Head Hugs?

Our friends at Cascade Yarns -- one of the sponsors of STITCHES South -- have graciously donated 52 skeins of Cascade 220 Wool, Cascade 220 Heathers, and Cascade 220 Superwash to our helmet liner initiative. This is in addition to the many, many skeins they have donated previously. In turn, AKG has donated more than 400 helmet liners to our armed services. Thank you Cascade Yarns for your generosity to us and to our armed forces!

If you are making helmet liners, some reminders:

• They must be 100% wool.
• They must be in military-approved colors.
• You can find the pattern here or in the community service portion of our website.
• Do be aware that an earlier version of the pattern had a too-short neck. The 2x2 ribbing for the neck should be at least 6-inches long, so that it can pass from the nose, over the mouth, down the chin, and to the neck.

I've made a fair few of these over the years. If you are a newish knitter looking to practice knitting in the round, please consider trying one of these. You can work on a 12-inch or 16-inch needle for most of it, or you can work other methods such as double-pointed needles, two circulars, or magic loop. This is also a fairly portable project for travel knitting, and much of it is mindless enough for television, knit-night socializing, or even reading! And as it requires only one skein of Cascade 220, it really doesn't take all that long to complete.

Whatever your political persuasion, it is proper to remember this Memorial Day weekend that the women and men of our armed services often give great sacrifices for the security and freedom of the rest of us. Even those fortunate enough to avoid harm's way spend precious time away from family in places that can be inhospitable to downright scary. A little time knitting to keep someone far from home warm and well is a compassionate gesture.

Thanking a Real Angel

I suspect that most guild members don't know a whole lot about what goes on behind the scenes. Most members show up at our monthly meeting and walk into a room that is all set up and ready for them. There is a podium. There is a microphone with speakers. There are tables with food and beverages. There are tables for the shops to set out their tempting goodies. There is a table for the library. There are tables for the trauma bears, the raffle, the speaker, and anybody else who asked for a table. There is even a spot for a swift and ball winder.

Some of these things are set-up by guild members -- the stuff that is set out on the tables, such as books, food, swift & winder, microphone & speakers. But all those tables and chairs are set up for us by Jimmy. If you were at the February meeting, you know there were many, many chairs and many, many tables. Jimmy also sets out the coffee pot and fixings for us as well. Even in the months when we didn't have a hospitality chair, we always had hot coffee.

At the end of February, Jimmy will be retiring as sexton at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church. He will be going back to school to study divinity and psychology. As we might say in the South, he is a real peach, and we will miss him. We thank him for making our meetings a little easier. My apologies that I caught Jimmy with his eyes closed in the photograph, but at least I got a warm expression on his face that conveys the kind soul he is. The hat he is wearing was knit for him by our newsletter editor Robyn, who wisely thought we should wish him well with some warm knitted goodness. (Thank you, Robyn!)

Generosity out and back

One of the activities at this month's meeting was a raffle to benefit the Atlanta Day Shelter for Women and Children. Becky is the committee chair for raffles. She also got help from Susan. Together, they did a great job setting up tables full of goodies. There were many donations to the raffle. Notable among them was yarn from the Yarn Grove, including some Himalaya silk that drew many chances indeed. Other yarns included Joslyn's Fiber Farm, Lorna's Laces, Jitterbug, and Paca-Peds (see photo above). At 50 cents per chance, the guild raised almost $200 to donate to the shelter. Additionally, guild members donated clothing, household goods, and school supplies. It took two car trips -- one from Diana and one from Debra -- to get all the donated goods down to the shelter the following morning. Many thanks to the Yarn Grove, Becky, Susan, Diana, Debra, and all the guild members who donated items or bought chances in the raffle. Your generosity is helping women and children here in Atlanta get their lives back together and get themselves back on the right track.

Gratitude

Our member Karen used to bring her swift and ball winder to meetings. It was a great way for her to meet new people. And it was a nice service for members, especially new knitters who may not yet have sunk money into infrastructure. Or maybe they have mercifully not yet experienced a skein blowing up on them and so do not yet know the soothing confidence of using an umbrella swift? It was Karen who got us thinking that maybe a guild that could have a well-stocked library and a microphone system could also have a swift and ball winder.

