Knitters in the area

To pick up from my last blog where I've been searching for a knitting group that meets in the Detroit / Grosse Pointe area; on the second occasion of speaking with someone from the Grosse Pointe Library I learned that there is indeed a knitting group that meets there. They only meet once a month and lucky for me I found out on the day they were meeting. Once a month isn't very much, but then again it isn't overwhelming either. It's a chance to chat and laugh and what not and is a good reason to get me out of the house since I've been so house-bound with the ACL situation. I had ran across this information through an online service called meet ups or something like that, but it only listed a house address which is where I figured they met. As it turns out the address listed is that of the president of the guild. Oh yes, there's a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and by-laws. Hmm. Sounds a little formal doesn't it?

Well, the first meeting was very pleasant. I had a few pre-formed opinions about what the group would be like before going so I was much pleased that the group was laid back and that they weren't all "yarn snobs". My definition of a yarn snob is one who only uses hand spun, hand-dyed natural fiber yarn with a price tag of over $15 per skein. All of my yarn, except for that $10/skein sock yarn I treated myself to in FL, is from big box stores like JoAnns, Michaels, Meijer, and Walmart. Yes, there I said it; I sometimes shop for yarn at Walmart! So that being said, I do not knit with exotic yarn and am by all means not embarrassed by knitting something up in 100% acrylic (gasp).

What I did find was a pleasant group of 12 or so ladies; all older than me but I pretty much expected that. Most of them appeared to be knitting with acrylic too! There were no rules to be followed, I did not have to make a formal announcement of my name, my knitting experience and what I hoped to gain from attending. I paid my $12 for the year and in return I received a 3-ring binder with the meeting dates, the membership list, the by-laws, a few other oddities about books donated to the library and such as well as the pattern for the night. Ahh, while you can by all means bring your own project to work on, there is a pattern distributed to the group each month which is supposed to encourage the knitters to learn a new method.

This pattern was for a tiny teddy bear in which it was to be double knit from the outside; in other words it was all double knit purled then turned right-side out when done. My bear looks kind of cute, but does not compare to the ones I've made in the past and the method of inside out double knitting was a slip stitch method rather than working both knits and purls at the same time. I had a good time though and am looking forward to next months meeting which is on "cast on and bind off". I'm not sure about this one and will take my own project along with me in case I'm not interested in the distributed project.

So if you are in the are and would like to join up here's their scoop:

Pointe Knitters

Contact: Shirley Paczkowski
(313) 885-9034
email: tpaczkowski@sbcglobal.net

Pointe Knitters is a group of hand knitters who meet on the fourth Thursday of the month at 7:30p.m. An instructor teaches us new and old techniques with pattern projects. Our dues are $12, which includes a newsletter. You can bring in your own project to work on or get help with.

The meeting place is in the meeting room of the Grosse Pointe Library on Jefferson just east of Alter. The meeting room is straight ahead when you walk in.