Central Iowa Knitters

The next Central Iowa Knitters monthly meeting will be held Tuesday March 2nd @ 7pm at our regular meeting location, Valley Church on Fuller Road in West Des Moines. We will have a presentation on finishing by Jen Golay and, of course, time for show-and-tell for you to share your latest knitting creations. Hope to see you there!

There are only four days left until the February 13th registration deadline for the 2010 CIK Winter Retreat! Don’t delay!

If you’re snowed in and can’t get your registration form and check in the mail by the deadline, at least send a quick email to cikblog@gmail.com with your class preferences. We just need a count of attendees so that we can tell Willow Creek how many people will be eating lunch.

The 2010 CIK Winter Retreat will be held Saturday, February 20th from 10am to 3pm at the Willow Creek Golf Course in West Des Moines.

Hope to see you there!

Amid all the other knitting gifted to children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews, spouses, friends, and coworkers, 290 items were handcrafted and given away this past year to strangers who need our help:
• 40 hat and mitten sets for Edmunds Elementary coordinated by Lorraine (80 items)
• 40 hat, mitten and scarves sets for The Pines orphanage in South Africa coordinated by Mindy (120 items)
• 5 Christmas Stockings
• 12 baby hats
• 12 baby washcloths
• 6 baby blankets
• 6 baby sweaters
• 2 baby sets-sweaters and hats (4 items)
• 15 assorted child and adult hats
• 10 moms’ washcloths
• 10 chemo caps
• 10 prayer shawls
Distribution of these items is accomplished through many special CIK members, including Charity Coordinator Robin Fulton, Vicki Woodward (prayer shawls), Lorraine Keller (Edmunds Elementary), Mindy Aller (The Pines project), and others. CIK thanks them and you. Pictured below is the Warm Up America quilt made by CIK that will be given to a local homeless agency this winter.

The plans for the Central Iowa Knitters 2010 Winter Retreat have been set. Please join us on February 20th for a day of creative learning and knitting. The Winter Retreat Registration Brochure (link) has information on all the classes available. Hope to see you there!

Happy New Year!

Start the new year off right! Join us next Tuesday, January 5th at 7pm at our regular meeting location in Valley Church. The program for the night will be Magic Loop. Test projects will be passed around for you to try this technique for knitting in the round. If you’d like to start your own project, bring a 32” or longer circular needle and yarn.

CIK is sponsoring a beginning knitting class from 10:30 am – 2:30pm on October 17, 2009 in the HyVee at the corners of Railroad and Grand Avenues.  The program cost is $15.  No experience is necessary.  Class leaders Carmen and Brenda will lead participants through the construction of baby washcloths with patterns tailors to your experience level.  Other CIK members will also be in attendance to work on their charity knitting and provide additional one-on-one assistance and encouragement. Participants should bring a gadget bag with a pair of US 7 straight needles, darning needle, scissors, and measuring tape.  CIK will provide cotton yarn for those who wish to have their finished washcloths donated to charity.  Participants will enjoy a free 2009-2010 membership to Central Iowa Knitters.

We cannot accept online class registration. The Learn To Knit flyer has a RSVP registration form on the backside.

Email cikblog (at) gmail (dot) com for additional information.

Did you know the Central Iowa Knitters have a group on Ravelry?  Ravelry is an online community for knitters and other yarn/fiber lovers.  Share your projects with other CIK or post questions in the CIK forum to get advice from other members.  It’s a great resource for pattern ideas, yarn selections, and general ogling over other people’s knitting handiwork.  If you haven’t joined already, sign up for an account – it’s free and painless – and if you are on Ravelry already, join the CIK group and share your projects with us.  We’d love to see what you’re working on.

Welcome to the Central Iowa Knitters new Web site and blog.  Please be patient as I get the site organized and try to find a look that fits our dynamic group.  Feel free to email the blog administrator with any knitting sites you’d like to see linked here.  The email address is CIKBLOG (at) gmail (dot) com.  More information will also be in the November newsletter.