A message from Pres. Sarah W.
A year a go who would have thought we would soon be attending our last in person meeting for a while. if you havent finished all your WIPs yet we have some additional inspiration for you all in the shape of a prize! so please let me know what you finish either by email, ravelry or Show and Share during the meeting. if you dont tell me about the projects you finish you wont be eligible to win!
As always the zoom is open every evening, Friday afternoons for Happy hour and all day Saturday / Sunday if you need help or just someone to talk to. Bring a recipe,i am always looking for good recipes!
Meeting is on the 20th so mark your calendars
2021 Executive Board Nominating
It’s that time of year for us as a Guild to select a new Executive Board for the coming calendar year at the December business meeting, whether by vote or approval of a slate.
For more information about nominations, click here
We must have a quorum of the Membership at the December meeting in order to vote on a ballot or approve a slate, as necessary. We will also provide voting by email and details will be forthcoming, but I encourage all Members to join us online in December and vote for/ approve the 2021 Executive Board live via Zoom.
Come to the ESSS meeting
on October 17
and
help us form a quorum so
we can handle the
Guild's business
More details here
Our November meeting is all about Knitted Decreases. You will recall that Joan W taught increases a few months ago. This program will follow a similar format by exploring paired decreases and demonstrate technique. Don’t worry if you missed the Increases program. Joan’s exploration of knitted decreases is a stand-alone learning opportunity. Join in on the fun!
Joan W will cover Slanting Right (2), Slanting left (7), Double Decreases (4), Fully Fashioned, Twisted, and Extreme (7 to 1, 6 to 1). Whew!
If you would like the handout before the meeting so that you can follow along more easily, email Joan at: jewhitten@yahoo.com
Due to social distancing requirements because of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic (which has closed the Joslyn Center), we will once again be holding our June meeting virtually using the Zoom service (see below for more information about the Zoom service).
Zoom On. We have all been learning the ins & outs of a Zoom meeting. The Show N Share format for the meetings has worked well for two months. But it is time to add in a new component.
Joan W will teach Helix Knitting at the conclusion of our sharing time on June 20th (the Helix Knitting program will begin about 11 am right after our regular Zoom Show N Share). This is the program that Joan taught at Stitches SoCal last autumn.
Helix knitting is a fun and simple method for knitting single row stripes in the round. It creates jogless color changes and you don’t even have to worry about carrying the various yarn up and up.
Joan offers this quick intro to helix knitting:
This technique enables you to avoid the jog when you change color while knitting in the round. It is a good way to use up stash yarn and to blend hand-dyed yarn.
1. Choose your colors (odd numbers tend to be most pleasing.)
2. Place markers (if you want to) equal distances around. Place yarn in the color order that you want.
3 Starting with the yarn on the left, knit to marker, move yarn to the right. Pick up yarn on the left and knit to next marker.
YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLEYPmpoAD0
At one time or another, each of us needs help with a project. With that thought in mind, our educational program for this month is Virtual Drop-In Help. Throughout May, there will be scheduled help on our Zoom Meeting site. Of course, anytime that you need help with a knit or crochet project, hop online and ask others for assistance. Evenings from 7 – 9 pm are quite lively.
Schedule for Virtual Drop-In Help:
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Crochet, Tunisian Crochet, and cookie baking: Mondays May 4, 11, 18 & 25 from 10:30 am – 12 Noon. Session led by Sarah Stewart Soileau.
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Knitting, Crochet, and Help for Lefties: Wednesdays May 7, 14, 21 & 28 from 1 – 4 pm. Session led by Peggy Avellar.
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Knitting, Crochet, Tunisian Crochet, and Cajun recipes: Sundays May10, 17 & 24 from 1–3 pm. Session led by Lenora Francois Stewart.
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Knitting and Crochet: Friday Happy Hour May 8, 15, 22 & 29 from 4 – 8 pm. Saturdays May 9, 16, 23 & 30 from 10 am – 12 Noon and 3 – 6 pm. Session led by Sarah Wood.
We'll have a virtual Show and Share again, so if you have a project you would like to share, have it nearby.
We will be using the Zoom service (you may have seen this company in the news lately. They provide online meeting services for telephone or video meetings). This means that we can all "meet" together and stay separate in our own homes.
Details and information about how to log onto the meeting are on the members only page (click here)
ESSS Charity Report February 2020
Since our last report we have donated 209 items to approximately 10 different charities. This includes 4 bears for the Mother Bear Project, 2 cowls, 5 shawls, 39 scarves, 2 hats, 8 blankets, 3 animal blankets, 13 baby blankets, 3 baby bibs, and 130 baby hats.
This gives us a year to date total of 310 items. Well done!
Thank you to our charity reps for all they do to sort and deliver the items to the charities. Please make their jobs easier by ensuring all your loose-ends are worked in and secure and that your donations are clean and fresh smelling. If you are donating items which have been in storage or are using old yarn please launder the items prior to donation. Tags are available for you to tag your items and write in words of encouragement and/ or care instructions. This is an easy way to promote our guild.
There are plenty of kits available for you to make a scarf for Especially Handmade. Just remember to follow the simple instructions.
Our Charity Reps
Most of our members send their donations directly to the charity of their choice. However, we collect for a few charities at our monthly meetings. Each of these charities has their very own member representative (see below for a chart of who collects for which charities) who kindly delivers our beautiful creations to the charity concerned whether I am here or not. A special thank you to these hardworking members. We really appreciate all they do to make sure our donations arrive safely. See table below for list of reps and the charity they are delivering to.
Thank you to you the members for donating such high quality items – well made, nicely finished, laundered if needed and just ready to use. A credit to the guild. We now have tags with the guild logo that you can use to tag the items you make for donation. Feel free to add a few handwritten words of inspiration and first name of the maker. I have the tags available on request, see me at the meeting
Click here for a list of the charities we support. If you have been contributing to a charity that is not listed, let us know so we can add it. Even if you feel your charity or your contribution is small and insignificant it may be an inspiration to others. “Tall oaks from little acorns grow.”
12 inch squares
If you have squares, preferably 12 inch but any size will do you may give those to me for Yarn Angels of South Bay. They support numerous charities including ones for veterans.
Little Hats, Big Hearts program termination
Here is the information we received about the termination of the Little Hats, Big Hearts program (the "red hats" for the Heart Association). This is from an email received by Cathy M from Marissa Fortuno from the American Heart Association:
Thank you for being an integral part of the American Heart Association’s Little Hats, Big Hearts™ program. For many years, we have been blessed to work with volunteers like you around the country to help babies and moms celebrate American Heart Month in a special way.
I am emailing to inform you that in unison with the safety concerns of physicians and parents, the American Heart Association is ending the Little Hats, Big Hearts™ program, and will no longer be accepting hats. There is a substantial increase in the concern that babies who wear hats indoors have an elevated risk for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) due to the possibility of overheating. The hats that we currently have will be distributed for the last time to Los Angeles hospitals in February 2020
Though we will no longer be accepting or distributing hats, we value your skills and talents and invite you to continue to create red, hand-crafted baby booties and hand mittens. We will also be collecting knitted hearts to be gifted to members of our heart family such as heart survivors, donors, and those who fundraise for the AHA.
Here are a few sample websites with patterns of the new items we will be accepting:
We want to continue to share our mission of promoting the importance of heart-healthy lives for everyone and appreciate your support by knitting these new items. Thank you and happy holidays!