Cable Gram Blog

Designer Spotlight: Susan Rainey

Posted in News by Melissa Mintern on Dec 7th, 2020

Are you looking for some last minute gifts to knit up for the holidays? Look no further than our very own Susan Rainey, the Designer Spotlight for December. While Susan has designs for all times of the year, her Holiday designs really shine a light on the gifting season.

She has designs for all the little ones on your list with her new baby Gansey and matching hat, but take a look at these hats and ornaments!

Susan has been knitting for years. We're so lucky to have her as a member of the Guild.

You can find Susan on Instagram @lv2knitmn, on her blog with her sister and on ravelry.

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Monthly Yarn Store Spotlight Series: Harriet and Alice

Posted in News by Melissa Mintern on Dec 7th, 2020
Basic yarn store info:
Harriet & Alice, 3922 West 50th St, Edina, MN (50th & France Shopping District), Tuesday-Friday 10am-6pm, Saturday 10-4pm, Sunday 12-4pm.  We limit the number of shoppers in the store at one time, but also have a space next door where customers can wait or even knit or crochet.  We also offer curbside pick up as well as on-line shopping. 
 
Tell us about your team or would you like to highlight someone special?
 
The crew at Harriet & Alice is super friendly and always happy to help you with your project support or shopping needs.  We love to find the perfect yarn for your next project and seek inspiration from all those fun new ideas coming into the shop each day.  We like to think of ourselves as family, and our customers are just an extension of that family. 
 
What yarn do you stock that you feel doesn't get the attention it deserves?
 
One of my favorite worsted weight yarns is Sugar Bush Rapture.  Unfortunately since we carry so many great worsted options, I feel like this one is overlooked more often than not.  It's a great wool/llama soft blend that has a hint of tweed and a super soft feel.  Great for your next favorite sweater. 
 
What class offerings do you have coming up?
 
We try to offer Beginning Knitting classes each month, and will hopefully have some fun classes like mittens and socks in December.  We also love to offer quick gift ideas and KALs, so check us out for more info. 
 
Are you offering virtual classes?
 
All of our classes (besides beginning knitting) have a virtual option. 
 
Do you have any upcoming trunk shows or other events?
 
50th and France has 3rd Thursday events that we will be participating in, so watch for deals.  Look for information regarding retreats and other events soon (all depending on COVID numbers and insuring safety for all) 
 
We will also have some new gift items just for the holidays, puzzles, mittens, gnomes & more.
 
What is your favorite sample? 
My favorite shawl is my Night Shift by Andrea Mowry.  I'm so glad it is cold again so I can wear it often.
My favorite sweater is my Dissent Pullover by Andrea Rangle
My favorite hat is the Linden Hat by Jenny Banyard (a local customer) 
 
Do you offer a MKG discount or a frequent buyer club?
 
Yes, 10% off yarn purchases.  We also have a loyalty program built in to all purchases. 
 
Other than shopping, what are the best ways we can help support your yarn store?
 
We love to see people come and knit and crochet with us.  Join us for a group time via Zoom or in person.  This is also a great way for people to get inspiration for their next project.  Also, share that we are here.  Every day we have someone stop in that had never heard of us and they live close.  Word of mouth goes a long way. 
 
Is there anything else you'd like us to feature? ie: are you committed to providing extra benefits to employees? are you involved with a local charity? are you committed to being green?
 
We support Hats for the Homeless and Hat not Hate by collecting supplies and hats at our store.  We also recently helped to raise over $8,000 for the MN Domestic Abuse Project by helping my mother sell her late friend's stash after her passing.  
 
Also, we have a wide variety of locally made gift items for everyone.  Coasters, towels, candles, jewelry, bags and more.
 
 
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Free Pattern: Minnesnowta Hat

Posted in News by Kathy Lewinski on Dec 4th, 2020

With everything that has gone on in the world this year, it's good to remember all the things we have to be grateful for, especially at this time of year. One thing I am grateful for is the members of the Minnesota Knitters' Guild. December marks my fifth month as the Guild's president and everyone has been so supportive and able to roll with the changes even when we've been forced to cancel events such as Yarnover and the Great Guild Getaway. Meeting virtually has been a learning experience for all of us and, while I miss our meetings at the Textile Center, I am grateful for how it has allowed our members outside the Twin Cities area to participate and how many of you join us each month. I am also always amazed at how many of you give of your time, skill, and yarn to make items to donate to our community service projects. Once again, the amount of items donated is just amazing. I'm grateful for a membership that cares about the community in which they live.

Since it is the time of giving, I wanted to create a pattern as my gift to all the Guild's members to say thank you and the Minnesnowta Hat was born. Minnesota Knitters' Guild members can download the pattern for free by signing into the website and visiting the Exclusive Patterns page. 

The pattern is for an adult-sized 22in hat and the pattern is written to for both fingering and worsted weight yarn.The crown of the hat is charted to create a large snowflake. Personalized it for yourself by knitting the ribbing in multi-colors, extending the ribbing for a folded brim, or even duplicate stitching MN in a different color.

