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Charity Knitting – December 2022 Update

Posted on by KANGWebmaster
What a great autumn we have had in charity knits!! We have collected so much over the summer months and almost all of it has been dropped with various charitable organizations.
 
Dr. Riha, who came by our October event has incorporated the items he collected into gift baskets for the VA outreach program.
 
We dropped off 4 full bags of items with a battered women’s shelter in early November.
 
After November’s knit-together event, we have 3 full bags of items to drop to Children’s Safe Harbours just in time for Christmas.
 
We had a smaller group of knitters (and crocheters) at our November event at Buffalo Bayou but we still had every chapter represented! Two lucky crafters won yarn bouquets at our door prize drawing. Lauren (our current president) and Dolores (previous charity organizer) happened to hit the jackpot on that one.
 
Even though we won’t hold a charity knit-together in December, keep crafting! Depending on weather we will plan an event for January, so keep an eye out on our website, social media, and December’s newsletter.
 
Don’t know what to make for charity? Here are some suggestions:
  • Child and baby sized hats (these are fast to make and the easiest to give away)
  • Baby sweaters, (faster to make than you think, especially premie sizes)
  • Blankets (lap blankets, full size, baby sized)
  • Shawls
  • Stuffed toys
  • Wash cloths (cotton)
  • Peyton Hearts (links to patterns on this page)
  • 7″x9″ or 9″x7″ squares made of acrylic yarn, any pattern, any color(s), knit or crochet for the WarmUpAmerica project
Suggested patterns can be found on our website under the charity section… Or make any pattern you prefer.
 

December 2022 Programs

Posted on by KANGWebmaster

KIK – Scrappy Cowl KAL & Holiday Party
KIND – Holiday Party
KNIT – Holiday Potluck
KNOW – Holiday Party
SoCK – Holiday Party

For more information regarding the latest chapter programs, please visit our CALENDAR page! Here you will find exact dates for upcoming guild chapter meetings, including full program descriptions for each meeting.

On the Calendar page you will also find various guild-wide events (charity knit-ins, affiliate sales and the like) and up-coming events in the yarn community / Houston area (FiberFests, conventions, etc.).

Please visit the KANG Chapters page to find your nearest chapter. 

November 2022 Programs

Posted on by KANGWebmaster

KIK – Open Knitting & Holiday Planning
KIND – Stranded Knitting
KNIT – KAL “Simply Scrappy CowL”
KNOW – Upcycling
SoCK – Amigurumi

For more information regarding the latest chapter programs, please visit our CALENDAR page! Here you will find exact dates for upcoming guild chapter meetings, including full program descriptions for each meeting.

On the Calendar page you will also find various guild-wide events (charity knit-ins, affiliate sales and the like) and up-coming events in the yarn community / Houston area (FiberFests, conventions, etc.).

Please visit the KANG Chapters page to find your nearest chapter. 

From the President – Nov 2022

Posted on by KANGWebmaster

Figure 1: “Mayflower Mice” by Alan Dart (ravelry)

My, how quickly the year has gone by as we slip into November. It’s during this month that many of us remember to pause and reflect on the things for which we are thankful and the many blessings we take for granted. We often express appreciation for our families and friends, our beloved pets, our mentors, our health, a roof overhead, military personnel and emergency responders for keeping us safe, and enough food to keep our bellies full, just to name a few.

It’s also the time of year when we flock to the polls to exercise our right to vote. As one of my degrees is in Political Science, I encourage every able citizen to exercise this privilege during early voting or on Election Day (11/8). Stand proud and confident in your own decisions, beliefs, and values.

For me this year, I am especially thankful to the medical teams who have been there for my family members, including myself. From broken bones and hospital stays to removal of organs and open-heart surgery, I cannot express enough gratitude for their expertise, precision, and care getting us back on the road to a healthy recovery.

Although I was out for about a week in October recovering, I kept my needles busy…naturally on a newly casted-on project. Just for fun, I started a pom-pom baby blanket since the pattern is 2 stitches between each pom and garter stitch every row. Unfortunately, I slacked on my “Basics of Love” lace shawl but did manage to complete another couple repeats (8 of 25) of the pattern!! Still have a ways to go on this one.

I also attended this pumpkin making class at Yarn Store Boutique using an Addi Express knitting machine. What a joyous time I had! I LOVED the class, and I may have gotten myself another toy…! I am excited to let my niece and nephews dig through my yarn stash and then show them how to make pumpkins in their favorite colors during the Thanksgiving holiday!

If you follow our social media platforms, you have probably seen mentioned the numerous events coming up at our many local yarn shops. From The Social Knitwork hosting a “Uneek Harvest Poncho” knit along starting the 5th to Park Avenue Yarns who is celebrating their 12th birthday all weekend long, Nov. 3-6!! There is a “November Fling” vendor fair happening at Yarn Store Boutique on the 11th & 12th and the “CyFair Nutcracker Market” at the Berry Center on the 19th!

