January 2025 Meeting Recap: Member Tips and Loose Ends with Jen Simonic

by Elaine Marcus

Anna Lorton, president, welcomed all attendees, in person and remote via Zoom. She presented an  acknowledgment of the indigenous stewards of the land on which we meet.  

Eileen Silva, the outgoing service project coordinator, presented the service project for this year, the  North by Northeast Community Health Center. The Community Care Director, Sharettta Butcher-Watson,  joining us over Zoom, gave a history of the health center and an overview of its services. She expressed  the deep appreciation of the handmade gifts their clients have received from us in previous years.  

The outgoing 2024 PKG Board members were thanked and the incoming 2025 Board members were  introduced. Announcement made that the Communications director position on the Board still needs to  be filled. If interested, contact the guild at [email protected]. 

Anna presented a State of the Guild report.  

• We have, at last count, 121 individual members and 9 business members. Individual membership dues  are $35/year, scholarships are available for those who find payment difficult (you can join or renew on the membership page).
• There is approximately $11,200 in the PKG bank account at this time (finances are here)
• Meetings will continue to be hybrid for the foreseeable future, with both in person and remote  attendance possible. In July and August the membership meetings will be remote only, due to the lack of  ventilation and cooling in our in person meeting room.  
• Board meetings are the last Wednesdays of every month over Zoom. Members are welcome to attend.  Contact the guild at [email protected] if interested.  
• New website for PKG is under development and should be available in the near future. 

Julie Dolson, volunteer coordinator, invited members to volunteer at meetings. Specifically looking for  people willing to help at one or two meetings a year (or more frequently, if interested) with the following:  

• Setup and clean up of meeting room 
• Knitting help desk (No need to be expert! We all know more than we think we do, and can likely help  others with a range of knitting questions). 
• AV support 
• Member tips. Tips can be simple, a hack that you find useful or a technique you want to share. Can be  done live during meeting or be pre-recorded by you or someone else if you prefer. (See above, about everyone knowing more  than we think we do.) 

Anna requested people to share their ideas for speakers at the meetings. Looking for people to  discuss specific topics. Currently on the search for someone to discuss Stranded Colorwork. Send ideas  to [email protected].  

January Member tip: Joanne Tustison, VP of PKG presented on use of “lifelines” in knitting.  

Program: January speaker was Jennifer Simonic, cofounder of Loose Ends. This is an organization of  needlework/ textile volunteers who are able to complete projects started by loved ones who are no  longer able to finish them due to death or disability. Their website is LooseEnds.org. The organization is  international, and has completed thousands of projects. Jennifer shared photos of projects, volunteers  and recipients.  

Show and tell was held and the raffle prizes were distributed.  
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Pop up shop at January Meeting was Hook and Needle, a yarn store in Vancouver Washington,  focussed on both crochet and knitting.