Cable Gram Blog
State Fair Photos
We know many people have chosen not to go to the State Fair this year, but would still like to see some of the knit items on display. Here are a few pictures sent to us from folks who have gone and kindly sent them to us. You can also view some videos of the cases on Susan's Instagram. There are over 70 pictures here, so this is a very long post!
Thanks to Janet, Susan, and Carrie for their photos!
MN State Fair Winners 2021
Congratulations to all our members who won ribbons at this year's MN State Fair! We can't wait to see all your entries at our State Fair Review in September. The State Fair Show & Tell is going virtual this year. We will be putting together a slideshow before the meeting, so we need you to submit photos of your entrees.
To have your projects featured in the slideshow: Email Nikky at membershipmkg@gmail.com Use the subject line: State Fair Items
Please include:
- Your name
- Project/pattern name
- Designer
- Yarn used
- Your notes about the project
- Judges’ comments (if you have them)
- Photo (don’t forget the photo!)
Deadline is September 12 (end of day). A limit of 5 items per person. Only hand knit items.
Since we are virtual this year we are excited to be able to include people from out of the Twin Cities and MN in this year's review. If you have entered a hand knit item in a county fair or another State Fair, you are also welcome to share those with us.
Let's see who won the Minnesota Knitters' Guild Rosettes. Each of these winners will get a year membership to the Guild as well as their ribbon.
Class 9068 - Sweepstakes - Susan Rainey
Class 9069 - Best Overall Shawl or Stole - Alison Heussler
Class 9070 - Best Overall Mittens - Shelley Balfe
Class 9071 - Best Overall Hat - Joy Malm
Class 9072 - Best Overall Afghan - Amy Schoen
Class 9073 - Best Overall Sweater, Coat, Sleeveless Sweater, or Vest - Linda Mcshannock
Class 9074 - Best Overall Socks - Shelley Balfe
Class 9075 - Best Overall Gloves - Rebecca Anspach
Now on to the rest of the winners!
NEEDLEWORK
Class 290 — Afghan, one piece, 2700-3800 sq. in.
2 Sue Ellen Riese
Class 293 — Lap robe, min. size 1444-2699 sq. in.
1 Stephanie Daily
5 Shira Burton
Class 294 — Shawl or stole, heavy weight yarn, 16 in. or more in width
1. Amy Roos
4 Deepa Nirmal
Class 295 — Shawl or stole, medium weight yarn, 16 in. or more in width
3 Amy Roos
5 Peggy Mann Rinehart
Class 296 — Stole (rectangle), lightweight yarn, 16 in. or more in width
4 Amy Roos
Class 297 — Shawl, fine weight yarn, 25 in. and over in depth from neckline
4 Amy Roos
5 Susan Rainey
Class 298 — Shawlette; fine weight yarn, up to 25 in. in depth from neckline
5 Christine Petterson
Class 299 — Shawlette, medium weight yarn, up to 25 in. in depth from neckline
2 Christine Petterson
4 Delia Lam
Class 300 — Mittens (includes fingerless gloves), plain
3 Deepa Nirmal
Class 301 — Mittens (includes fingerless gloves), texture
5 Shira Burton
Class 302 — Mittens (includes fingerless gloves), color pattern
2 Katherine Lewinski
4 Shira Burton
Class 303 — Scarf, heavyweight yarn, less than 16 in. wide
4 Anna Sorgert
5 Bonnie Esplie
Class 305 — Scarf, lightweight yarn, less than 16 in. wide
1 Susan Rainey
Class 306 — Gloves
1 Rebecca Anspach
2 Amy Roos
4 Bonnie Esplie
Class 307 — Cap or hat, plain
2 Kelly Auer
4 Ann Barrett
5 Bonnie Esplie
Class 308 — Cap or hat, texture
1 Shira Burton
2 Susan Rainey
5 Anna Sorgert
Class 309 — Cap or hat, color pattern or intarsia
2 Rebecca Anspach
3 Susan Rainey
4 Bonnie Esplie
Class 310 — Socks, solid, texture
2 Christine Petterson
3 Bonnie Esplie
4 Kristi Peterson
Class 311 — Socks, open work
2 Ann Barrett
3 Christine Petterson
Class 312 — Socks, color or intarsia
5 Kelly Amoth
Class 313 — Socks, plain or ribbed
2 Kelly Amoth
Class 316 — Child sweater, dress or suit, texture, size 3 - 12
1 Elizabeth Nee
2 Peggy Mann Rinehart
Class 317 — Child sweater, dress or suit, color pattern or intarsia, size 3 - 12
1 Delia Lam
2 Alla Hale
3 Elizabeth Nee
Class 318 — Adult sweater, plain pullover
1 Kristine King
3 Elizabeth Nee
Class 319 — Adult sweater, plain cardigan
1 Kristine King
Class 320 — Adult sweater, texture pullover
1 Linda Mcshannock
3 Peggy Mann Rinehart
Class 321 — Adult sweater, texture cardigan
2 Elizabeth Watkins
