Small but Lively group

Our group was small today, but very lively. In attendance were Peter, Andy, Audrey (new kid on the block), Cay, Tom and Cookie.
Audrey has dual citizenship between CA and GA, so she will attend our meetings when she is in CA. Welcome aboard!
Since Stitches West is next weekend, we discussed picking up credentials, helping out in the booth anytime that can be spared from other activities. Cay brought in some sample rectangles from the suggested patterns provided by the Yarn Craft Council. She also had handouts with info on Warm Up America, joining the rectangles, and suggested crochet and knit patterns. We can use any pattern, but they had a few suggestions. We will have handouts for both Warm Up America and our guild chapter. The chapter has pocket calendars, bookmarks, and a post card to let the world know we are here and ready to crochet!
Peter talked about the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) and some of the benefits of being a member. He handed out copies of the ChainLink newsletter from the latest copy of Crochet! magazine, which is the official magazine for CGOA. This insert is not available either on the newstands or subscriptions. It is for CGOA members only. Peter explained that it is not a requirement to be a CGOA member to be a member of our chapter, but there are definite advantages and discounts available to CGOA members.
We briefly discussed the San Mateo County Fair and how we anticipate being involved this year. We have not heard back from the lady in charge of the Home Arts Dept, so we are guessing that the email we have is for fair use only and she has not checked it recently.
March is National Crochet Month, and Bente of Piedmont Yarn is letting us take over her front window for at least part of the month. She will be displaying crochet items that she has the patterns for sale (local designers), and items that are in the store on consignment will be spotlighted. Crochet classes are being increased for the month. Thanks so much, Bente, for your support.
Show and Tell: Peter is crocheting his Key Tab Vest for a friend in Baby Ull yarn. He is also working on an Aran sweater for commission. Andy was sporting a new hat that he has the pattern for sale on his Ravelry page. Cay had an afghan done in sunrise colors and a wave pattern for Project Linus. She also brought in some flowers to leave for Bente for the class she is teaching in March. Tom brought in 2 afghans for Project Linus. One was a large granny square that he did when snowbound in New Jersey without another project to work on. The other is a Tunisian mitered square afghan in bright purple variegated yarn. He is currently working on a 32 point round ripple  named Aztec Sun. Cookie is working on a scarf made with some silk yarn that she spun herself.
We did not do a lesson or technique today, so we finished the meeting by having coffee, cookies and conversation.

Project Linus 2/9/10

Penny, Kris and Cay attended the Project Linus meeting yesterday evening. It was held at a cute little quilt shop in Fremont, Sisters N Stitches. We turned in 14 afghans this month. Kris also contributed one quilt. Good job! Here are the pics for your pleasure.

New Year, New location, New Blog

We held our first meeting of the year at our new location, Piedmont Yarn &  Apparel (aka PYA) yesterday.

In attendance were Cay, Peter, Andy, Penny, Kris and Mattie. We met in the classroom at the store, which was wonderful.

Our first order of biz was Stitches West. Our humble little group will be manning the Warm Up America booth, #115, from the minute Stitches opens on 2/25 at 5 pm until it closes on 2/28 at 4 pm. We passed around a schedule, and everyone chose the hours they would like to be in the booth. At the end of the show, there will be afghans that will need a home. We decided to donate to Project Linus, since we already support that charity. Cay will contact Alice at PL to make arrangements.

We are celebrating National Crochet Month with our quarterly Soiree at PYA. We will talk to Bente about doing a special display for the month. Bente is scheduling almost nothing but crochet classes during March, including a couple of additional instructors. We will post more about that schedule as we have it.

We are each crocheting 12" squares in earth tones to make an afghan for Steve, to thank him for the 3 years he let us use the Telegraph Community Center. He is moving back to Indiana in the early summer.

Bente spoke with us about the yarn she has in the store and some possible less expensive yarns that she can carry. Always fun to pet new yarns.

Peter demo'd/taught foundation stitches. Something most of have tried and failed at more than once. He showed us, we got it, hurray!

Show and Tell:

Peter is working on his sweater in hand-dyed yarn, finished the Shifting Sands Shell in smaller sizes, and drum roll, please, has one of his vest patterns, the Key Tab Vest, in the current issue of Crochet! magazine. Congrats, Peter!.

Andy did a beautiful vest with a zipper in Noro Silk Garden. He has also done a couple of goody bags and more hats, of course.

Penny brought 2 diagonal box stitch afghans that she finally conquered to show off. She has started on her third, so she doesn't forget the pattern.

Kris brought a large granny square afghan that she is working on for PL.

Mattie, of course, had more small ghans for PL.

Cay showed off her Comfy Cables hat, scarf (modified for recipient) and mittens in Wool-Ease. She also had a pair of fingerless gloves that she designed and was searching for a name. She was wearing the Crazy Eights Vest crocheted in Noro Kureyon Sock Yarn.

Our last order of biz was this blog. We knew we needed a presence on the web, but no one currently in our group has the skills to set up and maintain a website. So, we decided to go with a blog instead. Andy, Peter and Cay will work together to develop and maintain this blog.

As you can see, Andy already has us up and running. We will be adding more features as time goes by. Stay tuned.

Our next meeting will be 2/20 at noon at PYA.