Merry Christmas!!!!!

After two weeks of horrible weather we were beginning to think our Christmas break would be longer than usual. Thankfully it cleared up enough for us to have our planned Christmas party. First of all though I have a lot of finishes to show you as the cold weather has encouraged us to stay in doors and keep busy. Back in May we had our first swap night. Sheena picked up a lovely cross stitch kit and has not only finished it but has also framed it. You can see how fitting it is as the cats look out at the lovely snow scene. Silver thread has added a touch of glitter to it.

Donna has used her crochet skills to make this lovely Christmas stocking (as modelled by Moira). I wonder how many of us would have wanted that as their stocking. Not only is it very pretty but it would also hold a lot of presents!

As you can see the snow has kept Val very busy. She has finished two beautiful quilts and a table runner. The first is a daisy quilt. You can see the daisy pattern in the close up. This is going to be a wall hanging (I think it may also be my favourite as I love daisies). The second is her beautiful Christmas table runner. Helen and I both admired her fabric choices. All of which were festive and went well together. We couldn't decide which of the fabrics was our favourite. Lastly she finished a stunning musical quilt. This is going to a charity raffle. I can't imagine anyone who wouldn't want to buy a ticket in order to win it.

Janette has also been busy. She finished two quilted dogs. The first one is in bold red, black and white musical fabric. This is going to be for charity. The second is a little different from her usual. It's done in tweed fabric. Very different to the other quilted dogs but no less lovely. The last is again done in tweed but this time quilted ducks. These ducks are actually filled with sand are to be door stops.

Roberta finished knitting this lovely baby cardigan for her granddaughter. She used a striping yarn which had a lovely effect on the jumper. Roberta herself is unsure of it's turn out but the rest of us admired it.

Last but certainly not least of our finishes are the dolls. Yes the dolls are back. Stephanie had ordered some more of these little dolls and has already knitted up their little outfits. Everyone is completely enamoured by them and I can see us coming back to more after Christmas.

Our party came later. We had Christmas music playing in the back ground. We had Christmas cracker and of course we all put on our Christmas hats. And as you can see from Adam we also had mince pies. This is the first year we have had the space to do something like this and so we were all very excited about it.





We also had a secret santa style game which Helen suggested months ago. The idea was that everyone gets an unwanted gift or unused item from their home, wrap it up and bring it in. I then put names in a bag and with the help of my glamorous assistant (Suzanna) called them out. Each person came down one at a time, picked a gift and opened it. You could choose to keep the gift or swap with anyone who has went before you. Poor Val got to go first which meant she had no one to swap with. Luckily she liked her gift and got to keep it too. I was actually surprised that more people chose not to swap. We did have a couple though. Helen who had threatened to swap with someone got a beautiful bag which she decided to keep. Stephanie was next and got some lovely leather gloves. She decided thought that the bag would go better with her jacket and so swapped. The only other swap was Moira and Isabel. Moira received designer toilet paper. Isabel was a little jealous and so Moira swapped with her. Now Isabel is chuffed to bits as she can tell everyone she has designer loo roll.

It was a great night and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Our bakers even brought along some treats for us. Aileen had made some chocolate covered dates with a nut centre. It proved to be a favourite amongst the non-mince pie people. Magdalena also treated us to some traditional Polish Christmas cake. As you can see it was quickly devoured by the group.

Hopefully we can do this again next year. Maybe have to think up a different game. Any ideas?

In the meant time I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year. We will be back on 4th January. Hope to see you there.

Almost forgot, there were several more photo's but obviously I didn't want to completely over run the blog post. You can see the rest of our Christmas photo's on our facebook page.

Multi-talented!

Like her mum, our youngest knitter is very talented. Zuzanna also does Irish dancing and has won lots of awards. Magdalena decided that she would make her next Irish dancing dress. You can see from the photo's just how much detail went into it, front and back. The white detail on the purple top was hand embroidered. Magdalena's next sewing project is to make herself a coat.

Margaret has also been busy stitching away. A very different kind of stitching mind you. She has just finished a Christmas cross stitch for herself and some Christmas cards.

Still on the Christmas theme Helen made these lovely personalised cards for Stephanie. Very unusual in the way they stand up and definitely a keepsake as they have each of Stephanie's grandchildren's names on them.

Dawn also had a finish. She knitted these fingerless gloves for her friends Christmas. These ones were don't without DPNs and match the hat she knitted not so long ago.

Dawn was asked to make a blanket for a friend. As she didn't have time her mum, Moira, offered to do it instead. Here it is all finished. I love the edging which was admired by others too.

Another Christmas related finish. I managed to finish a shawl for my gran. Was quickly back onto knitting socks that night.

Last but not least we have a finish from Josephine. She crocheted this lovely cardigan for her niece. The buttons were attached that very night.

This is Helen trading in another one of her vouchers. Val had offered to teach her to quilt. She has had a few lessons but both decided to take advantage of the space to add the other layers. She is quilting a lovely Christmas table runner. Can't wait to see it finished!