Class 322 - Adult Sweater, limited use, texture pullover
1 Alla Hale
3 Susan Rainey
4 Kristine King
Class 323 - Adult Sweater, limited use, texture cardigan
1 Susan Rainey
3 Delia Lam
Class 324 - Adult Sweater, color pattern pullover
3 Lucy Norman
Class 325 - Adult Sweater, color pattern cardigan
1 Susan Rainey
2 Alla Hale
3 Kristine King
Class 326 — Adult sweater, limited use, color pattern pullover
1 Alla Hale
3 Kristine King
4 Anna Sorgert
Class 327 — Adult sweater, limited use, color pattern cardigan
1 Deepa Nirmal
Class 328 — Adult sweater, intarsia
3 Kristine King
Class 329 — Adult jacket/coat, outerwear
1 Katie Block
2 Susan Rainey
3 Anna Sorgert
4 Deepa Nirmal
Class 330 — Sleeveless sweater or vest, plain or texture; color pattern or intarsia
2 Susan Rainey
5 Stephanie Emerich
Class 331 — Cowls
1 Elizabeth Nee
2 Stephanie Daily
5 Stephanie Emerich
Class 333 — Knit bag, felted
4 Christine Petterson
5 Ann Barrett
Class 335 — Knit item, wearable, felted
3 Ann Barrett
Class 336 — Holiday sock
3 Ann Barrett
Class 337 — Not otherwise specified, wearable
1 Ann Barrett
Class 338 — Not otherwise specified, not wearable
2 Kristine King
Class 340 — Sweepstakes, hand knitted articles
1 Susan Rainey
Class 9060 - The Yarnery Award for best child size garment
1 Delia Lam
Class 9064 - A Sheepy Yarn Shop Award for best adult jacket/coat, outwear
1 Katie Block
Class 9066 - Ingebretsen's Scandinavian Gifts Award for best sweater of traditional Norwegian Design
1 Delia Lam
Class 9076 — Penelope Knitters "We live to knit and knit to rip." Rosette for winner of cap or hat, texture
1 Shira Burton
Class 9078 — StevenBe Award for best original design
1 Alla Hale
Class 9084 — Northfield Yarn Award for best multi-colored sweater
1 Susan Rainey
HANDICRAFTS
Class 681 — Doll, character type (fairy, elf, mermaid, imaginary character, etc.) single, 8 in. or over
3 Carrie Ohnstad
Class 682 — Doll, character type (fairy, elf, mermaid, imaginary character, etc.) single, under 8 in.
1 Katherine Lewinski
Class 690 — Puppet, hand, single or pair
1 Karen Lehman
GARMENT MAKING
Class 453 — Bonnet or cap, knitted infant
1 Ann Barrett
Class 456 — Dress, hand knit infant
2 Ann Barrett
Class 459 — Afghan, knit, no larger than 42 in. x 42 in.
3 Ann Barrett
Class 464 — Sweater or jacket, knitted infant1 Susan Rainey
WORK OF SENIOR CITIZENS
Class 937 — Knitted baby sweater
1 Peggy Mann Rinehart
4 Susan Rainey
Class 940 — Knitted adult vest or sweater
1 Susan Rainey
3 Kristine King
Class 941 — Knitted scarf
2 Bonnie Esplie
3 Susan Rainey
Class 943 — Knitted, not otherwise specified in above
3 Bonnie Esplie
BEE AND HONEY (These results have not been published online yet, so these are the winners we know)
Class 108 Any craft artwork; stenciling, drawing, etc
3 Katherine Lewinski
Class 109 Wearable
2 Susan Rainey
August '21 Meeting Wrap Up
Well, we certainly learned a lot about different knitting techniques at this month's meeting.
First we had our trunk show with Karen from BobNWeave who showed of her Minnesota-made knitting belts and spoke to us a bit about how to use them. You can buy her belts and dpns to use with them on her etsy store. Don't forget to use the code "Karen" for a 15% discount. I personally can't wait to try the red mini one I ordered this morning.
Our main speaker was Andrea Wong who shared with us her research into the history of Portuguese Knitting, some of the basics of how it works, and how different from other knitting styles. Andrea will be teaching at Yarnover next year, but if you can't wait until then to try Portuguese Knitting, you can buy online classes on her website.
2021 - 2022 Board Member Elections
Thank you to everyone who voted in our elections. The board was elected almost unanimously. We appreciate all the nice notes with the votes as well. If you are interested in being on the board in the future, please let one of the board members know. Board terms are three years, except President and Vice President which are two, with terms starting in July.
Great Guild Getaway
We are carefully watching the Covid numbers in Minnesota in order to make a decision about the Getaway this October. We hope to have a decision this weekend and will email the membership with details if we are going forward.
