Planning a trip to Stitches Midwest in August? Twenty Chicago-area yarn stores are sponsoring a yarn crawl the same week, from August 13 through 22.

Each store will be giving out a store-exclusive free pattern, a discount on yarn purchases, and a chance to participate in a raffle for a gift basket worth $100. Yarn crawlers get the chance to participate in the grand prize raffle worth $500 if they visit 10 stores.

For more information, go to the Ravelry group Chicagoland Yarn Crawl, where you can find the names of participating stores, store hours, directions, and events.

Author and Irish lace historian Maire Treanor will present a one-hour illustrated talk on the history and patterns of Irish Clones lace on July 29, 2010 at 7 p.m. at the James J. Hill House in St. Paul.

Treanor will also sign copies of her book “Clones Lace,” which will be available for purchase. Refreshments and a special theme tour of the Hill House highlighting Mrs. Hill’s needlework will follow the program.

Maire Treanor has a blog at http://cloneslace.wordpress.com/ .

$10 general, $8 for Minnesota Historical Society members; reservations recommended:  651-297-2555.

Carrie Bartz, who had just begun a term this spring on the Minnesota Knitters' Guild Board as Secretary, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, June 21, in Woodbury.  She was 52.  Services were held on June 28 at Wulff Woodbury.  At press time, an online obituary was available at http://tinyurl.com/bartzwulff.

Carrie knew computers, and she knew knitting.  She worked as an information technology specialist for the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and had been a member of the Guild for less than a year when she volunteered for MKG's Web Site Task Force in 2009.  Smart, friendly, and a passionate knitter, she was an invaluable member of the group as it met over the year, first to describe what the Guild needed for its new Web site, then to advertise for and finally hire the company that did the redesign over last fall and winter.  Among other things, according to Guild President Shelley Monitor (also a member of the task force), Carrie compiled most of the Resources section of the new Web site, which was launched in May -- patterns, tutorials, yarn shops.

The loss of Carrie, our friend and colleague, will be keenly felt for years to come at the Guild.  We are grateful for the intellectual legacy she left us, and mourn her passing.

The Youngest Knitter and ‘Socks’

When guests and visitors were recognized, we learned that we had a VERY NEW KNITTER among us. She told us that she had been knitting for three DAYS and she is three years old. Rock on!

The program topic was ‘Socks,’ and there were five tables of instruction and demos. So what are some of the things we learned?