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| Welcome to Penns Valley Knitters |
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Penns Valley Area Knitters (A Time of Knitting, Sharing, Learning, Chatting, Making Friends)
Who Are We? The Penns Valley Area Knitters is a fun group of knitters of a variety of ages and skills levels from Centre and Mifflin counties. Everyone from anywhere is welcome. Visiting the area, check and see if we have a meeting. Feel welcome to stop by a knit night. Want to learn to knit...come to a meeting and someone will gladly help you get started. We love new knitters!! For more information please call Kim at 814-777-3190. We meet the second and fourth Thursdays of each month (except for holidays) from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Centre Hall Community Library (except for a few special occasions). The library is located at 109 W. Beryl Street. Please check the current monthly meeting calendar posted below. The Penns Valley Area Knitters, established in 2005, promotes interest and skill in the art of knitting, encourages high standards of quality and workmanship, and encourages the use of those skills for the benefit of others. Membership is open to all skill levels and geographic locations. This is a great place to get help with a pattern, learn to knit socks, lace shawls, blankets, sweaters, hats, mittens, scarves; to ooohhh and aaahhh over each other's knitting and just have a good time. Meeting Dates and Times: In case of inclement weather (snow or ice), please call Kim at 814-777-3190 to make sure we are meeting. November 26 -- HAPPY THANKSGIVING -- NO MEETING December 10 -- 6 to 8 p.m. in Centre Hall Community Library December 24 -- CHRISTMAS EVE -- NO MEETING THANK YOU!! The bus trip to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival was a HUGE success. The 54 people who made the trip on May 2, 2009 had lots of fun, enjoyed meeting new knitters, crocheters, spinners and weavers and came home tired but happy. The Penns Valley Area Knitters appreciate your participation...some had such a good time they have already signed up for the bus next May. They enjoyed their browned-bag breakfasts and goodie bags which held a skein of yarn donated by Molly the owner of Knitters Underground in Centre Hall, packs of Soak Wash donated by that company, beaded row markers made by Billie Mazza and Kim Bierly, a $5 gift certificate from Knitter's Dream in Harrisburg, and a pack of M&M's. A special twist this year (and hopefully a trend for years to come) was the awarding of 20 door prizes to people whose names were pulled out of a shopping bag. This could not have happened without the generosity of the following people: Door Prize Donors Please shop from vendors who supported our bus trip * $25 gift certificate from Mad About Ewes in Lewisburg * gift certificate for a pair of FunSpecs glasses * gift certificate for a pair of clear clogs from Knitters Dream in Harrisburg * skein of Sockotta summer sock yarn from Kim Bierly * 3 packages of row markers from Jewelry for Your Yarn * a needle sizer key ring from Debra's Garden
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| Knitting Fun | Other Area Knitting Group Meetings/Road Trips/Great Blogs and Websites | ||
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Autumn Retreat Fun! Eleven of us gathered on Sunday, November 15 in the Community Room at Pleasant Hills apartments in Pleasant Gap for an afternoon of knitting, chatting, eating, a lively gift swap, making beaded row counters and instruction on crocheting a lovely edging that will nicely complete knitting projects. A big thank you to Billie for instruction on row counter and crocheting techniques. A picture is worth a thousand words...so the saying goes...so take a look...
Respect the Designer’s Rights -- Don't Copy Patterns Designers of knitting and crochet patterns often earn their livelihood, or at least part of it, with the sale of their patterns. Those sales can take several forms – individual patterns that you purchase from a store or download (for a fee) from the internet, in a magazine, in a book of patterns, or a special pattern you get when purchasing yarn. Please do not copy (via photocopy or any other method) a designer’s pattern unless you know it was a free pattern given in a store or on a website. Loaning patterns to your fiber friends is a fine thing to do, but please don’t just hand them a copy. It is perfectly acceptable to make one copy for your own use of a pattern you have purchased. Many people do this so they can make notations on the pattern as they knit or crochet. The Knitter's Song At a recent meeting, a Dulcimer group was at the library, and knowing in advance that the knitters would be on hand knitting and purling, they wrote a special song for the occasion...of course we sang it at the retreat. For those who want to sing along as they knit, here is "Our Song"... (Sung to the tune of "Will the Circle be Unbroken") Chorus: May your circle be unbroken; And may all your friendships thrive; As you knitand join together; All the stories of your lives. First Verse: Pick your yarn and choose your needles; Have your project all planned out; Check your gauge and make a sample; For great results without a doubt Second Verse: Are your needles fat or skinny?; Are they plastic, steel or wood?; Is your yarn made of sheep's wool?; Would you spin it if you could? Third Verse: I was thinking, it was autumn; And what can I knit for you; All those stitches I can choose from; Cable, Garter, Popcorn too Fourth Verse: Cast on your stitches and get started; Read that pattern one more time; Just like magic watch your creation; As it lengthens line by line
Support Your Local Yarn Shop! |
Our Charity Project