On a final note, I would like to give a shout-out to all those who have contributed to and/or were able to attend the Charity Knit-Together Event at Karbach Brewing Co. last month. The generosity of time and effort given warms my heart and I was astounded by how many amazing pieces we have collected! THANK YOU! It was wonderful to see so many KANG members present and kudos to our guests present too! Also, I’ve heard a rumor that the next Charity event has few exquisite prizes… Any guesses?

 

With that, wish you all a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!

Lauren Levy
Executive Board President
knitatnightguild@gmail.com

Charity Knitting – November 2022 Update

Posted on by KANGWebmaster
Thank you all who came out for our Charity Knit-together at Karbach in October. It was wonderful to see so many faces knitting and crocheting.
 
Sarah, Yogi, Lotti and Marie spent the entire 3 hours tagging items we had collected over the summer; we must have tagged about 500 items!!
 
We had an internal medicine intern who volunteers his time with the VA outreach program join us. Dr. Riha collected blankets, baby hats, and slippers for postpartum women in need. He received about a dozen blankets and nearly 100 hats for the cause.
 
Our friendly chapter-to-chapter competition winners was the SoCK chapter with 9 members in attendance (not counting Marie and Sarah); but it was amazing to see that every chapter was represented. The SoCK chapter received a bag of Halloween & Día de los Muertos stitch markers to distribute to chapter members. Rumor had it that Debbie Smith (SoCK) shared stitch markers with everyone in attendance and there is still plenty to distribute to the SoCK chapter.
 
You want to make items for charity too, but don’t know what to make? Here are some suggestions:
  • Child and baby sized hats (these are fast to make and the easiest to give away)
  • Baby sweaters, (faster to make than you think, especially premie sizes)
  • Blankets (lap blankets, full size, baby sized)
  • Shawls
  • Stuffed toys
  • Wash cloths (cotton)
  • Peyton Hearts (links to patterns on this page)
  • 7″x9″ or 9″x7″ squares made of acrylic yarn, any pattern, any color(s), knit or crochet for the WarmUpAmerica project
Finished charity items can be brought to your chapter where your chapter president will make sure they find their way to the charity coordinators for distribution. Finished items can also be brought to charity knit-together events to be dropped directly to the coordinators.
 
Along with our donation to the VA through Dr. Riha, we also dropped off 2 dozen hats and 2 dozen scarves to the Robin Hood Project of Houston distributing clothing, food and supplies to Houston homeless.
 
Another full bag of items was collected for Chidren’s Safe Harbor in Conroe and will be dropped off in early December!
Two more full bags of hats, blankets, scarves, and shawls will be dropped at an undisclosed battered women’s shelter in downtown Houston in early November.
 
OUR NEXT KNIT-TOGETHER EVENT
  • Where: Buffalo Bayou Brewing Company.  2101 Summer St, Houston, TX 77007
  • When: November 20  Noon – 3 PM
  • There will be a drawing for 3 lucky winners at 2 PM
** Watch the Knit at Night Guild website social media platforms for cancellations due to rain.
 
As always, if there are any questions about charity, reach out to us at: knitatnightguildcharity@gmail.com

From the President – Oct 2022

Posted on by KANGWebmaster
Figure 1: "Crochet Halloween Decor" by Natalia Ruzanova

Ah, October…One of my favorite months!! To me, this month signals the start of all the holidays and festivities coming up. Now, I am certainly biased about October because it’s also my birthday month, RenFaire starts back up, and of course Halloween. I love all the birthday perks that last all month long, the decorations that start to appear, ALL the pumpkins everywhere, and the joy of the trick-or-treaters!

As I write this month’s article, I am cruising at an altitude of ~35,000 feet as I return from a week-long work conference in Denver (many thanks to our Newsletter Chair for her patience with my tardiness!!). Be assured that I have my needles in my lap and a neck light that is hopefully not bothering my neighbor too badly! Lately I have been steadily working on a for-me shawl called “Basics of Love” by Judit Horvath. I am using the recommended yarn: a pastel rainbow cake of cotton yarn that has 4 plies to it*. There is a panel of lace carried up one side and it slowly grows with a staggered eyelet lace on the other side. I still have a long way to go as I have only completed 6 of 25 repeats of a 12-row repeat section! I am thoroughly enjoying this project and will update you on my progress next month!

*Fun tip: For yarns with loose plies, place a bead on the working yarn to keep the plies from splitting as you work your pattern!


Reflecting on September, although I didn’t find myself at another fiber festival, I had the pleasure of attending and meeting some members of the chapters aside from my home chapter. Let me just say, the talents reflected in your projects and the passion you have for charity items warms my heart and is incredibly inspiring! Thanks to the presentation by Dolores in SoCK, I have so many ideas now for Christmas gifts (now to just get started). If you missed this, check out the program handouts on the website as it includes knit and crochet options!! Also, who knew that the KNIT chapter was just a short 20-min drive from my work office!? I took my notes on joining new yarns and will need to practice some of these techniques several more times before I have them mastered! KIND also welcomed me as I dropped in at the Bayland Community Center. Gloria’s program on color was quite insightful! It’s astounding how different—or the same—some colors appear when you consider them in a monotone comparison! Can’t wait to keep meeting each our KANG members and guests in all the chapters—if not at your chapter, perhaps at the Charity knit-it later this month!!

