FVKG January 2023 Newsletter

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday season and were able to spend it with those you love and who love you. Did you get all your handmade gifts done? Or were you like me and opted out of even attempting to knit for gifts? It wasn’t really my choice, but I will say my stress level was much lower this year.

Our Holiday party was such a nice evening. I hope those who were able to attend enjoyed it. Please join me in thanking Sacha and the board for a wonderful time.

Thinking about goals…

The new year is a great time to organize your knitting and other crafts, and to reflect on what you want to accomplish. I started with my knitting room, (yikes what a rabbit hole that was…. Is). Our upcoming Zoom meeting is my motivation to be done before it so my background isn’t embarrassing.

If you follow the Guild on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll not only notice beautiful projects knit by members but also suggestions of podcasts. One of my favorites is Roxanne Richardson. Next month she will be doing what she calls Finish It February. She’ll be announcing it soon on one of her Casual Friday videos, with all the details of how and why she started. I offer it as another great way to evaluate your knitting and start the New Year.

Hopefully one of your goals for the coming year is to participate in the Knit-a-Longs that we are hosting. Janet’s article has all of the details. It’s totally voluntary and very casual.

I would also like to encourage you to think about how you can support our Guild. I say ‘our’ because that is exactly what it is. It takes members to be involved. Right now we have a great need to help Lara with aspects of her responsibilities. Do you like reaching out to yarn shops to ask for donations? Would you like to help decide which programs to offer in the future? If so, please contact Lara and let her know you’ll be happy to help her.

Election of officers is also coming up. Are you interested in serving on the board? As of right now, we will need to fill the spots of Membership, Treasurer, and Communications. There’s time to think about it but please don’t wait too long. The guild has been in existence for 35 years because of amazing people who have kept it going.

Apart from my shameless plea for volunteers, I hope your current and upcoming projects bring you joy! I also hope to see you at our January meeting with our presenter Kate Atherly, see Lara’s article. I’m really looking forward to it and I hope you are too. We will be having Show and Tell, so be sure to have things ready to share. I’ve written a short article about zoom meeting etiquette and tips to refresh our memory about how to prepare.

On to 2023!

Sincerely,
Bridget

Size and Fit: Why the Medium Never Quite Fits Right - Kate will be visiting us this month, for a ZOOM only meeting, to give us an overview of how to read garment sizing information and schematics in order to decide which size to choose. She will also help us understand ease and how to measure yourself, and how to take garment style into account when making a pattern choice. 

See you all on ZOOM! 

Lara Benefield
VP and Programs

Zoom Meeting Reminders
Since it’s been awhile since some of us have been on zoom I thought it would be a good time for a bit of a refresher. The most important thing to take from this is to be familiar with how your device works.

• It's a good idea to login ahead of time to make sure your camera and microphone are working and you know where the icons for both are located.
• Familiarize yourself with the chat/comments section, and how to change the name of the device.
• Change the name of the device to YOUR NAME.
• Have a light source in front of you, not behind. Lights in the background cast shadows on your face and make it difficult for others to see you.
• If you choose not to be on camera you can turn off your video.
• Be sure to mute when you’re not talking.
• For Show and Tell:
  1. Unmute! When it’s your turn to share.
  2. Hold the project up to the camera if you are showing a specific detail, but do not move it quickly. The camera needs time to focus.
  3. Speak briefly about your project by hitting the highlights.
  4. Mute when you are finished.

These are just a few pointers to have a successful meeting.

Hope this helps!

Winter Knit-Along, 2023
Due to popular demand, the Guild is holding a Winter KAL, beginning in January 2023.  Although this time, it is not a Mystery KAL (MKAL), we think it will be a fun challenge for any member who would like to participate.  We have chosen a few different patterns, with varying yarn and skill requirements, so hopefully there will be something for everybody who is interested in participating.   The patterns are all free patterns, and can be found on Ravelry.  If you don’t use Ravelry, perhaps you can ask a friend who does, or maybe it’s time for you to give it a try! 

First up, for shawl lovers, is a free pattern from Joji Locatelli:  Odyssey Shawl https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/odyssey-shawl   This pattern requires 675 yards of DK weight yarn and is knit on US8 needles.  You can use three colors as shown in the pattern photo, or just one color.  Let your creativity run free!  

For those who would prefer a smaller project, we have another free pattern from Joji Locatelli:  Rafa’s Hat, which she designed for her husband.  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rafas-hat  It comes in three different sizes and requires 150 - 190 yards of worsted yarn, and is knit on US5 needles.

And, finally, for all of the knitters who like the look of colorwork made easy,  (or those who would like to give it a try!), we have two patterns by Cathy Baucom that feature slipped stitches:  the Festive Cowl https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/festive-cowl-2 along with its matching Festive Hat https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/festive-hat-2 .  Cathy is the owner of the Knot House, a yarn shop in Frederick, Maryland, along with her daughter, who dyes yarn for the shop.  Her Cowl pattern requires two skeins of contrasting fingering weight yarn, and uses US3 and US5 needles, and the hat has the same requirements.  

You may cast on for this KAL as early as New Year’s Day, and will have until our May meeting to finish any of these projects.  We can’t wait till may to see all of the beautiful projects members have created!

Oh, did we mention?  There WILL be prizes! ;)

Janet Goier

Washington Hat