Kim and Melissa pose behind the tasting table of Cooke Tavern Soups. The event was hosted at a local winery and was a fund-raiser for the Centre Hall Library, where the Penns Valley Knitters meet. Also helping were Betsy, Marie and Gayle. Other Area Knitting Groups: Mondays -- 6 to 8 p.m. -- The Knotty Knitters and Dan at Cool Beans Cafe, 141 W. High St., Bellefonte, PA Tuesdays -- 1 to 5 p.m. -- Mad About Ewes, 429 Market St., Lewisburg. Feel free to bring a beverage or snack. Fiber Festivals/Events: May 1 and 2, 2010 -- Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, Howard County Fairgrounds, West Friendship, MD. PENNS VALLEY KNITTERS WILL AGAIN BE SPONSORING A ONE-DAY BUS TRIP! WATCH FOR MORE DETAILS. www.sheepandwool.org Looking for fun knitting events? Ever wonder how to find the fun knitting events in the U.S. (and a few more distant places, too)? Knitters Review, an online knitting forum is a terrific site and has a listing for each month of the year. There are website links to knitting events, fiber festivals, cruises, knit out, retreats...you name it, the information is there. If you want to plan a special fiber related event for yourself for 2009, check out this site: http://www.knittersreview.com/upcoming_events_09.asp Knitting Websites The following links may not be clickable and might need to be copied and pasted into your web brower for access. Great knitting websites...some informations and many with free patterns: http://www.dnt-inc.com/barhtmls/knittech.html -- good knitting technique site -- nice for beginners and those who need a reminder http://hipknitism.com/classes/basic_ribbed_socks/lesson4.shtml -- free sock knitting class/instructions http://www.interweave.com/knit/interweave_knits/web_projects/Better_Than_Bootie.pdf -- great baby booties (but better) on this site from Interweave Knits http://www.knittingzone.com/sock_challenge/challenge.pdf -- this is a free sock pattern book online http://www.knittingonthenet.com/socks.htm -- free patterns for socks and slippers www.knittingpatterncentral.com http://www.spunkyhats.com/boogie_freepatterns_socklinks.htm -- this is a GREAT sock pattern site http://lovetobikeandknit.blogspot.com/2006/05/rectangular-shawl-patterns.html -- don't let the name fool you...there are links to awesome shawl patterns on this site...some are free patterns! Some fun blogs: http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com http://pinklemontwist.blogspot.com http://www.theloopyewe.com/sheri/ http://roberta.typepad.com/robknits/ http://sock-crazy.blogspot.com http://www.rosieblogs.blogspot.com/
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| We're In the Newspaper | |||
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We're In the Newspaper!!!!
Sat, Sep. 23, 2006 -- Centre Daily Times Friendships, fabrics formed at knitting club A renewed interest in crafts is sweeping the nation. Perhaps the desire to knit, quilt, or sew can be chalked up to a desire to get back to simpler pastimes, or maybe it can be traced to the domestic influence of Martha Stewart. Whatever its origin, infectious nature of the crafts bug is nowhere more evident than in the group of women who meet bi-monthly at the Centre Hall Community Library to knit. Unlike the popular perception of a knitting circle as a group of ancient ladies stitching on lap robes and sipping tepid tea, the membership of the Penns Valley Knitters represents a wide range of ages and knitting ability. And the group is quite a bit more raucous than you'd expect people who rely on the good nature of the librarian on duty to be. Between bursts of laughter and some good-natured ribbing, talk swings from patterns and stitches, to family updates, to who's hot on "Grey's Anatomy." "It's not your grandmother's knitting group," says Lori Corman, of The group was founded by Kim Bierly early in 2005. Not a guild or a formally organized the club, the group members don't pay dues to belong, they simply show up at the library on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. "It's a social time too, and that makes it nice," Bierly says. Most everyone is there because they knew someone else who was joining the group. "One person brings a person who brings another person and so on," Bierly says. For friends Jeanie Wiker, of Millheim, and Chris Doren, of State College, the twice monthly meetings in Centre Hall offer a chance to get together at a midway point between their two homes. Tina Dix and Freya Phillips go horseback riding together during the summer and fall. The Penns Valley Knitters gives them something to do in the colder months. "We needed something to keep us off the streets in the winter," Phillips says jokingly. Part social club, part crafters' support group, the knitters trade ideas and help each other out on projects. Like several knitters in the group, Corman only recently took up the craft. Others are coming back to the hobby after taking several years off. Billy Mazza, a retired educator from Lewistown who now works at the yarn shop in Centre Hall, is the group's go-to woman for advice. A shout of "Billy 911" sends Mazza around the table to inspect and correct another knitter's stitch. What everyone in the group seems to have in common is an inability to sit still, which explains in part why they took up the hobby. Everyone in the group confesses to knitting while watching television. Barbara Penstone admits to knitting on car rides and at hockey games. When asked to explain the allure of the craft, she says "It's an artistic outlet." So much practice has caused the knitters to quickly outgrow the furry and fuzzy novelty yarns that are common in craft supply stores. The rarer and more expensive Peruvian and Alpaca tweeds have their attention now. As their knowledge of stitches grows, their knowledge of wool and the regions where it comes from grows, too. "People start looking at sheep instead of puppies," Penstone says. It's probably unlikely that any of the Penns Valley Knitters are going to turn to sheep farming to supply their yarn habit, but Bierly hopes the group continues to grow and bring new knitters into the fold. | |||
| All Content provided by Kim Bierly | |||
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