Monthly Meeting Reviews, 2005

December

The December 13, 2005 meeting was called to order by Karen H at 7:15 p.m.

Karen asked for any visitors and there was one - Angela from Cary.

There was no charity knitting that was brought in.

The treasurer reported that there is $760.38, and that reimbursements for the holiday party had not been presented and paid.

The Crystal Lake Library has offered their facility for an open knitting night on the third Thursday of the month of January and February and March. They will provide coffee. This is not instructional, but come knit and converse.

Please write ideas for the upcoming year's programs and place them in the green bucket at the back table. The board will use your suggestions as they organize the monthly programs.

Karen thanked the officers and board members individually and told of each persons involvement through the year. She also thanked those who had volunteered to teach and share their knowledge.

We voted for the 2006 officers and board members at 7:32 and the new officers are: Karen H, President; Linda D, Vice President; Peggy S, secretary; Bonnie D, Treasurer; Board members at-large - Dawn A, Helga B, Minnie D, Marie D, Patti K.

While ballots were being counted everyone helped themselves to the many treats that were brought for the holiday party. As people were eating, Kathleen drew names for the many raffle presents that were purchased or donated by some area yarn shops. The shops that donated were The Gifted Purl, Wool & Co., Village Yarn Shop and Sunflower Samplings.

Those who brought gifts for the gift exchange gathered in a circle and we passed our packages right and left to a poem that Sherry read that used the words "right and left".

Lastly we had show and tell of the many projects that were finished and in the works. This sharing is always enjoyed by all.

Minutes were taken by Linda D, in the absence of Peggy S.

November

Karen opened the meeting at 7:08 p.m. on November 8, 2005. She thanked everyone for bringing in treats, especially Luz for the yummy bars. We welcomed 5 new visitors.
Treasurer's Report: 10/11/05 Starting Balance: $1583.58
Two new Memberships + 18.00
Checks written: -340.06
Balance 11/08/05 $1261.52

Pat's church (our host church) is collecting for Servicemen/Afghanistan. Several members contributed items for this. We received no charity items for our Centegra charity this month.

Karen, again, asked for help with articles and interesting knitting items for the upcoming newsletter. Deadline for getting items in is November 18th.

Our annual Holiday Party is coming up on December 13th at our regular guild meeting. If you decide to participate in the gift grab bag, it should cost around $10.00. The grab bag should be something to do with knitting. Kathleen volunteered to head the committee for the party. If you would like to help out please e-mail Kathleen. This year we will be asking members to bring the following food items this way:
Last Names: A through J will bring Appetizers, and K through Z will bring Desserts. Coffee will be provided by the Guild. The party will be held at the Church where our normal monthly meetings are held.

Karen passed out Nomination forms. The general membership was asked to nominate who they would like to see hold office for the year of 2006. The election will be held next month at the Holiday Party. If you have any questions concerning the election please e-mail Karen.

Karen ended the meeting at 7:40 P.M. Following the meeting the last session of "Knitting Socks" was conducted, taught by Dawn and with Kathleen helping.

Minutes taken by Peggy S/Secretary.

October

Karen opened the meeting at 7:09 P.M. We had 4 new visitors, 3 of which came from being at the Knit Out at the Crystal Lake Library.

Our Knit Out was a great success. Elaine, head of the program committee for the Crystal Lake Library, said we had a total of 65 people coming and going that day. She said the library would welcome our Guild again for the 2006 Knit Out. Please e-mail Karen before October 18th with your thoughts on the Knit Out Program, if you attended.

The Not Just Plain Jane Workshop was a great success. Twenty-six ladies from our Guild attended the two-day workshop. Several of our members showed their sample pillows in the process of being done and they were really beautiful. Thanks to Debbie for all the hard work in putting this workshop together! Again it would be nice if anyone that attended this workshop e-mail Karen on their thoughts so she can put it into our newsletter.

The Yarn Dye Project held on September 24th was another fun event.
Members that took the class held up their dyed yarns tonight. I never saw such beautiful and different yarns. Thanks to Dawn for her help on leading this class. These members then learned tonight how to make socks from the yarn they had dyed.

Peggy brought a whole shopping bag full of items for our charity program to Centegra Hospital. As usual, the nurses and personnel there are so very grateful to receive these items for the babies.
Tonight at our meeting we received two knitted chemo hats from Pat S. and 9 beautiful baby hats from Peggy R, who is a past member.

