Hey people!
I have successfully gotten ahold of Molly, and she let me know that we should be okay to go for Monday night at A Knitted Peace at 6:30-7-ish to work on the Big Sock as a group. I have to clear things by Marsha, the store owner (I think) tomorrow morning, but they are having a class that night so we should be good to go. As far as when we will have to vacate, it should be later than they are usually open, but I'm sure they are not going to want to stay open 'til 11pm. We late-nighters may need to move to Barnes or even back to IHOP for the remainder of the night, but either way it will be an adventure.
I'll try to post more details tomorrow morning after talking to the store and see what is going on. I would advise everyone to make it snazzy and personal and bring along your own crazy wads of sock yarn just to add some personal flavor to our section of this thing. Yarn will be provided for those who don't have any available. There are about nine pairs of circular needles stuck in this baby, so we should be able to rotate in and out with people knitting on the sock and then conversing and sipping coffee.
Speaking of coffee (one of my favorite topics, oh yeah!), you all might want to stop by the Starbucks down the street at Prince and Sante Fe for some java sippage before heading to the store. I'll clear us for sure on the coffee front tomorrow morning with Marsha, but I'm pretty sure she won't mind as she's okayed it for me a couple of times now and has even enjoyed an iced coffee with me once. She loves the coffee monster. I'll be buying whoever is working tomorrow night at the store coffee as a thank you for putting up with us.
I'm drawing a blank right now as to any additional information there might be for this date. I'll remember tomorrow morning. I posted a topic discussion on Ravelry for our group, so any things you guys want to discuss or share, you can comment here or there. You all should get the email I send out after this sucker is posted.
Oh! That reminds me. I there anyone who hasn't been added to the email list yet? I don't think I've missed anyone yet, and I'm trying my damn hardest to keep up with all the knitter visitors we get on Monday nights. Let me know if there is anything I need to catch ya'll up to or fix on the site.
Questions or clarification, call me ya yarn ho's! -720.468.7004
The very first official Knitting Knuts Picnic is planned for Monday, July 28, at Clement Park. Yes, knitting is allowed at picnics - just bring lots of handi-wipes to wash up before touching that $29.99/skein yarn. Or in the case of Kate, untangling a wayward skein for 2-1/2 hours. (She'll have to tell you THAT story.)
Sharon, Shawn and I are going to find the perfect spot. Our first choice will be with a view of the lake, so that is south from the Library parking lot in the west end of the park. There are lots of sheltered picnic areas to choose from so hopefully we will find one. We will be there at 6:30, so come when you can. The plan was for people to meet in the IHOP parking lot and we will call and say where we are, but if you want to head over to the park to find us or call Shawn (720-468-7004), go for it.
Bring a dish to share, your own plates, utensils and drinks. Cooler with ice and some extra plates and utensils will be provided.
Bring extra people if you wish - hopefully people you know, like husbands, kids, knitting buddies, etc.
I may be forgetting something, so check your e-mail with our Yahoo Group for last minute updates. See you there.
We are going to meet at the Bowles Crossing theatre - to the west of IHOP - on Monday night to see Wall-e. We will meet by 7:00 - the movie starts at 7:20. Bring your knitting if you don't need to see to knit.
If anyone is not into going to the movies - meet at IHOP as usual and the movie goers will join you there after the movie.
This is last minute information - Maggie Sefton is appearing at the Tattered Cover on Colfax Monday night, June 16, at 7:30. So - there are two places to pick from on our usual Monday night. Some Knuts will be at IHOP as usual and others are "branching" off to the Tattered Cover.
Let the Knuts fall where they may!!
Hey Group! It's Sunday! Guess what that means! Yeah, Strange is blogging. For the first time in freakin' forever! This will not be a lengthy post by any means, but just a random piece of candy for you children. Wait... your taking candy from a... Strange...er.... Hmmm. Your momma taught you better, but I guess I'm also force feeding it too you in a visual assault on your senses. Ha! Take that all you mommas!
Enough of me being bad, here is a slideshow of some recent stuff I've taken at the group. I know a lot of you (this is my big obvious "you" to the Preggies/Ex-Preggies) wanted these pictures, expecially the ones of the Flying NunBoy. I apologize for the blur on some of these. I just refuse to use a flash. Damn bulb things.
