MISSION

The Fort Vancouver Knitters Guild is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to provide education to guild members to further skills in knitting, broaden their understanding of the craft, and to serve the community through services and donations.

WELCOME

All are welcome regardless of age, skin color, nationality, religion, gender identity or disability. We dedicate ourselves to the goal of a diverse, inclusive and spirited knitting community free from inequality, racism and injustice.

A Note From Vera

Don't Miss This Amazing Opportunity To Promote Our Craft on JUNE 6th from 5-8PM

The former Vancouver public library located at 1007 East Mill Plain is a city owned facility and is
being converted into an arts hub. It is now known as ‘the ARTScentered'. We have been invited to
participate in the First Friday of June event at the arts hub where fiber artists will be featured!

If you are available, we encourage you to take advantage of this amazing opportunity to showcase
the Fort Vancouver Knitters Guild and demonstrate our craft by simply knitting in public and
wearing or bringing 2 or 3 items to display. Be prepared to discuss the fiber and any special
techniques used, if asked. Chairs will be provided and there may be mannequins available.

Fiber

For more information about the event, directions, and other fiber artists participating check out their website here.

About the Spring Retreat - May 2025

Go ahead! Ask me about the retreat — because it was FaBuLoUs!! The weather
was perfect and the grounds there are beautiful and ideal for a stretch between
projects. It was lovely being around so many happy people for a long weekend.

Who was there?
• Thursday to Sunday, 23 people.
• Friday to Sunday, 6 people.
• There were a total of 6 commuters, being there for either Friday or
Saturday only.

This was the first time the Guild sponsored classes, and I hear Janelle made both
classes great. 8-10 people participated in each class (one involved making a
mosaic hat and/or sweater, and the other was on short rows), and they were really
excited about what they were making. I watched one knitter finishing her hat
just last week. I hope classes are a trend, because people always rave about them.

As always, the nuns served us healthy, simple foods. It felt like we were being fed
every two hours. The snack table was buckling under the weight of all the food
people brought to share, and sweets and wine seemed to be the most popular.

We did a “fashion show” on Saturday night to showcase our recent projects for
the nuns and each other. What beautiful things our knitters make! It was so
impressive and inspiring. I had the pleasure of emceeing the show, and I loved
interspersing knitting jokes into the event. (The first was a nun joke: Why don’t
nuns knit? Because they felt the needles were habit forming. Badump.)

I have been to all of the retreats since they started up again. I love them so
much! The chance to be social with other knitters and admire each other’s
work and share our skills can only be described as sublime. I will be at the retreat
in October (the first weekend), and am looking forward to it already. Hope to see
y’all there!

~ Laurel Prager

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Upcoming Events

✦ June 5th: FVKG Monthly Meeting | June 5. 2025 | Barberton Grange |Hybrid |
Speaker: Karel Chan of KC Knitting
Karel Chan is a licensed Therapist, LMHC, LPC
Presentation: How to bring mindfulness, healing mind body and heart, intention and awareness to our knitting so we can learn how to benefit even more health, mental clarity and joy from knitting.

June 6th: First Friday Fiber Artists, The ArtsCentered, 5-8 pm. (Map)

June 14th: Knit In Public Day | LeRoy Haagen Park, Vancouver, WA
World Wide Knit In Public Day is an INTERNATIONAL knitting event held annually on the
2nd Saturday of June. It was started in 2005 and has become the largest knitter led event.
Knitting is typically a solitary activity. World Wide Knit In Public day brings with it a sense of
community for knitters, who often celebrate together by knitting in public spaces to showcase
their hobby, and show that it can be an enjoyable activity for everyone.
In celebration of World Wide Knit in Public Day the Fort Vancouver Knitters Guild has reserved
the Pavilion at:

LeRoy Haagen Memorial Community Haagen Park -
13412 NE LeRoy Haagen Memorial Drive (MAP)
Vancouver, WA
12 - 4pm
Bring your knitting, favorite lawn chair or blanket, beverages and snacks and enjoy the day
knitting in public, meeting other knitters, sharing the love of a wonderful and ancient craft and
making our craft accessible to the public.

