First General Meeting!

Posted January 29, 2009

We have booked our first general meeting for Thursday, February 5 at 5:30pm. It is in room 2006 in the Library at SFU Burnaby.

At the meeting you will have a chance to share your ideas for this semester, find out what we have already planned, purchase yarn & needles at a great rate, sign up to our volunteer list for the Dzaleka Project, and make SFU Knit & Crochet buttons to wear on your backpack!

Please email me (ANL5@sfu.ca) if you are planning on attending the meeting so that I can have an idea of how many people will be there. We're hoping to bring some treats!

Remember to tell your friends about our club!

Posted in Events
Tagged as meetings, meeting, and event

Meetings & Event Planning!

Posted January 15, 2009

We will be holding drop-in Knit & Crochet every Monday from 1 - 3 in the Rotunda! The first meeting will be January 26. I picked this time in response to our survey, and I realize that not everyone will be able to attend, but it seemed that most people could come at this time. I wish it was feasable to have meetings every day so that everyone could come!

Mondays will also be for skill building, with different skills or styles focused on each week! We now have a Calendar of Events!! If you can help with any of these skills, or have any suggestions at all, contact Lin. Even if you aren't interested in the skill building, please come and knit or crochet anyway!

Our general meeting will be held in the first week of February. I just need to book the room. It will probably be in the evening so that more people can attend!

I am also planning some special events that will get us off campus and into the community! First up is a trip to the Main Street yarn stores (Three Bags Full and Birkeland Brothers) which will happen during reading break on February 16. We will visit the stores, stock up on yarn, and then stop for lunch and maybe do some knitting in public if the weather is fine! I also propose that we work toward an end-of-term craft fair to be held on campus, but we can plan that at our meetings.

Other ideas include a yarn and supplies swap, production of club t-shirts and buttons, and producing items to donate to local charities.

Our club is proud to continue our partnership with the Dzaleka Project! Joselyne will be arranging a special mailing list and fundraising committee to organize activities to benefit this charity. Knit & Crochet Club members will have the option of signing up to support this project. NOTE: We still need more people to knit scarves by the end of January. Contact Joselyne if you can help!

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Posted in Events
Tagged as meetings, meeting, and event

Spring 2009 Survey!

Posted January 5, 2009

Happy New Year!

To ring in 2009, we are looking to reflect back on last semester and brainstorm ways that we can make this year even better! Since we have so many members, it's nearly impossible to organize everyone, so I've created an online survey that you can take to send us your feedback.

Click Here to take the survey!

(Note that you don't have to sign up on the survey page. Just fill in your answers and click "submit" at the bottom of the page and your results will be sent anonymously to us)

We are planning on starting our weekly drop-in Knit & Crochet sessions next week, as soon as we have feedback from members on when they can meet. Looking forward to seeing all of you then!


ALSO! We will be at Clubs Days in the AQ on January 13-14 (Tuesday & Wednesday). We need people who can sit at the table for an hour or more and answer questions. Contact us if you are available!

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Posted in Events
Tagged as survey, information, feedback, and spring

SFU Annual Craft Fair!

Posted November 18, 2008

Our club will be represented at SFU's Annual Craft Fair!

November 25 - 28 from 9am to 5pm in the AQ near the Renaissance Cafe

Volunteers are needed to set up, run the table, and to donate items to Joselyne's cause. If you can help out, please contact Joselyne!

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Other club news: we have a logo in the works! Heather is designing us a really fantastic logo, so we expect to have shirts and buttons available next semester!

A note from Lin: I'm so sorry to have missed so many of our meet-ups, but I've been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and that means no knitting! I'm finding ways to deal with the pain and will hopefully be back to knitting and meetings in January.

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As always, just contact us if you have any questions or concerns!

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Posted in Events
Tagged as event, meeting, meetings, and crafts

Pattern Feature - Fall Favourites!

Posted September 27, 2008

Thanks to everyone who came out on Friday! It was great to see so many people and especialy so many learners! Hopefully everyone decides to come back in the coming weeks, but I know midterms are sneaking up on us... ahhh!

Most people I talked to wanted to either make a hat or a scarf, since it's starting to get cold up on the mountain! So here are a couple of my favourite patterns that are available for free! I hope to have a few printed out for next week.

SCARF:



You can use any yarn for this scarf! Try to choose something that's not too fluffy or too thin (if you are learning!) Pick one that says "worsted" or "DK" or "aran" (or even "chunky"!) on the label. Get 2 balls if you plan on having a long scarf!  A good yarn suggestion is Noro Kureyon or Cascade 220, but there are LOTS of choices! Try to get the needles they suggest on the label of your yarn, probably 5mm is a good size if you aren't sure.