 

Lauren Levy
Executive Board President
knitatnightguild@gmail.com

Charity Knitting – October 2022 Update

Posted on by KANGWebmaster

Hello Charity Knitters!!

The long hot summer has passed and it’s time to go outdoors and knit together again.

Our First Charity Knit-Together of the season will be on Sunday, October 23rd from 12 noon-3pm at Karbach Brewing (2032 Karbach St, Houston, TX 77092)!!

At our Charity Knit-Togethers, our Charity Coordinators (Sarah & Marie) collect finished pieces and will have the charity stash of yarn for you to use for your next charity project.


Sarah & Marie have a friendly competition planned:

  • There will be a sign-in sheet.

  • The chapter that has the greatest number of participants at the Charity Knit-Together event will win seasonal notions to distribute to the whole chapter!

As always, Charity Knit-Togethers are always open to any fiber artists, even if they are not members of KANG. So, bring your Grammy or your Bestie.

Any questions, please contact Sarah or Marie at knitatnightguildcharity@gmail.com

See you on the 23rd!

October 2022 Programs

Posted on by KANGWebmaster

KIK – Open Knitting & discuss Charity Knitting
KIND – Beaded Stitch Markers
KNIT – KAL with Laura Nelkin
KNOW – Felting
SoCK – Lace Knitting

For more information regarding the latest chapter programs, please visit our CALENDAR page! Here you will find exact dates for upcoming guild chapter meetings, including full program descriptions for each meeting.

On the Calendar page you will also find various guild-wide events (charity knit-ins, affiliate sales and the like) and up-coming events in the yarn community / Houston area (FiberFests, conventions, etc.).

Please visit the KANG Chapters page to find your nearest chapter. 

From the President – Sep 2022

Posted on by KANGWebmaster
As August wraps up and summer comes to an end with the kiddos returning to school, I find myself longing for the September vibes of autumn: leaves starting to change colors, the emergence of pumpkins everywhere, brisk and windy days, (sorry, no pumpkin spice latte for me… I’m more of an espresso or peppermint mocha gal 😉), and the realization that I still haven’t started on my Christmas knits…! I know, I know; it’s still quite hot here in Texas! How fitting that I managed to finish my “Ice Cream Social” shawl this month though!
 
Alas, I look around and find myself surrounded by all the goodies that I found at each of the participating local yarn shops on the Texas Yarn Trail: numerous new yarns, books and patterns, project bags, stitch markers, tools, and fiber… I am one ecstatic chica! I think I have acquired enough new projects to last me until I retire! This year, I trail-hopped with several gals from the SoCK chapter out to the western side of Houston on opening day! Lots of driving, but what fun we had, and we met several others along the way at each of the shops! I am looking forward to hearing your stories and seeing what you found!
 
Will any of you be heading north to the Dallas/Ft Worth area later this month for the “DFW Fiber Fest”? Unfortunately, I already committed myself to other events this year; however, this event runs September 22-25th (Thursday thru Sunday) and has quite a bit going on! There are classes and vendors with a focus on various areas of expertise: knitting and crocheting, cross-stitching, tatting, spinning, weaving, and jewelry making to name just a few! What will you learn?
 
Your Executive Board met for the quarterly meeting on Tuesday, August 16th. Despite summer vacations, it seems things are going well around the guild. Many members have continued to step up and lead fun and well-received programs within their chapters! We discussed topics of budget and membership numbers, which at this time are a bit low. If you haven’t already, don’t forget to renew your membership!! Invite your friends and family!! We are curious for feedback on how to grow KANG and get more exposure in our communities. Our Charity coordinators have some events in mind for the fall and of course, the much-anticipated topic of retreats and workshops! While details are still in progress, if you would like to help with planning or simply be involved, we are recruiting for the Retreats & Workshops Committee! Contact us at knitatnightguildRetreat@gmail.com!
 
Have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend!
 
Lauren Levy
Executive Board President
knitatnightguild@gmail.com

September 2022 Programs

Posted on by KANGWebmaster

KIK – Open Knitting & Peyton Heart Project Charity Knitting
KIND – Colors!
KNIT – Techniques for Joining Yarn
KNOW – Pompoms & Tassels
SoCK – Christmas Knits

For more information regarding the latest chapter programs, please visit our CALENDAR page! Here you will find exact dates for upcoming guild chapter meetings, including full program descriptions for each meeting.

On the Calendar page you will also find various guild-wide events (charity knit-ins, affiliate sales and the like) and up-coming events in the yarn community / Houston area (FiberFests, conventions, etc.).

Please visit the KANG Chapters page to find your nearest chapter.