Nominations for our 2006 board members and members at large will be taken at the November meeting. The positions for re-election are as follows: President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and (5) members at large. Ballots will be handed out for you to write your choices on.

Thanks to everyone bringing their "goodies" to our meetings. I know that they are appreciated!

Karen closed the meeting at 7:30 P.M.
Peggy S./Secretary

September

Karen opened the meeting at 7:05 p.m. She stated she would like anyone that went to Stitches Midwest to e-mail her what their opinions were as to the new location, the vendors there, etc. for our next newsletter. Again, please send anything interesting, knitting wise, to Karen for our newsletter.

We had two new visitors tonight.

September 24th is the dyeing workshop run by Dawn. It will be held from 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. Cost will be $8.00. Email Dawn for info and to register. 

October 2nd is the annual Knit-Out, headed by Sherry. It will be held at at the Crystal Lake Library from 1:00 p.m till 4:00 p.m. Sherry passed a list around for anyone that wants to attend to sign up. If you were not at this meeting, please e-mail Sherry. You can attend for the whole time or just a few hours. Your presence would be appreciated.
The Crystal Lake Library is on Adams Street. Sherry made mention that we will not have children present without a parent and the child has to be at least 12 years old. We will have a "fashion show" at 2:00 p.m. so bring your "show & share" with you. Sunflower Samplings are nice enough to bring some of their new yarns. We will also have a raffle that you need not be present to win. More information on our web site.

We have a great article in the September/October 2005 McHenry County Woman Newspaper on page 52 written by Lisa Stamos. Please pick up a copy (free) where you can. I picked up a copy at Joseph's Grocery Store in Crystal Lake. They also included several pictures of us at our August meeting.

We have 22 of our members now signed up for the "Not Just Plain Jane Knits Sampler Square Workshop on October 8 & 9th. We have room for only 30 people. It is now opened to the public so if you are still thinking of signing up do so quickly! Any questions, e-mail Debbie Ontko who is heading this day.

We received a wonderful bunch of items for our charity-Centegra Hospital. The following items were donated:
12 beautiful (all different!!) from Jacqueline
1 blanket, 5 IV covers, 6 baby hats and 5 sets of booties from Peg's Mom, Evelyn Mannino
3 baby hats and 1 IV cover from Bonnie's students which I thought was so thoughtful!
Keep up the good work. I will be bringing in another bunch of these items next month over to Centegra Hospital. They really are appreciated over there.

The October and November meeting projects will be making socks with the yarn that was dyed in our dying workshop on September 24th (or bring other sockyarn to use!).

Our meeting ended at 7:20 p.m to proceed to having our First Annual Auction/Sale of Cultured Purls. The auction was a great success with fun and bargains for all. Start saving up your auction items NOW. We didn't have a lot of time to get stuff together this time but we really had so much fun!! Wait until next year.
Peggy S/Secretary
 

August

Karen opened the meeting of the Cultured Purls Knitting Guild at 7:10 PM. We had one new lady come to visit with our group tonight.

Debbie O gave an informational talk on the upcoming "Not Just Plain Jane" Workshop coming up on Oct. 8th and 9th. If you did not come to this meeting please e-mail Debbie . You will never get to go to a workshop for the price we are offering ($30.00 for everything including lunch to our members!). We are limiting the number of attendees to 30, so sign up as quickly as you can. Jane Elliott, who is teaching the workshop, has been displaying and selling her designs at Stitches East since 1995 and is currently working on her first book. Her designs can be seen on her website. The workshop will be held at the Nunda Township Hall, 3510 Bay Road, Crystal Lake. It will be a 2-part workshop. The first part will begin with a trunk show of Jane's designs. After that, participants will be given complete written stitch-by-stitch, row-by-row instructions for the project. There is a lot more information-just e-mail Debbie for it. Debbie has to have the $30 fee by Sept. 24th. After Sept. 24th, there will be no refunds. If there are any openings available the workshop will be opened up to Non-Guild Members for the cost of $45.00.

We had the pleasure of having Lisa Stamos, Editor of McHenry County Woman's Magazine visit our Guild Meeting tonight. Her Magazine has a circulation of 75,000 people. She is doing an article about our Guild which will be in the September or October Magazine. It should give our Guild a lot of exposure in McHenry County.

Karen mailed out our newsletter this week. It has an up-to-date list of all our paid members. As always please send Karen anything interesting you come across for the next newsletter.

