🥘December 2025 Newsletter🎁

This Month's Meeting & 2026 Meeting Schedule

Board Message

Programs & Workshops

-Upcoming Programs

-Fiberfests & Other Area Events

Outreach - Project Linus Progress

Knit-A-Long (KAL)

Guild Volunteers

This Month's Meeting: Potluck & Gift Exchange

• Please RSVP for the in-person meeting & indicate what dish you will be bringing to the holiday potluck.

• We’ll host social knitting from 6:30 PM - 7:00 PM with brief announcements followed by our potluck & gift exchange! There is always plenty of food and the gift exchange is voluntary - so don't let a lack of time (for cooking or wrapping a present) prevent you from attending! All are welcome!

2026 Meetings:

All meetings, social knitting, workshops, and events can be found on the AKG event calendar: https://www.atlantaknittingguild.org/akgcalendar

Greetings friends!

As the year comes to a close, our needles are busy and our hearts are full! December is a time to reflect on the creativity, community, and kindness that define our guild. Whether you’ve been working on cozy winter projects, learning new techniques, or sharing your love of fiber arts with others, we celebrate the warmth and connection that knitting brings to all of us.

Wishing each of you a joyful holiday season filled with peace, creativity, and comfort. May your yarn never tangle, your gauge be true, and your skein last through the final stitch you cast off. We look forward to gathering with you on December 4 for our annual potluck where we can share our projects, stories, and inspiration as we knit our way into a wonderful new year!

Elizabeth, Jolie, Julie, Natalie, Debbie, Barb & Linda

2025-2026 AKG Board

Previous Meetings

We have posted the meeting recordings and pictures from the last few meetings. Visit the Guild’s blog for access to these items (Guild membership required).

This Month’s Meeting: Potluck & Gift Exchange

This will be our traditional holiday potluck party. The guild will provide a meat platter. Members are invited to bring a side dish, salad, or dessert. Please consider sharing what you plan to bring on our potluck sign up form. Also, we will have a gift exchange for those attending the meeting in-person. If you would like to participate, please bring a wrapped knitterly-gift (e.g. yarn, knitting tool, knitting book, wine glass with knitting joke on it) with a value of about $25.

January 2026 Meeting (In-person speaker):

Member Susan Duralde took a trip overseas this summer. She visited museums including going behind the scenes to examine vintage Bohus Stickning sweaters! Bohus Stickning was a movement that provided financial support through a cottage industry of handmade sweaters. Grace Kelly had a Bohus sweater. Come learn the history and enjoy the special beauty of this knitting tradition.

February 2026 Meeting (ZOOM ONLY):

February is traditionally our Zoom only meeting. Our speaker is master knitter and teacher Heather Storta on the topic of Tension Troubleshooting. Do you think you have tension issues in your knitting (or aren't sure if you do or not)? Let's take a look at some of the most common tension issues, and learn how to identify them in your own knitting and some tips and tricks to help remedy them!

Upcoming programs:

March: currently open for ideas

April 2026 (tentative): We're going to ask our crocheters to teach crochet joining techniques, which will allow us to test our skills joining our Project Linus squares. Bring two knitted squares (preferably 12x12) and some additional worsted weight yarn for joining.

May 2026: Our speaker via Zoom will be ethnic knitting expert Beth Brown-Reinsel. Beth has traveled around Europe and North America. She is an expert on unusual knitting techniques and traditions, especially those in northern Europe.

June 2026 (tentative): our June program will be Instaknits. These are small projects or one-skein projects — things you make when you want instant gratification. We’d like to compile a pdf of free patterns or, if the pattern isn’t free, at least a bibliography of where to find these patterns. Our June meeting will be a Show and Tell of these projects. Please send ideas to programs@atlantaknittingguild.org.

Programs/workshops committee:

Committee includes: Debbie West, Barbara Moore, and Debra Davis. Eunice Reger has also stepped up and is auditioning which way she would like to contribute. Many thanks!

As always, members please send ideas and suggestions to programs@atlantaknittingguild.org.

Fiberfests & Other Area Events

Be sure to check out the Guild’s fiberfest page!

We keep a running list of fiberfests near and far: https://www.atlantaknittingguild.org/fiberfests

Visit the SEFAA calendar as well: https://tockify.com/sefaacalendar/pinboard

Of note this month, SEFAA is hosting a Textile Tasting event on Saturday 6 December 2025 from 1 to 5 PM at the SEFAA Center in Chamblee. This is an opportunity to learn about other fiber guilds in the area. SEFAA’s shop and Traveling Yarn Yogi will both be on hand if you have any last-minute craft supply needs. A big thank you to Eunice Reger and Elizabeth Schroeder for their willingness to help our guild staff our booth at the event!

Project Linus Update

We had a wonderful November meeting which included our guest, Suzanna Quinn, Director of our local Project Linus and so many squares turned in. We had our first drawing as we hit the 40 squares mark. Our winner of the $25.00 Credit on the AKG online swag shop was Natalie Greene!!! Congratulations, Natalie! Bring in those squares/blankets and let’s go for another drawing at our December meeting! Have a Happy Holiday Season!