Now I'm pretty much done. We had much funnage with Maggie Wednesday night. You all missed some fun times. We need to start discussing when we want to head up to Lambspun in Ft. Collins for an evening with Maggie. It'll have to be sometime in July since her schedule is busy busy busy. We'll see what we can arrage and hopefully everyone can make it all together. If not, we'll try again.
I'm out for now.
Shawn
Hey everybody,
Quick post to give out the details to those of you who are real troopers and check the blog even though I never update it.
Maggie's here on Wednesday June 4th, and we are having dinner with her at the Macaroni Grill right next to Barnes and Noble on Bowles and Wads around 5pm. Then at 7 she is heading over to Barnes to do her book signing and we are going to knit.
Toodles!
Shawn
Hey all, big news. Due to the size of our group we have been forced to move out of our regular haunt at Barnes and Noble on Bowles. All of this happened last Monday and during our group meeting we discussed some options we have and some places we might go. Among some of the ideas were rec centers, the library, other coffee shops, another bookstore, or even a restaurant. Some of the places we mentioned were The Tattered Cover Bookstore in Highland's Ranch, the Belmar library, Kate's husband Mark's restaurant, Starbucks, the Buck Rec Center in downtown Littleton, the Barnes and Noble/Starbucks cafe in Denver West, and a couple others I can't remember because my brain cells aren't working.
We are still running by a few places that seem promising and I'm still up for any ideas and suggestions any of you might have, but we have settled on a place for next week since it seems to work out best as far as location, environment, and time. Jan aka Knall of Yarn stopped by the IHOP on Bowles and Wadsworth to talk to the Monday night manager about us coming in and staying late. They were more than happy to have us and have a room they can set aside for us that will be partitioned off from the rest of the restaurant.
Now this is a temporary place for us and we most likely will be jumping around for a bit. I know this sucks in general and I'm sorry we couldn't hold it off a while longer, but in order to avoid a big catastrophe and hurt feelings all around, it is best if we work with the district manager at Barnes and just find somewhere else to hang out. The meeting that Jan and I had with Diane Seaburry and the manager at Barnes was a bit tense but ended very well, so we are in no bad position as far as they are concerned.
If you guys have any questions for me, leave me a comment, call my cell (720-468-7004), or send me an email. I'll get most of it on my cell phone so I should respond back fairly quickly. Again, we are meeting at IHOP on Bowles and Wadsworth across from Columbine Library at 7pm next Monday. So that's gonna be May 12th.
Thanks for hanging in there girls!
Strange aka Shawn
For all the last minute blog-checkers, we are meeting at Sweet Tomatoes (or wahtever it's called) for dinner at 5:30. Bernadette finished her paper and Kim has tonight off. So we've got ample excuses to get together and talk and eat... and eat. I know I'll be doin' that. I've got today off and I'm a little bored with no subject matter so I'll be at Banres most of the afternoon. Stop by and say hi. Later peeps!
Shawn aka Strange
You all know we can't wait to get together, so we drummed up some not so shabby events to use as good excuses. Right now, there is just the two. But I think we may have a third on the way.
Maggie's coming back! (stifling little girl scream) Lol, not really screaming...well, maybe inside. Maggie Sefton, the author of The Knitting Mystery series is coming back to Barnes for a book signing on June 4th. Apparently, Maggie specifically asked to do her signing at "our" Barnes and who are we to pass up such an open invitation to go and plague her with our knitting and conversation? So, we will be meetin that week for knitting on Wednesday instead of Monday and at 7:00 or earlier if so desired. More on this develpment as it gets nearer. Check out
Maggie's site here.
Also, for those of you that don't know yet, we are going to participate in the Knit-A-Thon for the Denver Children's Hospital. For some reason, I completely spaced bringing my notebook over and so I've no idea what the dates are for that, but I will get them to you all very soon. In the meantime...