We are getting very excited about our first annual "Knitting Auction" to be held at our September 13th meeting. Already we have a pile of knitting things (yarns, magazines, etc.) that have come in for the auction. If you have any questions e-mail Kathleen C or Peggy S . They are in charge of the auction. Bring your items to the Barnes & Noble get together or get a hold of Kathleen or Peggy to make arrangements to meet somewhere.

Helga went to New Mexico and while there visited a big alpaca farm. She brought in some sample cards and told us their website is: www.victoryranch.com.

Thanks to Dawn, Sherry and Kathleen for helping with the lesson on learning how to knit with Double-Pointed Needles.

Meeting closed at 7:50 PM to go into the lessons.

Peggy S/Secretary Cultured Purl Knitting Guild

July

Karen opened the meeting of the Cultured Purls Knitting Guild at 7:10 P.M. on July 12, 2005. We had 5 new visitors this meeting of which 4 of them signed up for membership to our guild. Our total paid membership number coming to 63 ladies.

Charity: Tina brought in 4 very cute baby hats, Minnie made a beautiful baby blanket, Barb brought in baby hats, again so cute. Evelyn Mannino (Peggy's Mom) gave us 2 pairs of booties, a baby hat, and an IV Cover. If I have forgotten anyone PLEASE forgive me!! All these items are truly appreciated at Centegra Hospital.

Karen stated that we could use more articles, tips, ANYTHING, to do with knitting for our monthly newsletter. Articles and such are due to Karen by July 22nd. Please help contribute. If you find a great website or recipe please let us know.

For ladies that are not familiar or haven't come to our meetings in awhile Dawn has started a great "Knitting Lending Library". We have pattern books, magazines, leaflets, etc. You may borrow for one month and return book for someone else to use the next month. If you have an "extra" copy of a book, etc. consider donating to our new library.

If anyone is interested in information on upcoming fairs or Stitches Midwest go to our web site for it.

The topic of our August regular meeting is "Double Pointed Needles." Also be sure to bring in your "Auction Items" for our September auction. Kathleen will be taking these items and marking them with "your number" to keep track of them. Some of the example of items would be yarn from your stash that you want to get rid of, extra needles, books, mags, etc. You might even bring finished items like sox or scarfes, etc. that you might want to sell.

Sept. 24th (Sat.)Dawn has graciously volunteered to have a yarn dying workshop. More information to come on this workshop. Then the October and November meeting will be taking your hand dyed yarn and making or learning to make sox with it.

Again, promotional items were brought up to see if people were interested in them. This would be getting someone to embroider "Cultured Purls Knitting Guild" on tee shirts, bags, etc. People were pretty enthusiastic about the idea. Kathleen has been getting prices from various companies in the area. More to come about this subject in the near future.

Don't forget the annual Knit Out which we will be holding on October 2nd (Sunday) at the Crystal Lake Library. Sherry is in charge of this event. It is a national event put on by the Yarn Council of America.

Debbie was kind enough to give a talk and have picture information on her friend, Not Just Plain Jane Knits/Jane Elliot, who we are planning on having for a workshop October 8 & 9. An example of what might be done at the workshop is a 15" Sampler Square that could be turned into a pillow, bag, sweater or afghan. There would be a trunk show along with the workshop. There would be no discount on buying her patterns.

Knit and Wine night was brought up again by Karen and there was not a whole lot of interest at this time.

Karen closed the meeting at 7:55 P.M.

Peggy S/Secretary

May

Karen opened the meeting at 7:03 p.m. We had two new visitors tonight Bethany M from Crystal Lake, and Sheri M from Cary. They joined our guild thus bringing the total paid membership of our Guild to 57.

Karen is trying to get our next newsletter out. Please e-mail, call her, or mail her anything interesting you have come upon regarding knitting. Deadline to be in this newsletter is May 20th.

We had a number of donations brought to us this evening by some of our members. We received 4 baby hats, 1 chemo hat, and 12 IV covers. The 12 IV covers were made by Barb's two granddaughters! Thanks to all the ladies who take time out of their busy day to contribute to our charity program.

Karen made mention of the 2005 Knit Out scheduled on October 2nd from
1-5 p.m. (Sunday). It is being held this year at the Crystal Lake Library. It is a yearly national Knit Out in conjunction with the Craft Yarn Council of America.

Dawn has graciously started our "Lending Library". Several members brought books and magazines to be put into the library. It will be kept at the church and brought out at each meeting. You may take the book or magazine home for a month and bring it back at the next meeting for someone else to use.
We need contributions for our library so if you have any knitting books or magazines you can part with, bring them to our next meeting.