A letter went out to the shops and two of them generously responded. Main Street Yarns & Fibers in Watkinsville donated a ball winder. This shop is located off GA 316 near Athens. If you happen to be up near the University of Georgia anyway, this is a great place to stop. To get there, drive about 40 miles up 316, then hang a right at the light onto Oconee Connector. Follow it about 5 miles until it dead ends at Main Street and turn right. Go to the second light and turn left onto Barnett Shoals Rd. If you pass Jittery Joe's, you've gone too far. Go about half a mile (over the railroad tracks). The shop is the charming red barn on the right. The mailbox has a dinosaur on top. And be sure to ask the ladies where to eat lunch -- they know and it is worth it to listen to them. Ruth has kindly donated or discounted books for our library as well, so ya'all be sure to thank her heartily when you see her at meetings or when you visit her shop.

Yes Yarn in Anderson, SC made a sturdy wooden umbrella swift available to the guild at a greatly reduced cost. If you are traveling up I-85 through South Carolina, use Exit 19A (which is marked for Anderson). From what Mapquest shows, it looks to be an easy 5 miles down Clemson Highway, which becomes Clemson Blvd, which becomes N Main Street. Keep left at the fork with E North Ave. Many thanks to Margaret for giving our guild a great bargain and for shipping, too.

Be sure to thank both of these shops for making our life with skeins easier. And come prepared to enjoy using these clever gadgets at meetings. Bring on that yarn!

July potluck meeting

A big THANK YOU to Joni for organizing the potluck. Joni was our hospitality chair for many, many years. She's also a passionate Georgia Bulldogs fan who knows how to host a tailgate party. And Joni was kind enough to do the shopping, so that we now have plates, napkins, cups, and flatware to get us through the year. Thank you, Joni, for lending your skills in making the party happen!

The potluck meeting gave us all the chance to eat, sit and knit, and enjoy each other's company. Needle Nook and Only Ewe and Cotton Too both attended and had beautiful things to show. With the cost of gas, many of us very much appreciate the opportunity to see what's new and maybe buy some of it without having to drive around Atlanta.

We had a short program from our Community Service chairs to remind us about our current projects and what we need to make those happen. I'll post that information and pictures in a separate entry.

(Photos credit: Randie Cowan)

A Pleasant Surprise

As of the most recent newsletter, there are sixteen merchants in our guild. One -- Sassafras Creations -- makes jewelry. But all the rest sell fiber. Most are bricks-and-mortar shops, but at least one is purely web-based. We don't currently have any hard and fast rules about what shops have to do to be guild members. Yearly dues for a merchant are the same as those for a regular member. And the shops themselves are in a wide range of locations and have a wide range of clientele. What a shop owner in North Carolina and a shop owner in Decatur might reasonably expect are probably different things.

Each merchant has her own way of doing what works for her business. Some come to almost every meeting, toting their newest wares and giving guild members the opportunity to shop. When we've had superstars, shops will often bring books so that members can get autographs. Some shops offer discounts to members. And each shop owner sets her own rules. Some will give a discount on yarn but nothing else. Some will give a discount if you say you are a guild member, while others will only do so if you show your guild membership card. Occasionally, shops will even participate in knit-ins, workshops, or monthly programs.

Since there isn't a specific policy outlining what shops have to do, it is sometimes a true delight to see proof of how nice people in the business of knitting can be. Most of the merchants were away at the national trade show during our June meeting. Debi Light, owner of The Whole Nine Yarns, was one of those people. She brought back for our library an autographed copy of Sweater Renewal by Sharon Franco Rothschild. Debi also gave a different autographed book to our younger sibling, the North Georgia Knitting Guild. I like to think that this kind of good will enhances knitting for everyone here in the greater Atlanta metropolitan area.

To you, Debi, a very public, "Thank you!"