We had the opportunity today to be interviewed by Ralph Hipp of Channel 13 News here in Topeka. While I spoke to Mr. Hipp, three other members got to crochet in the background.

Nerves ran high in the beginning, especially for me since I knew I would do all of the talking, but when you’re as passionate about something as I am crochet and this group, you don’t let the nerves get the best of you. I couldn’t have done it without my three sidekicks who literally had my back. Thanks to Sue, Marilyn, and Kathy, my nerves were a little less intense knowing they were there. We had the chance to promote our group and the art of crochet to the community. Ralph was awesome and is still more than willing to help us promote this group and our charitable efforts. It was a fun experience–one I’m sure we’d all do again to support our cause. One I hope opens to us later as we get more established.

We also received some publicity through WIBW’s web site, when they posted this one the web after our interview was over:

Special thanks goes out to these guys, especially to Ralph, for allowing us this opportunity.

To see a few more pictures of this segment, please visit our gallery.

~Tracie

Crochet, Knit, and Stitch in Public Day was held on Saturday, June 14, from 11-3, and was hosted by our group. The idea for the event actually started as a knitting event called WWKIP, which stands for “World Wide Knit in Public”. In an effort to bring crochet together with other stitchers, we renamed the event to suit our needs. We were one of 785 events planned for this day.

Five of our members were there, and we were also joined by two members of the Knit Topeka group. We couldn’t have asked for better weather. The morning was cool and pleasant, and the event wrapped up before the heat of the day set in. Other than a couple of bugs here and there and the birds overhead, all was perfect. We did our stitching, ate our lunch, and talked about crochet and knitting.

We hope to repeat this event next year, and maybe by then, the turnout will be even greater.

Below is a picture of members Sue and Kathy:

And we were also blessed with the presence of the famous Happy Uterus, created by member, Jenn:

This lil’ guy…er, gal…made a cameo appearance in a magazine. It always seems to make people smile.

For a couple of other pics (I really didn’t take as many as I should have), you can visit our gallery: CKSIPD ‘08 Gage Park

There was a good turnout to our last meeting. We decided that for our Charity Crochet sessions, we’ll be crocheting 7×9 inch rectangles to make blankets, baby blankets, and lapghans for area charities which are in need of such items.

The concept for this comes from the Warm Up America Foundation, a place for information about making items to give to your own community. They have some very simple patterns for making the rectangles, as well as ideas for putting them all together and promoting the group.

Our meetings that take place on the third Sunday of each month will be set aside to work on these blankets. Everyone is encouraged to make rectangles, not just at the meetings, but also when they have time to spare.

If you would like to be part of this effort, please join us this Sunday, May 18, at the Topeka Shawnee County Library. You may also make rectangles at anytime between meetings and bring them with you, or mail rectangles to us if you can’t make the meetings. Just send an email to gethooked@topekacrochet.org with your intent & a response will be sent with a mailing address and other information that would be pertinent to the circumstance.

May 4 marks the next meeting. It’ll be a recap of the first meeting & a discussion of the decisions that were made. After the discussion, members can share finished objects or works in progress with the group, work on a project (so be sure to bring one!), and help choose a charity to start crocheting for at the next meeting. Too, we’ll get the form that will make us official with the CGOA filled out so I can get it mailed in as soon as possible.

This meeting will take place at the TSCPL from 1:30 – 3:30 in the Hughes Room 205.

Hope to see you there!

Sunday, April 20, 2008, from 1:30 – 3:30 at the Classic Bean in Fairlawn Plaza will mark the first meeting of this chapter.

Come with your ideas as to what you’d like to see in a crochet-related group in the Topeka area. Also, bring a project to work on if you wish. After the meeting, anyone who wants to stay and mingle in the public part of the restaurant can do so.