The pattern is very simple:

Start: Cast on 26 stitches (to make it wider or narrower add or remove stitches in groups of 4 )

Row 1: *knit 2, knit into the back of the next stitch, purl 1. Repeat from * till there are 2 stitches left. Knit 2.

Repeat that one row every row until you can stand it no longer, your scarf is long enough or you run out of yarn, whatever comes first.

(Scarf pattern from: Yarn Harlot)


HAT:

There are TONS of free hat patterns online. I picked this one because it is a pretty standard ribbed hat, looks nice, plus it is easy to make!

The owner of the pattern doesn't want it posted on other sites, but you can visit her site to read the pattern! She also has a yarn suggestion on there (Mission Falls) but if you want to use another yarn, we can help you to figure out how to adjust the pattern accordingly!

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* If you aren't on the email list, instructions for adding yourself are on the right side of this page.

** We've unofficially claimed the Rotunda as our meeting place! Drop in there ANYTIME to craft and chat. Official drop-ins are on Fridays from 2-4. There has been some interested about Mondays from 12-2 as well, so stick your head in and see who's there!

*** Thoughts, questions, concerns, suggestions? Please let us know. We love getting emails from people! And we want this club to be as awesome possible.

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Posted in Patterns
Tagged as patterns, knitting, fall, scarf, hat, and touque

Meeting Update & Resource Page

Posted September 19, 2008

THANK YOU! to everyone who was able to make it out to our first meeting today! It was really inspiring to see everyone, and to get so much great input. If you weren't able to make it to the meeting, check the previous blog post and send us the information there so we can include your availability in our meeting planning. And here are the recent updates to the club and the website:

1. New name: We are now officially called SFU Knit and Crochet etc. We wanted to include the other related crafts that people do, so sewers, cross-stitchers, needlepointers, felters, and more are all welcome! And that way we can learn their neat crafts as well. We're working on setting up workshops to highlight these other skills, so let Lin know if you can help out at all!

2. Drop-In Knit, Crochet, Etc. - Every Friday from 2-4pm in The Rotunda, starting THIS FRIDAY (the 26th)

3. Sustainability Festival - It's happening next Wednesday and Joselyne needs people who can help run the table, or even donate a few handmade items to sell. The funds raised will go to help her family in Malawi! We will also be promoting the club so it's a chance to recruit some new members too!

4. The Yarn Situation - There are three options for yarn & supplies at the drop-ins: a: bring your own, b: buy some from us (we will have inexpensive supplies on-hand), c: use donated yarn for free (items made with this yarn must be donated back to us to support Joselyne's family).

5. If you want to donate yarn, items, supplies, money, or anything, just let us know! The club will be free for everyon for at least this semester, so your donations to the club help us to keep supplies stocked up!

**NEW**: We've just created the Resources Page! If you have anything to add, let Lin know!

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Posted in Resources
Tagged as resources, meetings, members, and name

Welcome New Members!!

Posted September 12, 2008

Clubs Days were a roaring success! The SFU Crochet & Knit Club is now more than 180 members strong!

Our new members are interested in brushing up on their skills, making new friends, and working to teach others how to knit & crochet. It's going to be exciting to get all of these crafty people together to share ideas!

We do not have regular meeting times yet, but we will be discussing the best times to get together, as well as other pertinent club details at our meeting on:

Friday, September 19 @ 2pm in the Rotunda

(The Rotunda is near the West Mall Centre, right between Out on Campus and the Women's Centre)

Drop by for even a short time if you can. If you can't make it, take a minute to contact us with the following info:

1. What days and times would you like to have official meetings?

2. How frequently you want to have official meetings? (Weekly, Biweekly, Monthly, Once per Semester, Never)

3. What days and times would you like to have drop-in knit & crochet sessions at the Burnaby Campus? (We'd like to do these weekly!)

4. What you hope to get out of the club (ie: friends, techniques, patterns, free stuff, teaching people, charity work, relaxation, field-trips, donating items, etc.)

5. Are you available to help with any of the following:

- Donating Knitted or Crocheted items

- Helping to raise funds to support Joselyne's family

6. How experienced are you with knitting or crocheting? (ie: never tried, just started, intermediate, pro)

7. Any other comments or questions? (you can email us any time with these!)


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Posted in Meetings
Tagged as meetings, welcome, and expectations

Drop-In Knit & Crochet!

Mondays from 1 to 3pm

In the Rotunda

(More details HERE!)