Monday, February 26, 2007

The Prez Sez: Minutes from the February 7, 2007 meeting


Looks like February tried to cram the entire winter into its days. At least we all had good reason to wear those hand knit wool sweaters and socks! The ice storm on Valentine’s Day shut down our power for about 12 hours and took out several large branches from the trees around my house. Fortunately, they didn’t do any real damage but we do have to finish cutting some of them out of the trees and clean up. I hope you all fared well through the storm.



Present at the well-attended February meeting were: myself, Margaret Byrns, Christine Estacion, Karen Gardner, Cassandra Hickman (welcome back), Karen Hogan, Donna Jaffe, Lauri Katz, Vicki Loop, Suzanne Reed, Marilyn Riffkin, Donna Robb, Lorena Scott, Mady Segal, Jinny Townsend, Kathleen Walton and Emily Bennett.


Under Old Business, Vicki Loop reported on the results of her talk with the new yarn shop owners. Unfortunately for us they have already booked Wednesdays as sit-and-knit evenings at least through the spring. Most of the membership stated that Wednesday was the best day for them and choosing a new day would be a hardship. Jinny Townsend was going to do some further sleuthing at the shop to see if something could be worked out. It seems such a waste to have an entire group of knitters who are just chomping at the bit to spend the evening, as well as money, at a yarn shop. So we are still at the church for the time being.


We discussed the proximity of various hotels to the Baltimore Convention Center for our Stitches 2007 hospitality suite. In an email I received from Mady, she said she spoke to Mary Stevens about the location of the hotels. Mary said that, though the Sheraton is connected to the Convention Center, it was about a 15-minute brisk walk to get between the two! So she recommends the Marriott; it's the Baltimore Marriott Inner Harbor. Mady just made a reservation for a room for herself; they had a special Stitches rate of $179 plus tax per night. For a suite, you have to talk to the suite coordinator. So I will be calling the Marriott to check on that. As an FYI, Marilyn emailed me to say that we have $915 in the guild checking account after writing a check to the church. With rooms at $179 and who knows how much for a suite, we will have to have further discussion at the March meeting.


I distributed copies of the current membership list to those present. If you would like one and won’t be at a meeting anytime soon, contact me and I can send you an electronic copy.


In our continuing quest for programs, Lauri was unable to contact Margaret Fisher regarding a workshop. She will try again. Mady suggested two color, two-handed knitting as a program. Jinny will bring in a jacket project for us to consider. If you have any other suggestions for programs, please send them to Mady via email.


Marilyn brought in a folder of old files from her time as president of the guild and gave them to me for safe keeping (until the end of my term!).


There was no new business.


For announcements/items of interest, Lorena mentioned an organization that makes afghans for injured soldiers. She will provide information to those who are interested.


A kindergarten teacher in Mesquite, Texas would like to help her students broaden their view of the world and has asked for picture postcards from all the states. If you would like to help, the address is:


McWhorter Elementary School, Mrs. Dawn’s Kindergarten, 1700 Hickory Tree Road, Mesquite, TX 75149


We wrapped up the evening with the Show and Share:


Kathleen Walton: socks, hats, and a wool sweater

Donna Jaffe: the never-ending Chanel jacket (though it looks like there might be an end soon!)

Lorena Scott: 2 socks on magic loop, a crocheted necklace of her own design

Cassandra Hickman: a mohair scarf

Karen Gardner: a scarf

Lauri Katz: a baby afghan, sweater and hat; socks and a vest in progress

Jinny Townsend: Medrith Glover’s circumnavigated cardigan and wrist warmers

Christine Estacion: socks and Noro scarves

Emily Bennett: a cross-stitched Raven with beads

Suzanne Reed: “thong” socks

Margaret Byrnes: a jacket

Karen Hogan: socks

Victoria Loop: a sweater and a felted bag

Marilyn Riffkin: a sweater for her dog, Rocky

Dallas Bolen: still working on the baby blanket


The meeting was adjourned around 9:30 p.m.


The next meeting will be at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 7, 2007 at the church.


I don’t think we have a program planned so bring your projects for some quality time to talk and knit.