Yarnover
Yarnover 2022 planning is underway. We are currently getting contracts from all the teachers and will announce them as soon as we can.
State Fair
Because of the Covid situation and the fact we didn't get tickets for volunteers, we will not be demoing at the Fair this year. From what we understand, many other groups are not demoing this year as well.
If you do go to the Fair, we'd love it if you took photos of the displays in the Creative Activities Building to share with those who can't go. You can email photos to presidentmkg@gmail.com and we will put together a blog post.
Mystery Minis Sale and KAL
Thank you for all the donations of fingering weight yarn. It has all been wound into 20g skeins and put into 5 skein sets. We will be selling those mystery skeins soon! We'll follow up the sale with a KAL and show & tell at the February tea.
September Guild Meeting - State Fair Review
The State Fair Show & Tell is going virtual this year. We will be putting together a slideshow before the meeting, so we need you to submit photos of your entrees.
To have your projects featured in the slideshow:
Email Nikky at membershipmkg@gmail.com Use the subject line: State Fair Items
Please include:
- Your name
- Project/pattern name
- Designer
- Yarn used
- Your notes about the project
- Judges’ comments (if you have them)
- Photo (don’t forget the photo!)
Deadline is September 12 (end of day). A limit of 5 items per person. Only hand knit items.
Since we are virtual this year we are excited to be able to include people from out of the Twin Cities and MN in this year's review. If you have entered a hand knit item in a county fair or another State Fair, you are also welcome to share those with us.
October No Fair Awards
October’s business meeting will feature the return of the “No Fair” awards. This year we have six categories. Get all the details here.
Service Knitting
We want to say a big thank you to Dawn Baddeley for serving as our Service Director for the last three years and a welcome to Betsy Preston, our new Service Director. The service committee has done a great job with a seamless transition.
Betsy reviewed this year's service knitting partners and what items we are looking for. You can get the details here. She has also posted a size guide for hands and heads on the blog. We have received about 1,200 items to donate already this year! Don't forget to the more you donate the more stitch markers you can get!
Our next service drop off date is Sunday, October 24th, 11am - 2pm at the Textile Center. Donations can also be brought to Potomac Bead Company 518 Broadway, Alexandria, MN or contact Betsy at servicemnkg@gmail.com to arrange a drop off.
We did have a request to have a drop off box at the Textile Center in November and December. We will ask them about this possibility.
Door Prizes
Take Heart: A Transatlantic Knitting Journey (From PomPom Magazine) - Alice Ableman
Ready Set Raglan (From PomPom Magazine) - Nancy Cameron
Mystic Shawls 2 - Kristi Peterson
Ancient Egypt in Lace and Color - Ariel James
Micro-Funding
Members out of the Twin Cities area can apply for micro-funding grants up to $250 dollars to support a knitting related activity in their area. We have $2,000 in funds that were donated on Give to the Max to support this. Find our more and fill out an application here. If you have questions please contact Kelly at vicepresidentmkg@gmail.com
How Big ARE Heads and Hands?
Service Knitting! Okay, you've got your yarn and a pattern and you're fired up to make a hat or pair of mittens for someone you've never met. How do you know what size to make?
People come in all shapes and sizes, but luckily for us, the Craft Yarn Council has done the research. The chart below provides some guidelines.
This is just a small snippet of the wealth of information available at Craft Yarn Council's www.YarnStandards.com
Other topics include knitting and crochet abbreviations and chart symbols, how to read a pattern, project levels, how to measure body measurements, standard yarn weight system, hooks and needles, yarn label information, and care symbols.
No Fair Awards 2021
Because we had so much fun with last year's "No Fair" Awards, we've decided to host them again this October. Because the Fair is happening, we will be doing a smaller version with just six categories. We have a few favorite categories from last year and a couple new ones for 2021. Submissions are due September 28th! Download the 2021 No Fair Premium Book.
Stitch 'n' Pitch with the MN Twins
Tickets are now available for non-members who would like to join us! Purchase tickets here.
On Sunday, September 12th, join the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild for an afternoon of baseball and knitting! The Twins will be taking on the Kansas City Royals at Target Field at 1:10pm.
MKG has 80 tickets in the Right Field Porch section. This section is inside gate 34 on the main level. All the seats are stools with backs and have a small table (drink rail) in front of them. We’ll be enjoying the game, knitting, and giving away Twins and knitting prizes throughout the game. Tickets go on sale Friday, July 23rd at 8:00am. Members, watch your email for the link to purchase.
How much: Tickets cost $46.00. Each ticket is loaded with $10 worth of credit that can be used to buy food and drinks at the game.
Who: Guild members are welcome to bring non-Guild members with them.
Deadline: Tickets are on sale through Friday, August 13th or until they sellout.
Refunds: Refunds are not available. If you find you can’t make it, you can give/sell the ticket to someone else.