We had discussed the idea of having a scarf swap for Christmas. Where each person knits up a holiday scarf and we swap them in a kind of drawing at the beginning of December. That way each person has a scarf to wear over the holiday's that was made by a buddy from their favorite Monday night knitting group. Lol. Feel free to comment on this or just bring your ideas to the group next Monday. Something to think about.
Also, I'm working on getting our Member Profile section completed so we can get it setup and and incorporate it into some of our group projects. I'm also going to get some business cards made with all the information our new groupies need to get started as part of the crew. Jan has more or less kept the fire burning on that one ('cus we all know I can't keep it in my head for that long) and has offered some ideas. More on that when we get a bit closer.
And that's all I had for today, guys. It was fan-freakin'-tastic seeing all of you tonight and I can't wait for next week.
Strange aka Shawn
This was sent to muah earlier yesterday. Kim would like it passed on.
Shawn, I don't know how to send this to everyone so I sent it to you. The Yarn Harlot will be signing her new book Friday, April 4, at 7:30 at the Tattered Cover in Highlands Ranch. If anyone is interested. Talk to you later, kim
Anyone wanting to go should either email around on the Yahoo! groups msg board, or just congregate at the Tattered C at said time. Hope everybody has a great time. I will be working. Grrr.
Strange aka Shawn
You may know me as Anonymous or Anonymous Jan from the comments I have made on other people's posts. Today I am actually POSTING. I am nervous.
Shawn has patiently taught me how to do this. So, all the credit goes to him. If this is a success, the credit is all Shawn's. If this does not work - it is all Shawn's fault.
Last night was a great time as usual. We had two new people join us for knitting at the old B&N. Welcome to both of you. It is fun to watch the new people sit down at the ever expanding tables with us. I'm not sure that they have any preconceived notion as to what it will be like to join our group of knutty knitters. Perhaps they picture a certain age group or a certain seriousness. Perhaps they are even wondering if coming might just be a waste of time. Or perhaps they are a tad shy. Well, whatever those newcomers expected, it wasn't US. You can almost see it on their faces when they realize - "Hey, this is a fun group." We are a group of knitting knuts, yes, but so much more. Like the millions of knitting patterns and yarns out there - we are diverse. So now that you two have enjoyed and survived one night of knitting with the knuts, you are one of us and I know we'll see you again. We look forward to the new stuff - ideas and fun - you will bring to our group.
Kate, how long before Brodie can hold knitting needles?
My posts seem to fall on the day before we meet. I am bringing a few simple items with me on Monday so we can all make a marker for our collections. I have been thinking that in the near future we should do a secret swap of some sort! What are your thoughts??? Yarn, favorite pattern, notions, snacks while you knit, tea, coffee, candles, books, needles and hooks, the list can go on! I also am interested in knowing Birthdays....so we can party while we knit!
I am trying to finish another baby hat before Monday night. I an going to cast on socks again this time one at a time. I look forward to seeing what all we have accomplished this week.
I also thought I would get everyone thinking about
Up-Coming Events:
1. Great Western Alpaca Show May 2-4
www.alpacabreeders.org
2. Estes Park Wool Market June 11-13
www.estesnet.com/events/woolmarket.htm
More info to fallow on these and more events as we find them.
Yes Yes Yes we all have been wondering where we will be knitting Monday Nite!
We have been invited back to Barns & Nobles and yes we said yes! Please spread the NEWS!
Can't wait.... I will be ripping my hat out to make it just a little smaller darn darn darn. I also did something very out of the ordinary I went on a mission to the antique store looking for knitting finds......can't wait to show you the double point needles I found. I also am looking for old hat stands and yes I found several but of course they were not for sale. I will just have to keep on looking.
Hey gang, we've had some major changes as of Monday night. The relationship between our group and the store manager at Barnes and Noble on Bowles has been tense for a while and because of bad communication on the part of the store manager, antagonistic action was taken against us which resulted in a very unwanted standoff. In a nutshell, we as customers were treated poorly despite the fact that we are
paying customers who consistently bring business into that location. The inconsiderate way that the store manager treated us and our business has led us to move to another location for the time being.