If I don't see you at our December meeting, I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday season. I look forward to good things in 2021! - Kathy

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Silent Auction 2020

Posted in News by Kathy Lewinski on Dec 3rd, 2020

Who's ready for some fantastic yarn for a great price to support an amazing organization? Our yearly silent auction is going digital this year!

If you've never been able to participate then this is your year!! The auction will go live at 9:00pm CST December 15th and stay open for bidding until 9:00pm CST December 19th. Make sure to join us at the December 15th Guild meeting for a short tutorial on how to bid; details on the December meeting with the Zoom link will be forthcoming.

 

Thanks to generous donations, we have 40+ lots of yarn to auction off, everything from beautiful single skeins to sweater lots. You can see all the lots that are available now on our auction site. All proceeds from the auction go to help support the Guild's Community Service Projects throughout the year as well as other Guild activities. 

The fine print... we can only ship to US addresses. We will ship all the winning lots out after the holidays.

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Give to the Max Day Wrap Up...

Posted in News by Kelly Amoth on Nov 29th, 2020

This year the Knitters’ Guild participated in Give to the Max Day for the first time, which is Minnesota’s annual day of giving for nonprofits and schools. The response from members, family, and friends and their support of the Guild was overwhelming and amazing!

Our campaign was all about growing our #TightKnitComMNity, so we are using funds raised through our Give to the Max Day effort to create a new mini-grant initiative. These mini-grants will allow individuals and knitting groups to create their own community-led programming. Whether funds are used in the short term for online programming or in the long term for in-person activities, we believe the Minnesota Knitters’ Guild has a role in facilitating the growth and expansion of our wonderful community. More information about how to apply for these mini-grants will be posted on our website at a later date. 

Another added benefit to the Guild’s participation in Give to the Max Day is that our page on Give MN will remain active year round, which will allow the Guild to collect donations online, which we previously have not been able to do.

And now for the numbers...

Number of donors: 142

Number of states represented: 20

Average donation: $31

Highest donation: $200

Amount raised: $4,481.55

 

 

Thanks to everyone who made this year’s
Give to the Max Day such a success!

 

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November Meeting Wrap Up

Posted in News by Kathy Lewinski on Nov 24th, 2020

Thanks again to everyone who joined in on our November meeting! If you missed it, read our recap below, or log in to your MKG account and watch the recording here.

We started the evening with a virtual trunk show from Knitty Vet. We didn't just get to see beautiful yarn, but also learned a lot about natural dying. You can shop her beautiful yarns and dye kits here.

 

 

The trunk show was followed by a very inspirational talked on visual mending with Ann Weaver. We learned the basics of darning, duplicate stitch (Swiss darning), and knit patches. I think everyone was ready to go darn socks by the end of the hour. 

Ann kindly shared these mending resources with us. If you would like to learn more about mending and transforming knitwear, Ann will be teaching at Stitches At Home.

 

 

In other Guild news...

  • It's time to renew your membership for 2021. You can check and see if you need to renew by signing into knitters.org and going to Renew My Membership. That page will tell you how long you are paid through. We will have a special prize drawing of knitting related items from small businesses in January for those who renew by December 31, 2020. 
  • Our new bylaws have been approved. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read them and comment. They will be posted on the website soon.
  • Online Silent Auction December 15-19
    Get ready to browse and bid on beautiful skeins of yarn during our online silent auction that will open after the member meeting on December 15th and close on Saturday, December 19th. We have over 40 yarn lots to shop;  from unique single skeins to large lots for that special sweater or blanket.   Each item will have a clear photograph with comprehensive descriptions. Items will be mailed to the successful bidder following the holidays. 
  • Service Knitting Partners for 2021
    I'm excited to share that our service partners for 2021 have been confirmed.  We will be knitting adult and child hats, mittens, fingerless mitts, and lap blankets for:
    • Hats for the Homeless: serving the Twin Cities
    • Hats and Mittens.org: serving the seven county metro
    • The Range Center: serving adults and children with disabilities in northeastern Minnesota
    Representatives from the three organizations will join us at our January member meeting to share information on the mission of their organization and those they serve. 
  • Give to the Max Day We were blown away by the donations to our Give to the Max Day campaign! The official day was Thursday, November 19th, but you can still give $5 and 5 minutes: donate $5 on our GTMD page and take 5 minutes to share what you like about the Guild. (If you'd like to donate to the Guild without going through Give to the Max, please email our treasurer Rose, treasurermkg@gmail.com.)
  • Door Prizes Instead of announcing door prize winners at the virtual meetings, we will now email the winners afterwards. Prizes will only be be given to Guild members only. This month's winner are...
    • Kate Crandall won a shop code to November's trunk show presenter, The Knitty Vet.
    • Katie Block won a shop code to last month's trunk show presenter, The Kinetic Knitter.
    • Dyan Venters and Shira Burton both won a pattern of their choice from this month's featured designer, Vanessa Smith.
  • Designer Spotlight this month is Vanessa Smith. You can read more about her here. 

 

 

Thanks, all! We'll see you all December 15th!
Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. 

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