Other Local Knit in Public Day Events include:
Portland Ikea
9am - 12 pm.
Free event, sign up in advance through Ikea Family Membership account.
See website for more information.

Taborspace Commons - 12 - 2pm
5441 SE. Belmont Portland, OR
Crema Coffee & Bakery onsite.
Yarn and Tools Exchange! Games! Raffle Prizes! Yarn! Bring a can of food to support the Portland Food
Project

✦ FVKG Monthly Meeting and Summer Picnic | July 10, 2025 |
✦ FVKG Summer Picnic | July 10, 2025 | Fisher Basin Park, Vancouver, WA
✦ Vancouver Arts & Music Festival | August 1-3, 2025 | Booth application submitted
✦ Clark County Fair Booth | August 1-10, 2025
✦ FVKG Monthly Meeting | August 7, 2025 | Barberton Grange

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FVKG MONTHLY MEETING

NEXT MEETING:

June 5th

June's General Membership meeting will be a Hybrid: Face to Face meeting (F2F) AND Zoom! Zoom invites will be sent before meeting (login begins at 6:15pm).

LOCATION:

Barberton Grange
9400 NE 72nd Ave, Vancouver, WA 98665
Map

TIME:

6:30-8:30 pm (Doors open at 6:00 pm)

AGENDA:

6:00-6:30 - Social Knitting
Program: Program for June: Karol Chen How to bring mindfulness, healing mind body and heart, intention and awareness to our
knitting so we can learn how to benefit even more health, mental clarity and joy from knitting.
Guild Business
Election of Officers
Show and Share
Door Prizes
Social Knitting
Clean Up

If you cannot attend in person, you will find the zoom link below as soon as it becomes available.

In addition, we will have door prizes for the zoom attendees as well as door prizes for the in-person attendees.

If you are going to be on the zoom call, please click on this link and choose a door prize (When information is available, it will be here.)

Your name will be added to the spinner for that door prize.

You must choose your door prize BEFORE 2PM on Wednesday, June 4th.

Zoom
Fort Vancouver Knitters Guild is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting

Link to Join Zoom Meeting: Log in at 6:15 on June 5th!

Meeting ID:

Passcode:

One tap mobile

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OUR GUILD VALUES

COMMUNITY

GIVING THROUGH KNITTING

EDUCATION

Community

May
Fashion Show at Spring 2025 Retreat

* Projects completed by our members *

Suz Kuzma:

Tangential Blues by Carol Feller

I used Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok worsted

yarn in the colorway October Sky.

I may have shown a Baby Alligator Scarf. The pattern is from Morehouse Farm. The yarn is Cascade 220 Superwash.

The pink scarf is Heart to Heart by Sivia Harding. The beads were put on with a crochet hook. I don't remember the yarn that I used.

Rita Coppernoll

The Yellow Shawl

I finished it at the retreat so it hasn’t been blocked. It was the pattern

“Anisah” by Dee O’Keefe with cotton worsted weight yarn.

The Rainbow Shawl

It is the pattern “Hitch on the

Move” by Martina Behm. I modified the pattern and used fingering yarn and size 4 needles. I used one skein of the solid color and two skeins of the variegated color.

Sheri Pestka

Janelle LaRue

Janelle Serio

Mary Huether

Mary Aaby

Laura Hines

Shelley Arenson

Lou Travis

Tigard Knitters Guild

Vancouver USA Arts & Music Festival

Call for Participation

The Vancouver Arts and Music Festival is thrilled to announce an open call for entries to the Juried Art
Exhibit at the 2025 festival, taking place July 31-Aug. 3 in Esther Short Park. We invite artists from
diverse backgrounds and disciplines to showcase their creativity and vision in this preview event
celebrating art, music and culture.