Now what I've gotten from a few people is that despite how poorly we have been treated, there is still a desire to try to work with the district manager and the store itself to come to a resolution where we feel that we as a group is welcomed and respected at that location. The store is situated very nicely for the majority of us and the staff of B&N (minus the store manager) all enjoy us and love when we come in. It makes for a wonderful atmosphere and we've enjoyed it for a long time now. I was called by the district manager today and I'll be calling her back tomorrow to discuss what will happen from here.
I know a lot of you may be wondering what the heck is going on and what action we are taking on this so far. Please feel free to talk to me. My phone and email address are going to be below despite my better judgement. Lol
Shawn's (Strange) Contact Info-
(720) 468-7004
mousebrat2SPAM006@gmail.com*
Please make sure that if you do send me an email that you take the capitalized "SPAM" out of the address so that it doesn't get caught by my filters. For those of you savvy with the Yahoo! Group email base, you can just send me a message there, my email is listed.
Also, for those of you interested in contacting Barnes and Noble Corporate there is a link on
http://www.bn.com/ for community relations. I can't promise you'll get much from it as the return call you may get won't be somebody sympathetic to our issue. They are basically a customer service rep who just wants to get their job done and go home. Yeah. Also, I would recommend that anyone wanting to send a letter to the District Manager Diane Seaburry (?) should contact Barnes and Noble on Wadsworth and Bowles at (303) 948-9565 and ask for the address for her office. I apologize for not having it on hand, but I just haven't had the time as of yet.
Most importantly, I would ask that if you do contact any part of Barnes and Noble with your complaints that you express to them that they are your feelings and not the group's. It's very important that our individual issues not complicate things for those not wishing to be involved with any negativity surrounding the situation. This group is about fun and relaxation and I am doing my best to keep it that way for all of us. Ultimately you all will handle it how you see fit and this is all I can really ask.
Now for location. This transition is not easy for us and I understand that everybody is still trying to figure out what the heck has happened. For this first week we will be in the
Starbucks on
Bowles and Wadsworth in the
same block as the Barnes and Noble we've been meeting at. This should make it an easy shift at least for this week. They have been contacted and have expressed that they are more than happy to have us.
Again, I'm so sorry to everybody this has affected negatively. I wish that there could have been something I could have done to keep this from happening, but sometimes life is so not playing by your rules. Again, please contact me if you have any questions or concerns. I wanted to make sure this got out there since the snow kept everyone home this week. Good luck to the Preggies who all have little ones on the way. Hopefully we get to see you soon with the new kids in tow. Pamella and Marti, you guys were missed. Joy, we look forward to seeing you again.
'Til next entry guys!
Strange
Our group is growing! Last week we welcomed four new knitters to the fold! We are such a diverse, eclectic group. I am sure there is material here for a knitting novel!I think I have the title already. "A Circle of Knuts" LOL
Our goal is to fill up the cafe at our local Barnes and Noble. LOL Not really but I can forsee it happening and telling the future is my specialty. LOL
I wanted to add to local charities to donate to.
Warm Babies Warm Hearts is out of Brighton Colorado. Their mission as stated on their web site:
"We are a group of kind-hearted volunteers that help to make life easier for Colorado's tiniest citizens. We sew, knit, crochet, and quilt for premature infants and babies in need. We donate to hospitals, crisis pregnancy centers, shelters, law enforcement agencies, foster care, WIC offices, and individuals across much of the state of Colorado. All of our gifts are donated free of charge and 100% of what we receive in donations goes to help the babies."
Warm The World
Another lovely organization out of Canon City Colorado. They accept donations of chidren's hats and scarves, soldier's hats and adult lap afghans
For more information on these two groups please visit their web sites.
www.warmbabieswarmhearts.org
www.warmtheworld.org
I have successfully gotten ahold of Molly, and she let me know that we should be okay to go for Monday night at A Knitted Peace at 6:30-7-ish to work on the Big Sock as a group. I have to clear things by Marsha, the store owner (I think) tomorrow morning, but they are having a class that night so we should be good to go. As far as when we will have to vacate, it should be later than they are usually open, but I'm sure they are not going to want to stay open 'til 11pm. We late-nighters may need to move to Barnes or even back to IHOP for the remainder of the night, but either way it will be an adventure. 