Thanks ♥️ go out to those who have already donated squares:  

Elizabeth Schroeder

Barbara Marks

Beth Liess

Natalie Greene

Gail Reese

Julie Uranis

Barb Moore

Aleks Sweeny

Project Linus: Blankets are collected locally and distributed to children in hospitals, shelters, social service agencies, or anywhere that a child might be in need of a big hug.

We’re hoping to donate 40 blankets for Project Linus* by the end of our fiscal year. Not interested in knitting or crocheting a whole blanket? No problem! Knit or crochet, your choice of pattern for 12 inch x 12 inch squares of washable 100% DK or worsted weight acrylic yarn (no wool) and we’ll join them into a blanket. 

When you donate a square you’ll receive an entry in our prize drawing for a $25 credit towards any AKG swag found on our website.  For every 40 squares donated we will have a drawing.   Let’s show our AKG altruistic spirit!!!

Need pattern ideas for a square? Check out handylittleme.com for free knitting patterns.

Barb Moore also found these fun holiday designs to share!

*Project Linus is a national non-profit organization that provides new, handmade blankets to children in need, including those in the Atlanta area. Locally the Dekalb Georgia chapter provides blankets to local hospitals like CHOA Children's Hospital, as well as to children and teens in crisis situations like those handled by the Department of Family and Children Services.

Don't have time to knit a square? Consider making a monetary donation to the DeKalb Project Linus Chapter:

1. Visit to ProjectLinus.org

2. Click on Donate, then "Online Donation"

3. Complete each information box.

4. At  Apply Donation to:  Choose Local Chapter 

5. Then in the Donor Scroll box, please type DeKalb Georgia Chapter.

6. Proceed to the bottom of the page and choose "Donate Once"

Of course we will continue our ongoing efforts.  Information on our charity knitting can be found on the Guild’s website.

Knit and Crochet Bear Sweaters:  The Georgia Center for Child Advocacy

This is a longstanding program with the AKG. Suggested patterns and guidelines for the bears donated to the GA Center for Child Advocacy are on the Guild’s website. Dressed bears are given to each child in crisis who comes to the Center. 

Baby Hat & Blanket Sets, Chemo Caps:  Piedmont Hospital

The AKG donates knit and crochet items to various hospitals, inclusive of baby items and hats/caps for adult and child cancer patients. 

Visit the AKG website for more details on our charity knitting projects and requirements.

Do you have a charity project you'd like the Guild to consider? Contact outreach@atlantaknittingguild.org

Come join us in the AKG Knit-A-Long (KAL) when we meet the third Wednesday of each month at 7pm on Zoom. We have a great time sharing our projects, learning new techniques, cheering each other on, and following each other's progress on our group-chosen projects.

We have alternated between doing the same pattern all together, to doing a particular technique (and we each do a pattern of our choosing), to picking a designer and each doing a project that suits us. We have done colorwork, interesting construction techniques, and even faced our fears of steeking!

We have a great group of regular attendees and some who join when they can, but our group is entertaining and always encouraging. Find our group on the AKG calendar--RSVP for the Zoom link--and also we maintain an active presence on Facebook under "AKG KAL"

Love the Guild and its resources? We need you! The Guild operates with a 100% volunteer staff.

We have an immediate vacancy in the President's role and we have several key volunteer roles that need to transition to someone else. As we have no volunteer leading our Superstar event we will not have one in 2026 and are in jeopardy of not having a 2027 Superstar event without someone volunteering soon!

VOLUNTEERS WANTED:

• President: The Guild needs a president! We've been operating with just board members for over a year and we need someone to guide the Guild! You'll preside over the Guild meetings, attend Board meetings, and help promote the Guild.

• Programs: Interested in identifying and choosing each month's program! Consider volunteering as the program chair! The programs chair is supported by volunteers devoted to specific events.

  • Superstar Chairperson: The Guild is looking for someone with logistics skills to plan our Superstar Weekends (typically one per year, in the spring). You'll be in direct contact with some of the most exciting and interesting knitterly speakers around, help select classes, oversee logistics, and serve as the host for our speaker.

  • Special Events Coordinator(s): The Board is really interested in offering special events like a yarn crawl to local shops, travel trips to fiber fests, and someone to coordinate special days like Knit in Public Day. Admittedly, we really don't have firm expectations but we know to be able to do any of these things, we'll need at least one person, maybe a team, to plan for such exciting opportunities.

• Treasurer: Are you a bookkeeper, accountant, or just someone that can balance a checkbook? The Guild needs you! We use Quicken to do the hard work and have but one bank account. Most of our transactions are Guild members paying their membership fees, so the treasurer works closely with the membership chair.

• Communications: If you've ever written a blog post, posted to Facebook, or edited a Wix website you'll be right at home as our new communications chair. We've spent the last few years streamlining our communications and the tools we use to communicate so it is much easier to build our newsletter, promote our events, and maintain our website. It's now time for a new volunteer to take the helm and do great things with our Guild's communications. That could be you!

Visit our about page, to see who is supporting the Guild with their generous gifts of time and talent.

Get Connected!

The AKG is on Facebook!

Facebook Page - Atlanta Knitting Guild: Like this page and see official AKG news and updates in your Facebook feed

Facebook Group - Friends of the Atlanta Knitting Guild: Join our Facebook group to chat with other knitters (membership in the group and the guild are separate)

Login to the Guild website to renew online.