Yarn Shop Sales brought up at this Meeting:
Have you any Wool Shop/Elmhurst: May 22nd

I'd Rather Be Knitting/Long Grove: In August-Call for dates

Quietly Wild/Woodstock: May 18th, 10AM-12 Noon 20% off; Noon-2:30PM 15% off, and 2:30PM-5:00PM 10% off

In September there will be a dying and sock class. More information to come.

Don't forget that Stitches Midwest has been moved to Rosemont this year (August). Classes are filling up fast and don't forget the YARN MARKET that is so wonderful

Knit & Wine was brought up again with no real interest, especially since the 5th Tuesday of May falls on Memorial Day weekend. It was tabled for next month's meeting.

Karen brought up the Wisconsin State Fair. You may go to the Wisconsin State Fair web site to sign up after May 20th, if you are interested in showing at the fair. Projects have to be dropped off at the fairgrounds by July 1st in order to show.

A "Yarn Swap" was brought up by Karen and there seemed to be a lot of members that liked the idea of having one. Members would bring their items (books, skeins of yarn, etc.) to be auctioned to other members. This would be held probably in August or September. More information to come.

The idea of having a "Potluck Picnic" this summer came up. We would need a member to set this all up.

Karen, also, brought up having another "Yarn Crawl" soon. This is usually done on a Saturday where members who sign up go to a number of yarn shops looking for "bargains".

The group project for May and June will be making felted bags after the general meeting. Yarn was distributed and members at the meeting started in with their various bags.

Meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m. by Karen/President

Peggy S/Secretary
 

April

Karen opened the meeting at 7:07 p.m. We had two visitors tonight. Sue from McHenry and Susan from Barrington. Our first quarter newsletter was mailed out. It was put together by Karen who really did a great job. Again, be sure to send or e-mail any interesting items you might come across to Karen for the next newsletter.

There are several Fiber Fairs coming up. Information on these fairs can be found on our web site.
We had a number of members who donated 8 chemo caps, 2 baby hats, and a baby blanket tonight-all beautiful. Thanks to Kristy, Ellie, Patty, Debbie, Karen, and Linda for all their work and beautiful items that they so kindly donated to Centegra. Peggy is bringing them over to the hospital tomorrow.
Karen announced that she wanted to get the order to Knit Picks in.
Some of the yarn was back ordered so several members picked different colors.
It was mentioned that Stitches Midwest is now online and if you are one to take any of the classes be sure to sign up as soon as you can as the classes fill up very quickly. The web site is www.knittinguniverse.com. Stitches Midwest is now going to be held in Rosemont this year instead of Pheasant Run. It will be held from August 11-14, 2005.
The Guild thanked Sherry D for her two terms as President with a knitting gift.
Business meeting adjourned by Karen at 7:25 p.m.
Beginner's class tonight was "Textured Stitches", lead by Kathleen C.
Intermediate class tonight was "Knitting Backwards", lead by Sherry D, and Jane J.

Peggy S/Secretary

March

Karen H opened our meeting on March 8, 2005 at 7:00 P.M. We had five new ladies attend this meeting. Susan stated that we had 48 paid members, not counting the new ladies that signed up at the meeting.

The first order of business was the discussion on what our charity should be. After a very lively discussion on the subject a vote was taken and the majority voted for making projects for Centegra again. Example projects our members can make are baby hats, blankets, booties, and chemo hats for both children and adults. Also, brought up was the idea of making squares and having someone in the group crochet these squares together. Peggy S volunteered to be the liaison with Centegra.

Karen reminded us about getting some items to her to be put into our next newsletter. It can be "tips & tricks", knitting patterns, a good recipe, etc. Kathleen stated that for every good tip that goes into the newsletter there will be a little prize to the member that donated it.

Karen brought up the idea of doing a group project. After an animated discussion it was voted to make felted bags. Karen had a number of sample felted bag patterns she brought and several people signed up to do a group buy for the wool needed to make the bags. You may bring your own yarn and pattern if you prefer. If you have any questions concerning this project please e-mail Karen.

Kathleen's Knit-In was a great success! Everyone who attended it greatly enjoyed themselves.

Please go to our web site to see all the various fiber shows coming up in the next few months (see Schedule Page).

Knit & Wine night usually held on any month that has a 5th Tuesday, was tabled for discussion until next month's meeting.

