Anchorage Daily News

Summer is winding down as leaves are beginning to turn, kids are back in school and the relatives are heading home. Fall heralds the new year for needle enthusiasts, mostly because the cooler weather feels like sweaters.

It's also time for the guilds to start up again, and it's not too early to think about what you'll be knitting or crocheting for Christmas gifts.

Take a few moments this week to ponder your needlework projects. Is there something you want to learn this year? This could be the year you learn to knit or crochet. Maybe you just need to push yourself to go to a more advanced level of stitching.

Perhaps you want to try out a new technique of knitting or learn to crochet broomstick lace. No matter what skills you have, there is a local guild that is just right for you.

Anchorage is lucky to have guilds in almost all the needle crafts. There are also guilds in Palmer, Wasilla and many other areas of the state. If you don't have a guild meeting near you, there are smaller groups of stitchers congregating at your local yarn store, quilting shop or coffee shop.

These gatherings are wonderful places to find more experienced knitters and crochet devotees, and most fiber folks love to teach others their passion for stitching. If not, they will certainly be able to point you in the right direction.

Don't be afraid to seek help with your needlework, and don't imagine that your questions are silly. Every knitter or crocheter has learned from another, who learned it from someone else. This is how the finer points of needle arts are passed on.

The whole point of a local guild is to meet others who share your interests in a particular needle art. Knitters associated with the Anchorage guild, The Knitters of the North, offer an afternoon each month to meet informally with new people, for the price of a cup of coffee, and to help other knitters with problems they might be having with their projects.

This is a good way to put your needles in the yarn, so to speak, and to learn if you want to attend a monthly guild meeting as a guest.

Knitters of the North offers a technique workshop every other month for those who want to enroll in classes taught by expert local stitchers. September's technique class is about lace knitting, and the expert lace knitter promises to offer tips and tricks to even those of us who have already worked with lace.

These classes are a real value for a small fee. Similar classes offered at other out-of-state venues would cost three or four times the fee plus your air fare and hotel.

The local crochet guild, Ididachain Crochet Guild, has monthly meetings that feature new stitch techniques.

Local guilds do offer a monthly newsletter. Some guilds also have an informative Web site, or Yahoo Group site, and many guilds offer their members a discount at local yarn stores.

Knitters of the North maintains an extensive lending library for members with books, tapes, patterns and even a good steam iron suitable for blocking your work. Some guilds keep free yarn and needles or hooks for charity project work.

Check out your local guilds this season and hook up with others who enjoy knitting and crochet.

Catherine Hollingsworth, interior designer, artist and professional knitwear designer, has lived in Alaska for 18 years. She is interim president of the Alaska State Yarn Council and past president of Knitters of the North. To reach her, e-mail twosticks@adnmail.com.

Guild events

Knitters of the North:

• MASTERS AND MENTORS: 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 6, Kaladi Brothers, 6921 Brayton Drive

• OPEN GUILD MEETING: 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 13, Pioneer School House, lower level, Third Avenue and Eagle Street. For more information, call Janice Chulick at 561-3933 or visit groups.yahoo.com/group/Knitters_North.

Ididachain Crochet:

• MEETING: 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Wasilla Lake Church of the Nazarene, Palmer-Wasilla Highway near Fred Meyer. For more information, call Debbie Meester at 1-907-562-1630 or Elaine Hollinger at 1-907-373-2535.

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