Fiber Arts Group Reminders (Please Read)

[Rebecca Novelli]

Happy Summer, Everyone!

I hope all of you are enjoying your summer and getting in those last hours of sunshine before Autumn is upon us. I'm currently on vacation and will be back in time for school. In the meantime, several concerns have come to my attention so I thought I'd send out a reminder on the topics listed below. I know these mails are boring but it would be greatly appreciated if you'd review the information so everyone is on the same page. The majority of it should be common sense.

* Membership

* Attendance

* Group Communication

* Overlake & Children's Hospitals & Tent City 4's request

* Free yarn!!

In case you haven't visited our Google group yet, it recreates the old site and contains links to free chemo cap, preemie cap, triangle scarf, and stuffed animal patterns. In addition, I've uploaded a new triangle chemo scarf pattern based on the sample from Overlake Hospital for needle & loom knitters.

See all of you in September!

Rebecca

Membership

Welcome all new members! We had several ladies join as a result of the charity event that was held. It was discussed and agreed upon to extend our membership to anyone in the community who's interested in making fiber arts for charity. After all, we're all working towards the same goal.

Attendance

There seems to be confusion regarding attendance. No one is required to attend a meeting. Come when you can and we'll miss you when you can't. Attendance is fluid so one meeting may have 8 people attend and another may have none. This is typical of this type and size of group. If you don't want to be the sole attendee, send e-mail to the group (mailto:tbtfib...@googlegroups.com) prior to the meeting and ask if anyone else is coming. If you can't remember the address, it's in the footer of every mail that goes out. Please don't contact me to find out if, who or how many people are attending. I can only speak for myself. Also, please don't contact me to complain that you were the only person to attend. I have no control over this.

We're currently scheduled through the end of March. During the school year (late September through early May) we meet at TBT in the Berg Room on Fridays and Sundays. During the summer, we meet at TBT in the Berg Room on Fridays and meet at the Starbucks inside Crossroads (in between Half Priced Books and the newsstand) on Sundays.

Group Communication

If you have information or a question that should be shared with the entire group, for example, you have a new pattern, you borrowed or want to borrow a sample item, you're looking for volunteers to work on a project, you want to chit-chat about an upcoming event, etc., send an e-mail to the group (mailto:tbtfib...@googlegroups.com). Please don't send it to me; the posts on this list are not moderated. We've been good about discussing matters with each other in the past. Let's continue doing this. The Google group makes it easy to make announcements, ask questions or chat with one another and is also an easy way to keep track and archive those discussions so no one individual has to take on the responsibility of keeping track of the data. If our group becomes large, then we can discuss electing a president, secretary, etc. and keeping track of data formally.

Overlake & Children's Requirements and Tent City 4's Needs

Overlake Hospital currently needs chemo caps for teens and adults. They've suggested making triangle scarves. This is a great option because it's one-size fits all. There's a sample of what they'd like hanging in TBT's coat closet if anyone would like to look at it. If you'd like to take this home to create a pattern, please be considerate and send an e-mail to the group (mailto:tbtfib...@googlegroups.com) to let them know. Please remember to return it after you've finished making your pattern so that others may use it. Also, they don't need preemie caps at this time.

Children's Hospital needs 24x24" and 36x36" blankets. Please choose a pattern that does not have "holes" in it so the babies can't stick their cute little fingers and toes through. They also need scarves for their chapel for family members who are staying in the area. They don't need preemie caps at this time. Dahlila announced at the event that she thought they might and they don't. They may need them in the fall as well as chemo caps but that has not yet been confirmed.

If you've made any hats for Overlake and haven't yet turned in your hours, please do. Overlake keeps track of these volunteer hours for their records. You don't have to keep track of your hours for Children's. When I have time, I will setup a Google spreadsheet to make it easier for each member to track her time. 

Tent City 4 has requested blankets.

Free Lion Brand Yarn!!

There's a big box of free Lion Brand Chenille Thick & Quick yarn in TBT's coat closet to be used for your charity knitting! Thank you, Lion Brand!! The color is Bordeaux even though the label states Black. This is a very soft and warm yarn, perfect for cooler weather hats and triangle scarves. You're welcome to take what you'd like and start knitting and crocheting for fall and winter. Three skeins are packaged together which is a perfect amount for one hat and one hood. Because this yarn does not stretch at all, please adjust your patterns to be at least 1-1.5" larger. Lion Brand has a list of patterns (including hats) available for this yarn at http://cache.lionbrand.com//yarns/ch-thick.html.

New Pattern

While I've been off, I created a pattern for a triangle scarf for loom knitting and needle knitting using Lion Brand Cotton Ease Yarn. I've uploaded it to the files section and will publish it on loomknittinghelp.com as well. Gauge is really important for this one -- if you're off, the scarf won't be an isosceles triangle and will be lopsided. If one or two of you would be willing to make a crochet pattern and a sewing pattern based off of the sample from Overlake, it would be greatly appreciated.