Our little group not so little

Our Helen was back and without her crutches. Great she is feeling better. Although her daughter, Laura, is still unwell. We all send our best wishes Laura. Helen knitted the above scarf and finished it off on the night. The yarn is so pretty. Would wear this on a night out. She has finished her throw but has just to stitch it together.

How pretty is this jumper? Magdalena knitted this for her little girl. I love rainbow stripes in knitting and it looks lovely on this jumper. Magdalena was worried that her little girl will quickly grow out of it but I'm sure Adam will be wearing it in a few years.

Another lovely finish done on the night. This is the throw Elaine has been working on for her daughter. It will look lovely in a girls room. Plus the yarn is so soft and pretty.

Donna brought along her cross stitch all finished and framed. Looks so pretty in its frame. This is going to a friend of Donna's who is expecting. Donna was next working on a cross stitch bookmark.

Our little group has grown quite a bit over the last month. We have had maybe five or six new members who seem to be coming regularly. I thought it was time to add some group photo's. The above photo doesn't really show how large our group is since we were missing five members but we still were struggling for space in our little corner.

The last photo shows how much we help each other out. Donna and Roberta are helping out Dawn Marie with her blanket. Help like this happens on a regular basis. There is always someone there who can give a hand when stuck. We have a couple of members who started coming along because they needed a help with a project or wanted to learn something new. It's nice to see and a shame I don't get to photograph it very often.

No Show

Sorry I was unable to make it along on Tuesday. I hope that everyone had a great evening.

I have still been busy as I made a start on my autumn challenge this week. I am hoping that it will be something everyone will enjoy. I am looking forward to seeing if anyone else has started theirs. I know that both Margaret and Donna have.

I also set up a facebook page for our group. If you are on facebook please become a fan. I have saved a lot of our photo's on there already. I hope to announce events and what we are up to on a regular basis. It's ideal for anyone who is thinking about coming along to the group or for those who can only make it occassionally. It's also a good way of looking at our photo's which I am slowly but surely loading onto it. Remember you can also find us on twitter (http://twitter.com/GFStitchNBitch). Looks like I will have to update our business cards soon.

Going to leave you now with something that amused me. I call it 'taking granny squares to the extreme'.

Pretty!

Lots of pretty finishes this week. First of all here we have June who is showing the lovely necklace she commissioned Aileen to make for her. It went very well with what June was wearing at the time which was a nice touch. Aileen has also finished a pair of socks which you can see over at the Glasgow Central blog (link is at the right hand side). She is now working on another pair of socks. June had brought a little cat cross stitch to work on.

Margaret is showing off her pink jacket which she finished a while back but was just able to bring it in to show. It knitted up lovely in double moss stitch. She spent the evening working on her top using blue happy wool. This is her Tuesday evening project. At home she has been spending her time working on her autumn challenge which is almost finished.

This is Allison's third week at the stitching group. She had been stitching the above lovely cross stitch which she finished on the night it was photographed. I was told to photograph it while I can as her mum steels all of her finished cross stitch pieces. She then moved on to another piece of cross stitch.

Another fairly busy evening. Our little group is not so little anymore. We were missing a few people but you wouldn't know it from looking at numbers. Isabel and Val are both in the States. Isabel is currently visiting with her grand kids. Val is visiting her brother and going to a few quilting events. I am sure she will come back with lots of stories. Poor Helen has twisted her knee so was unable to come along. Louise of course is with her new born. Although she has promised to come back once settled.

I can now officially announce our birthday plans. We are hoping to go on a knitting weekend retreat. We will be going to Gartmore House which provides groups with a large room to work in. It's also on some lovely grounds should people decide to need a break and take a walk. The dates we are hoping to book are 8-9th May or the 15-16th May. I will need to know as soon as possible which dates are best for people so that we don't lose the opportunity. If you haven't already done so please pass your slips on to me. If you don't have one then let myself or Ginnie know.

Just a reminder of our autumn challenge. I know that a number of people have started already (unfortunately I am not one of those). A couple are even close to finishing. Show date is Tuesday November 10th. Looking forward to seeing how everyone interprets celebration.

Winter Is On It's Way

Lots of warm project finishes this week. First of all we have two baby blankets by Roberta. The top one was done in crochet using a lovely marbled, purple yarn. The second blanket was knitted with self striping yarn and has been backed up by a lovely pink fabric. Roberta was also working on a baby cardigan.

The above two projects were done by Elaine. The first Elaine is showing off her lovely water bottle covers. These were done using soft, fluffy yarn. The second is a set of baby toys she knitted up. They even jingle. Elaine made a similar set for Louise and sells both of the above at craft shows. Elaine was working on panels for her daughters throw in purple and pink. The yarn she is using is similar to that she used to make the water bottle covers.

Last but not least we have our sock lady Ginnie. In the first photo she is showing a through she made for her bed. It was knitted up using 12 different yarns at the same time. Believe it or not she knitted this in one afternoon. This gives us even more evidence that Ginnie knits things other than socks. The second photo is of a pair of socks she knitted for herself (she has finally finished all those orders). Sitting next to the socks is the yarn she used. It comes in knitted squares and you allow it to unravel as you knit with it. Ginnie was on another pair of socks or herself (she's ran out of her own hand knitted socks as she has been too busy making them for others).