Our last day is on the 14th December and we will be having our first small Christmas party to celebrate. Also next wee (7th) Carol has offered to give her Japanese quilting demo (demo rather than a class due to time constraints). Knitting group contributions will be going to her hospice charity as a thank you.

Dawn - November 2010 MOTM

1. Tell us a little about yourself.

I just turned 40 this year and I live with my partner Alex (note - her first answer to this could not be printed here ;))

2. How did you learn to knit?

My granny taught me to knit a long time ago. I have always wanted to improve though as I was always knitting scarves. I wanted to move beyond it.

3. What is your biggest success?

The bear cross stitch. It was massive and I thought I was never going to finish it. Also my baby sock which I was taught to do a few weeks ago.

4. What is your biggest disaster?

I started a pair of gloves last week. I am new to using DPNs and it didn't go well. I will not be beaten though. I will triumph over DPNs eventually.

5. What other crafts do you do?

I do cross stitch, card making, crochet and a bit of beading.

6. Your list of favourites.

Favourite yarn - noro (for the colour). I love good quality such as cotton, Rowan and Cashmere.

Favourite tool/product- my knitpro circular needles. Anything Cath Kidston

Favourite designers - Louisa Harding and Debbie Bliss

Favourite shop - hobbycraft

Favourite online - Sir stampalot, Great British yarns and Black Sheep.

Favourite colours - red, purple

Favourite craft book - dummies guide to knitting

7. What is your ideal goal?

I would like to knit a pair of socks. I know it would be expensive but I would love to do a warp all in a cashmere/silk mix yarn.

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

I listen to the radio, especially radio 2. I like Amy Winehouse, Biffy Clyro, Pearl Jam and Led Zepplin. I like my rock music.

9. What tip do you have for other knitters/crafters?

Read blogs because they give better advice on tools. These are crafters who have actually used the products so you get an unbiased point of view. They also share their mistakes so that others can learn from them. Not only that they are also inspiring.

10. What is your favourite non-craft book?

I like Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, biographies, Anne Rice, Terry Pratchett and many, many, many, many, many, many more.

For those of you who don't know Dawn has her own blog. You can see it here on 3 Sneezes and a Magpie.

Christmas plans!

It was Magdalena's birthday on Tuesday (and also Adam's who is now 2) and yet it was Magdalena who made us cake. She baked this lovely sticky, toffee pudding using a recipe she got from the BBC. And yes, it tasted as good as it looked.

She also finished this lovely cable hat which Suzanna is modelling. I have to admit that I love cables! That evening Magdalena was working on her shawl/scarf which she was just finishing off as we left (so hopefully we will have another finish photo from Magdalena).

Roberta knitted this lovely baby jacket. No matter what angle I took the photo from the camera wouldn't pick up the sparkles. So if you didn't see it in person you will have to take my word for it that this lovely jacket was covered in sparkles. Perfect for Christmas.

Last week I mentioned that Isabel and Caroline went to San Francisco. It was actually Allison and Caroline. Although maybe Isabel got to be there in spirit as Caroline brought back fabric which Isabel used to make her this lovely knitting bag.

We have our Christmas plans all set. We are finishing up on the 14th December and coming back on the 4th January. A two week break rather than a full month. We are also going to have our very first little Christmas party. There will be mince meat pies, juice, music and Christmas crackers.

Even hardened criminals like a bit of crochet

I am afraid there were no photo's of finishes last week (despite my good intentions of keeping up to date with the blog). I do have a photo to share which was sent to me by Caroline. Herself and Isabel went to San Francisco this summer. Whilst there they took the famous Alcatraz tour (if you ever go I recommend the night tour). Some of the cells were made up in the way that they would have been whilst the prison was in use. With their eagle eyes they spotted this crochet blanket and of course took a photo to show us all.

Just wanted to let you know that we will keep going for as long as possible. I have emailed the management suite and I am thinking that we stop on the 14th. That gives us almost a two week break.

And we are up to date!

Two blog posts in a row! Wonders will never cease. More importantly look at this lovely cake. Elaine was commissioned to make this for Isabel. So lovely! Elaine has been very busy with her cake decorating of late and has been bringing some of her beading along to work on during the group.

We have also had another swap night. This is actually only a small fraction of what was brought along. Even this didn't last long. I think most people managed to come away with something. There were even some fiction books. Anything left behind was taken to the charity shop Roberta helps out in.

As you can see swap night was a busy night and we were still missing a few people.

These cute dolls were dressed by Stephanie. She knitted their little outfits from patterns especially for the dolls. She was going to give them away but after some encouragement from the rest of us she has decided to hang on to them. I have a feeling that a few others will be ordering these dolls and knitting their little outfits.

This is the shawl Roberta has been working on for Josephine. A friend of Josephine's had started it and was unable to finish. Roberta kindly offered to do so and it was finished Tuesday there.

Sorry again for the delay in posts but that's us all caught up now!