Again, thanks to Kathleen for providing the coffee and tea for our meetings. Also for the ladies that provide the great desserts for each meeting. If you get a chance bring a batch of cookies or even a box of cookies. They certainly will be appreciated by our group.

There is a meeting for board members only on March 15th at 7:00 P.M. at Barnes & Noble Cafe.

Meeting was adjourned at 8:30 P.M. Respectfully, Peggy S/Secretary

February

Karen opened the meeting of February 8, 2005 at 7:00 P.M. We had 4 new visitors. The first newsletter of the year went out. Sixty copies total went out. We are still looking for members to contribute to the newsletter. Perhaps knitting tips, a favorite pattern, etc.

Membership dues are now overdue. Please get your dues in to SUSAN R.
Write a check for $18.00 pay to the order of SUSAN R. Susan informed us that we now have a total of 45 paid members

Keep in mind about having the "Knit & Wine" on the 5th Tuesday of the month. This just falls 3 times of year, March, May, and June. If you have any other suggestions or other places than Christopher's please contact Karen. We need someone to co-ordinate this night.

We also need someone to be the coordinator for our charity knitting project. If anyone has any ideas on this again please e-mail Karen.

Thanks to our three members, Linda D, Minnie D, and Dawn A, who took the time out of their busy schedules to help the 15 Fox River Grove Girl Scouts learn to knit.

Gene Ann's had her yearly Knit In. 20 people attended, including several of our members.

There are a number of various classes coming up all over the area.
Please check our web site for the various information for each.

Kathleen is having a Knit In on February 27th (this is the new date).
It will be held at her house from 1:00 P.M.-6:00 P.M. for all guild members and some of her students.

Everyone who knitted a "Friendship" scarf at the January meeting wore them to this meeting.
They were so much fun to make and everyone's was so pretty!

Beginner's Circle discussion of Increases and other topics was led by Dawn A, Intermediate Class of Mosaic/Slip Stitch colorwork knitting was led by Jane J.

Minutes taken by Peggy S, Secretary, Cultured Purls Knitting Guild
 

January

Karen H, our new President for 2005, opened the meeting at 7:10 p.m. and welcomed both old and new members. We are starting something new in that we will have members bringing in "treats" for each meeting.
There will be two members for each of the meeting dates. We will be posting a list of what dates need to be filled in. This "treat" does not need to be home baked-it can be as simple as a box of cookies!

Don't forget our 2005 yearly dues are due by the end of January. You are reminded to make your check out to SUSAN R, our Treasurer, NOT to Cultured Purls. The amount due is $18.00 per person. Tonight Susan received 34 paid dues, of which 3 were brand new members. If you have any questions concerning these dues contact Susan.

Karen stated that 3 of our people volunteered to teach 13 Girl Scouts at the Fox River Grove Middle School. They have already taught the first session, and we would like a few more volunteers for the two remaining sessions, if possible. The dates are January 24th and January 31st (Mondays) from 3:30 - 4:30.
For more information contact Karen, or VP Linda D.

We also would like several volunteers to be instructors for both our intermediate circle and our beginner circle for each meeting.

We need a volunteer to co-ordinate the continuing of "Knit & Wine" nights that we held at Christopher's in Crystal Lake. Christopher's likes to schedule it on Tuesdays as this is their slowest night and we have been having it on the 5th Tuesday of the months that have a 5th Tuesday. This would be March, May, August, and November. Again please contact Karen or one of the board members.

Some discussion was brought up on meetings held during the day such as at Borders, etc. Karen passed around a sheet on who was interested in meeting during the day. More information to come on this.

Our first newsletter of 2005 will be coming out in a week or two. If you have any knitting news such as a great knitting pattern, new knitting store opening, store sale coming up, etc. please let us know!

January 16th (Sunday), Gene Ann is having her annual Knit-In at her father's home in North Barrington. It starts at 12:30 P.M. to ?. RSVP is needed, call her shop: www.geneannsyarns.com . Bring you knitting projects and a dish to pass. She supplies the drinks and makings for sandwiches.

February 20th (Sunday) Kathleen C is having a Knit-In for her students and members of Cultured Purls at her home. It will be from 1:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. and bring a small dish to pass. You do not have to RSVP-just come! For any questions contact Kathleen.

Business Meeting was closed at 8:00 P.M.  Friendship scarf knitting with members sharing yarn for fun scarves followed. 

Minutes taken by Peggy S, Secretary of Cultured Purls Knitting Guild

2004 Meeting Reviews, Click Here!