The Juried Art Exhibit will be held across the street from the park, in the Hilton Vancouver. The
exhibit will award five (5) monetary prizes, with opportunities for participating artists to take
advantage of future benefits such as exhibits, mentorship and more.

Any medium; art must not exceed 48 x 60 inches, including framing
Entries for the Juried Arts Exhibit portion of the festival are being accepted until June 7.
Learn more about that opportunity on our website.

A free workshop will be offered in May to navigate the application process and to share best practices
for applying to exhibits.

Giving Through Knitting

Thought for the Day
“My firm stance is that if a thing is fixable, and the knitting is still on the needles, why
not fix it? That’s not perfectionism - it’s workmanship. Do the thing as well as you can
As Elizabeth Zimmermann said in such situations, this is just an opportunity to do
more of my favorite hobby—hurrah! I’m getting twice the knitting fun out of those
skeins...”

—Kay Gardner, Modern Daily Knitting, May 8, 2025

A Note From Sue and Geri

Thanks to one and all for your continued support and contributions to our charity knitting
projects. Your efforts are very much appreciated. Please continue to knit items for our various
charities - there are several projects to choose from, or try one of each!

July will be our last call for market bags. Please bring them to the July picnic!! Sue and Geri will
not be at the June meeting as previously planned. If you are not going to be at the picnic contact
Sue or Geri to arrange a pick up, please.

We are still knitting hats for the food bank to be delivered just before Thanksgiving and fingerless
mitts for the nuns for Christmas.

Happy knitting to all,
Sue and Geri

A Note from Brooklyn Tweed

Beginning in June 2025, Brooklyn Tweed will return to its roots as a pattern-only design company,
transitioning out of yarn manufacturing. This decision was not easy, nor driven by any lack of viability:
BT yarns remain beloved and vibrant, thanks to your incredible support.
Soon, we'll launch an updated website showcasing our extensive library of over 800 original patterns—
an inspiring platform for both past and future projects.

The final months of Brooklyn Tweed yarn production will be a celebration, honoring the yarns that
have accompanied your creative journey. Starting today, all remaining skeins of Brooklyn Tweed yarn
are available in our online store—if there's something you've had your eye on, now's the moment. At
the end of this month, we'll launch a Farewell Sale featuring all remaining skeins from our final
production runs, continuing through June or while our supply lasts. This gives you ample time to
complete your projects, stock your collections, and cherish these final yards.

For the full message, Click Here.

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"And, don’t forget the hat machine!"

Here’s a picture of a few of the hats I produced on our Guild hat machine last year, both for the Guild
project and for a gift exchange I was going to. The ombre and self-striping yarns produce such a pretty
product, and in short order!

—Sarah Kerridge

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100 Percent of the Dollars Raised will be Split Equally Between:

✦ Feeding America
✦ No Kid Hungry
✦ World Central Kitchen
✦ Meals on Wheels

Every donation made will help get food into the hands of someone who truly needs it.

Education

The Fort Vancouver-Tigard Knitting Guild Spring Retreat registration is LIVE!

To access the details and/or sign up now, go to FVKG . From the home page, click the Calendar button. This will take you to the current month. Scroll right until you reach May, and you will see the retreat link on May 1.

Here is a sketch of what to expect:
The retreat will be from Thursday, May 1-Sunday May 4. Options to participate include:
· Thursday – Sunday (4-day overnight)
· Friday - Sunday (3-days overnight)
· Daytime only Friday and Saturday (Commuter full day. One or both days can be chosen)
· Thursday Half Day (Commuter half-day)
Other fun to be had at the retreat in addition to all.that.knitting.:
· Weekend-long yarn swap
· The ever-popular fashion show on Saturday night
· Walks on the gorgeous garden grounds
· Trips to your LYS
· Delicious homemade meals
· Going out to dinner or lunch with other knitters!
... and anything else you can think of!

