Last night guild member Janelle Martin introduced us to the world of intentional pooling. This is a technique that uses the characteristic of some yarns to have the colours line up (or almost line up) when knitting them. Many of us have had a project (I know I have had several) that after knitting for several inches you get blobs of a colour instead of the colour being spread out. Intentional pooling uses that characteristic, and can give stunning results.

Janelle showed examples from Ravelry users Wenat (Gladys) and Statnerd (Karla). Statnerd does some beautiful argyle work.

Other great examples are from

• Pooling Washcloth project which is a tutorial on how to set up argyle pooling
• Pooled Knits Group on Ravelry
• Wenat’s blog
• Flickr pool of photos
• Ravelry thread showing the skeins and how they knit up with the intentional pooling

Thanks to everyone who volunteers for the Guild – both our new volunteers and continuing volunteers. Without you and our past volunteers we wouldn’t be who we are.

Our February meeting had Debbie New show us her use of colour and projects. For those people who are unfamiliar with Debbie’s work, she is an artist pushing the knitting boundaries. Some of her work can be seen in these notecards. Suzanne had her camera with her and you can see photos of some of the work Debbie brought with her in Suzanne’s Flickr stream.

The end of February is almost here and I wanted to give you a brief update on the March program. Our March speaker will be Amy Swenson, a knitwear designer and blogger known as Indigirl. Amy will be speaking about working with variegated yarns, particularly those with long colour sections like Noro. She has designed several patterns that use these types of yarns, and will share how she approaches these unique challenges. In addition, she will have several patterns available for sale at the meeting, so plan to bring some money in case you’re inspired! (She will be accepting cash only.)

We are a not-for-profit, volunteer organization, but gradually, over the years, our spirit of volunteerism has been declining.

Work that used to be done by entire committees has increasingly fallen to just one or two people — and that means burnout. If many hands make light work, then the fewer people share the load, the heavier the burden feels. We all have demanding lives, but a few hours here and there is manageable; a lot of hours a lot of the time just isn’t. As a result, several people have stepped down from their roles this year. It’s understandable, in every case, that those individuals need to back off on some of their commitments, but it means that even more work has devolved onto even fewer volunteers.

The reality, as much as it pains me to say it, is that if we don’t get more people to volunteer to take on some of the workload, the Guild is in serious danger of not being able to continue to offer some or all of our current activities.

So, with that in mind, please have a look at the following list, and (if you’ll pardon the cliché) ask not what your Guild can do for you, but what you can do for your Guild. Whether you’re a new member (several of our Executive were volunteering within their first year of membership) or a Charter member, or anything in between, there is some task that you can help with.

The following positions need volunteers to fill them right now:

1. Vice President
• The VP’s main job for the year is to liaise with the venue, and make sure that the meeting hall is set up every month. This might include booking the kitchen, requesting additional tables, or renting a projector, depending on what’s required for the program. The VP also helps the speaker(s) make sure they’re set up for their presentation.
• The VP attends Executive meetings, and is a signing authority on the Guild bank account.
• The VP signs on for three years: one year as VP, one year as President, and one year as Past President.
2. Fair Coordinator
• The Fair Coordinator oversees the planning and execution of the annual Knitters’ Fair. In recent years, the Fair Committee has dwindled, but with additional support, the Fair Coordinator’s job will be much more manageable.
• The Fair Coordinator is a signing authority on the Fair bank account.
3. Fair Committee Members

Roles to be filled on the Fair Committee include:

• Vendor Liaison: Manages bookings, payments, and inquiries from vendors.
• Facilities Liaison: Manages communications with Bingemans, including contract, payment, and set-up requests.
• Children’s Area: Oversees the Children’s Area, including set-up and supplies. Works with Volunteer Coordinator to ensure supervision of the Children’s Area.
• Promotions: Produces postcard/mailer and other promotional materials. Ensure materials are delivered to vendors’ shops. Arranges for postings in community events listings in local papers, online, etc.
• Mailings: Works with Promotions to get printed materials mailed out to Fair attendees.
4. Promotions Coordinator
• The Promotions Coordinator works on updating the Guild’s promotional materials (postcards and perhaps posters) and getting them out to local yarn shops, libraries, and other venues.
• The Promotions Coordinator also ensures that Guild events (regular meetings, and special events like the Adjudicated Show) are posted in community events listings.
5. Web Coordinator
• The Website Coordinator works with the rest of the web/communications team to make sure that newsletters, photos, and other information is posted to the website in a timely manner, and to make sure that the website itself is maintained for maximum efficiency and accessibility.

In the coming months, we’ll also need to replace our Programme Coordinator and our Newsletter Coordinator, since the ladies currently holding those positions will soon have their arms full holding new babies.

If you are interested in learning more about any of these positions — or if you can envision any way of splitting off one of the tasks listed above and would like to volunteer for one of the pieces — please contact me or any member of the Executive. You can email me.

Thank you,

Anne