meet in the couch area of the store. IKEA will have complimentary snacks and refreshments. Additionally, each participants will received a small thank you gift for coming.
Upcoming fibre events:
Show and Tell We had a quick and easy summer sweater, a classic skirt and top, a wrap and our guest speaker shared a large blanket. All very well made. Next month our speaker will be Tian Connaughton presenting Swatch: Beyond the Gauge!
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