Our family relocated to Issaquah Highlands from Adelaide, Australia, for my husband’s job in 2007. We built a house right next door to his brother, sister-in-law and their children.
Our daughter Nicole has grown up with her cousins and they’ve all attended school together at Grand Ridge Elementary, Pacific Cascade Middle School and Issaquah High School. Nicole is currently attending Gonzaga University in Spokane alongside her cousin Mia. I happy to say that both girls are avid knitters and my daughter also crochets.
I started the Issaquah Highlands Yarns & Threads Group after someone posted a question to the community Facebook page about where they could learn to knit. At the time, we didn’t have a local yarn store nearby, so our group was started by word of mouth and posting to social media.
It really was as simple as that to start our group. From there, I worked with Highlands Council to find a time in the Blakely Hall schedule that would suit our group.
We started with once a week, and now have expanded to meet on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon. We meet at Blakely Hall on Wednesdays from September to June. In July and August, we meet on the back patio of 55 Sunset Café (near the Issaquah Library).
On Fridays throughout the school year, we meet virtually via Zoom three times per month and then in-person on the fourth Friday. This summer, we will alternate every other week in July and August between Zoom and in-person meetings under the pergola at Kirk Park.
Through the pandemic, our group continued to meet weekly via Zoom for about two years. Just last summer, we started to meet in-person again. However, we kept our virtual meetings on Fridays to cater for those in our group still hesitant to meet indoors. Outside of our meetings, we also enjoy taking road trips together to different yarn stores in the Pacific Northwest.
Find more information about Yarns and Threads Group on the Issaquah Highlands calendar. Please contact me to be added to our email list and Facebook page.
We invite all stitchers to join our group—whether you knit, crochet, felt, sew, embroider or craft—so long as your project is portable. We share ideas, skills and expertise. If you don’t know how to knit or crochet, then we suggest taking a class down at the Nifty Knitter in Gilman Village as they can give you the basics.
Cathie is a Grand Ridge Drive resident.
Are you inspired to get involved in the Issaquah Highlands community?
Opportunities are available!
Click here to discover all the different ways you can get involved in our Issaquah Highlands community, including opportunities to join boards and committees, as well as urgent needs at local nonprofits.
Questions? Contact Lindsey Pinkston, Highlands Council Executive Director.