Also that night we had Linda working on a lovely white scarf. Joyce was knitting a purple top. Donna was crocheting her lovely lemon baby blanket. Julia was working also working on a baby blanket. Dawn Marie was working on a throw using unusual multi coloured yarn whilst being helped by Gillian. Gillian was working on her stripey baby set. Monika was working on her bag for life. Magdalena had picked up a stripey jumper she had started for her daughter a while back. Val was working on her Japanese squares. Janette was working on her fleece quilt. Margaret was working on her top. June was on her cross stitch. Allison was a pretty floral cross stitch. Helen was working on a throw. Carol was sewing together her Japanese squares (I can't wait to get a picture of that one). Sheena was working on a Christmas Cross stitch and Aileen was working on a country companions cross stitch. As you can see lots of warm projects in preparation for winter.

We announced our birthday plans. Our second birthday is a while away but we plan on going on a knitting retreat to celebrate. Should be good fun and we have a big thank you to Ginnie who did all the research and planning. I'll post the information for this tomorrow. I will ask that everyone has their confirmation slips with them tomorrow.

Val - August Member of the Month

1. Tell us a little about yourself.

I'm retired. I was a social worker and a mental health officer for 20 years. I currently live with my daughter Janette. I was a mature student and went into social work. I worked in childcare then mental health. I loved it but I was relieved when I retired. I retired 3 years ago due to health. Now I am fighting fit and enjoying my retirement.

2. Where did you learn to sew?

I have been sewing for as long as I can remember. I watched my aunt who was a dressmaker. My mum knitted but wouldn't teach me. I wanted to go to needlework college but my mum said I had to go to a clean college so I learned to become a secretary.

3. What project are you proudest of?

That's a difficult question as I made both Janette's and my own wedding dress. I would say I am proudest of my underground railroad quilt. It's my first largest completed quilt.

4. What was your biggest disaster?

When I was 14 I knitted a lovely banana coloured, honeycomb jacket. It was beautiful. However, I washed it and when it was done it dropped to my knees.

5. What other crafts do you do?

I am a flower arranger and have been a national competition winner. I was also a demonstrator. I also enjoy painting and cross stitching.

6. Some of your favourites;

Favourite material - batik's - it's so variable and the fabric is nice

Favourite product - free motion foot - it allows you to stitch by moving the fabric rather than be quilted. It allows you to write or draw with stitches (railroad quilt was done this way).

Favourite designer - Eleanor Burns - she teaches quilt in a day and has a no nonsense approach

Favourite colours - turquoise, blues and greens - muted but shiny sea colours.

Favourite Store - Bramble Patch

Favourite craft book - I can't remember what it's called but Philipa Naylor has just brought out a beautiful book on quilting. She's an English quilter who's work is perfection.

7. Your ideal project/ future goal?

To improve on what I'm doing.

8. What do you like to listen to or watch whilst stitching?

Russel Watson or classical music

9. What would your advice be to other stitchers?

Have a go and experiment. Until you have a go you don't know. I wasn't actually into quilting at first. Janette had brought back lots of lovely fabric from New Zealand which she said she was going to use for quilting but had yet to learn. The idea of cutting up perfectly good fabric just to sew it back up again seemed wrong to me. Our local group was having a beginners class and I suggested to Janette to sign up. She said that she didn't want to go on her own and had hoped that it would be something we could do together. I said that I would go for one or two and now I am more addicted than she is.

10. What's your favourite non craft book?

I love Patricia Cornwall. My favourite book though is Jane Eyre. I've read it many times. When I went back to university I had to take a course which involved studying the book. I was worried that it would put me off but instead I love it all the more.

Lots of New Members

We had four new members last week. First of all we had two sisters Aileen and Sheena. They are both cross stitchers and had brought along their stitching projects. Both are also planning their weddings. Sheena did the above project which she brought along for us to see. The detail in it is amazing and the stitching is beautifully neat. We also had Allison who is also a stitcher. She is a friend of Joyce and Roberta's and had brought along a stitching project of her own to work on. Last but not least we had Dawn Marie who is a knitter. She is a beginner to intermediate and plans to do some baby knitting to get back into it again.

It has been Gillian's month for finishes and she brought along the above two projects to show us. She finished the stripey baby set she had been working on. The colours really go well together. She is in working on a second set which someone requested after seeing the above. The second photo is of some beading she recently finished. It only took her about an hour to do. Thanks to Aileen I think she is addicted.

Donna also finished the soft toys she had been working on. They are from a pattern in an issue of "Simply Knitting". They turned out really well and are so soft and cuddly. They are to be a gift for a friend who is expecting. Which is a shame as I had my eye on the caterpillar. On Tuesday she was working on a cross stitch project which she came across when going through her stash. She was having a tidy out and when she found it decided to pick it up again.

I apologise that this is so late. Will do better next time and will have more updates on everyones projects.