GBGK Oct. 14, 2021 Meeting Minutes
Submitted by Cynthia Doherty, President
The October Meeting of the Greater Boston Knitting Guild brought us a visit with Stephen West from his Amsterdam studio. The Show & Tell Slide Show showcased the many of the lovely creations made during our Stephen West KAL.
BUSINESS MEETING
The meeting opened with a greeting to all members from around the world.
GBGK updates:
· Board Member-at-Large, Nancy Livingstone, has stepped down after serving for many years. She will be missed on the Board but will remain an active Guild Member.
· We were introduced to a new Board Member-at-Large, Laura Konopka.
· Laura is also leading a new Team that will oversee the KAL’s and Knit Ins including choosing the themes, leading the sessions, and providing teaching opportunities as needed. This team includes Kathy Wells (Texas), Jude Germaine (Connecticut) and Susan Drew (MA).
· A Team has been established to review the GBGK By-Laws to ensure they are up-to-date and reflect our new status as a non-profit. This team includes two Board Members: Kathleen Maguire and Alice Gray. It also includes to GBKG Members: Anne Marie Barletta and Norine Wong (both in MA).
· The Website Team has expanded to include GBKG Member Robyn Booth (MA) who will be posting Show & Tell and assist in keeping the site refreshed and current.
· GBKG now has a Roving Reporter: Robin Sweeney (Colorado). Watch for her articles on the Members Only section of the website. And don’t be surprised if she reaches out to you for an interview.
· These positions were filled by Members responding to the ”Help Wanted” adds in Knit Notes. Watch for an opportunity that you might enjoy.
Membership Report: Alice Gray reported that we now have 245 Members in 4 countries and 20 states.
Community Outreach: Shelley Leahy provided an update on the donations. GBKG declared October is Knitting for Good Month. This is a drive to gather an additional 250 items before the November collection and distribution. The need is greater than ever. A second night for Community Knitting is set for Wednesday, October 20.
GUEST SPEAKER: Stephen West
Our very special Guest Speaker, Stephen West, joined us from his studio in Amsterdam. He shared his journey from Oklahoma to Chicago and finally arriving in Amsterdam at age 21. We got to meet Brioche the newest member of the Team. This gorgeous pup is going to be warm all winter long as well as the best dressed pup ever!
Stephen taught us that your yarn isn’t a stash. It’s your collection! The collection is your hobby. If you knit it, it’s a bonus. And if you knit and crochet it, it’s a double bonus.
Stephen shared many of his gorgeous designs, his love for color and all things yarn. He also shared some tips, tricks and some sayings to help us relax and just enjoy the knit such as “Say yes and don’t stress”. Are you running out of yarn? Just bind off! Stephen encouraged us to “improvise while knitting” or “Knitprovise”!
So many colors and so many tails of yarn! Be sure to check out this tip and video: The Weavin’ Stephen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz292NAjH2M
And his lazy swatch was brilliant. By taking the possible colors and the main color and wrapping them sequentially around a piece of cardboard, then repeating the same sequence on another piece of cardboard but changing the main color was amazing. Seeing the colors pop by just changing that main, is a clever way to help the process of choosing colors.
Stephen’s patterns on Ravelry are at 375 and counting. It’s not too late to join his latest MKAL. We are grateful that the Zoom world has opened up opportunities like we had today to visit and chat with one of our knitwear stars!
OCTOBER GBKG RAFFLE WINNERS:
1. Helen Gellis (MA)
2. Cynthia Mulholland (Australia)
3. Pamela O’Leary (MA