Retreat classes (handouts included):
Knitters have the option to make the Montage mosaic yoke sweater and/or a mosaic beanie pattern developedby Janelle Serio. Available on Ravelry by the end of the February at n/c to guild members.
A mini class on short rows to improve the fit of a sweater by lifting the neckline.
Mosaic colorwork class! How to use mosaic charts, using slip stitches and working one color at a time.
As always, donations to the retreat center in lieu of payment for the classes are greatly appreciated.

Things to know:
· You can register anytime from now until April 18, 2025 at 4:30pm.
· Please direct questions to Janelle Serio at freckledgirlknits@gmail.com
· Keep your eyes open for retreat announcements via email
We are thrilled for this opportunity to gather again! Twice in a year? I am pinching myself!
—Janelle Serio / freckledgirlknits@gmail.com / FVKG Retreat and Education Coordinator

Hook and Needle June Class Schedule

Hello, Knitters!
We have lots of classes coming up. Here’s our June lineup:
• Introduction to Drop Spindle with Carol Combelic - June 7th, 2025 at 1pm
• Tunisian Crochet 101 with Zeb Walter - June 14th, 2025 at 10am
• Fixing Common Knitting Mistakes - June 15th, 2025 at 10am
• Next Steps Knitting - June 21st, 2025 at 11am
• Beginning Lace - June 22nd, 2025 at 10am
• Knit Companion 101 - June 28th, 2025 at 10am
• Tunisian Crochet 102 - June 28th, 2025 at 1pm
• Knit Companion 102 - June 29th, 2025 at 10am

Check out the class descriptions and register online at:
https://www.hookandneedlefiber.com/shop/classes/14

Submitted by Julie Patterson

Used with permission and with thanks to KnitPicks

OUR BUSINESS MEMBERS

FVKG IS VERY HAPPY TO WELCOME NEW BUSINESS MEMBER TO LOVE AND DYE! 🌠
To Love and Dye hand dyes has vibrantly colored itch-free yarn in Vancouver, WA.

BROOKLYN TWEED: 🌠
Portland, Oregon yarn and knitwear design company, Brooklyn Tweed, connects hand-knitters to their materials by creating timeless wool yarns and patterns that support textile production in the United States. Each skein of Brooklyn Tweed yarn represents an American story.

HOOK AND NEEDLE: 🌠
Now stocking Brooklyn Tweedyarns, Hook and Needle Fiber Shop features a huge array of classes for knitters and crocheters of all levels. Now offering private crochet and knitting lessons as well!. Don't forget Open Craft Night, Wednesdays 4-7 pm, and Crafternoon, Sundays noon to 4 pm. Watch Hook and Needle's instagram page for Feature Fridays!

WHITE OAK ALPACAS SHEARED-DELIGHTS BOUTIQUE STORE:🌠

is packed with Alpaca Yarns and Roving from White Oak Alpacas, Alpaca apparel, plus unique and handmade Gifts. Shop online at White Oak Alpacas Sheared-Delights, or call (360) 841-7276 to make an appointment to visit the farm shop. Farm tours are available on Fridays and Saturdays.

NOBLE QUILL STUDIO (FORMERLY LETTERS WITH JOY): 🌠

Armed with a dip pen and ink, this calligrapher re-creates the italic hand first used during the renaissance period. Add this deeply personal touch to special event envelope addresses, vows, name tags, certificate fill-ins. Email for samples, questions and requests to Joy@noblequillstudio.com

THIS ICON 🌠 DESIGNATES A GUILD BUSINESS SPONSOR

Frequently Asked Questions

About Newsletters and Speakers

If you, as a member, did not receive your email with the monthly newsletter and details about our speaker for this month:

-Please click Document Library and look under Newsletters For 2024.
-You will find it there.

About Zoom Link for Meetings

If you, as a member, did not receive your email with the Zoom link:

-Please click Document Library.
-Look under Zoom Invite Link for Meeting.
-You will find the link there.

Ft. Vancouver Knitters Guild
Email: FVKG@ftvancouverknittersguild.org
Instagram: fvknittersguild

Webmaster: Patricia Freedman
Email: webmaster@ftvancouverknittersguild.org
Last Update 04/26/25