Dolls and bears!

Stephanie has been working away on a doll for the last few weeks. She brought her in all finished this week. She has even made a box full of clothes for her. My personal favourite is the yellow jacket with the white bag and the little bear button.

Isabel finished her second cross stitch. She had intended to enter it into the challenge but it was too small. She says she didn't enjoy this cross stitch quite as much as the first one but is still going to keep going.

Josephine also had a finish. She crocheted this hooded jacket for her niece. The colours are lovely and she plans to set it off with a ribbon edging round the hood.

Just about everyone was working on squares on Tuesday. Probably easier since there was so much going on with the challenge. June brought in another 35. That's 70 in total she has handed in and has another 35 at home. I did mention that she could actually work on other things. Monika, Aileen, Janette, Val, Elaine and Roberta also handed ins some squares which makes Tuesdays total 48.

For those of you who wanted to know I have now collected 146 squares in the last few weeks. We sent away 48 a few weeks ago which brings our total to 194. Not bad going. The photo above is of the 148 all together.

Although most people were working on squares not everyone was. Ginnie, Helen and myself were knitting socks. In fact Donna was also knitting socks much to the delight of Ginnie. Alison was working on her cross stitch. Margaret was working on a baby jumper. Linda was working on a scarf for her charity. Which reminds me, remember if you have any shoe boxes you don't need to bring them in to Linda.


Most of you will have received and email with a plea from Val. Her church are going over to Africa to do some building. They are wanting to take 300 teddy bears with them. If anyone would like to knit a bear rather than square it would be much appreciated. The pattern is simple so that every child gets the same. Only changes you can make to it is the colours (although preferably not white). The deadline is the same as the squares, July. Even if you only knit one bear it would be greatly appreciated. I will add some links to the website and the pattern under here (there is even a crochet pattern). I'll also be bringing along a print out on Tuesday.

http://www.teddiesfortragedies.org.uk/

http://www.teddiesfortragedies.org.uk/teddypattern.pdf

http://www.teddiesfortragedies.org.uk/CrochetTeddy2010.pdf

Spring Challenge 2010 - My Favourite Things.

On Tuesday we had our second Spring challenge. The first challenge of the year and our third altogether. The theme for this one was Favourite Things which left it wide open to what people could do. This time though a new challenge was presented. It couldn't be larger than A4. This was due to our limited space but it also made it more interesting.


Ginnie did a quilted piece as quilting is one of her favourites. She used her cats Kitty and Billy as inspiration since they are also her favourites. The colouring of the cats exactly matches them.

Margaret put together a cross stitch sampler with a range of her favourite things and then framed it. She changed the colours of the charts to fit in with the theme. As you can see her favourite colour is red. She also changed the colouring of the women in the charts to look like her.

I made a book bag as books are my favourites. I then hand embroidered a scene which reminds me of one of my favourite books as a child, The Secret Garden. Within that I added in other favourites; dragons, fairy tales, owls, blue, poppies, bluebells and buttons.

Elaine loves baking and so made a cake as her entry. She also loves cake decorating, coming along to stitch n bitch and embroidered flowers which is why she decorated the cake this way. I have to say the group also loved it as they got to eat it later (and it does taste as good as it looks).

Alison stitched a lovely sunflower scene. Her favourites include cross stitch and sunflowers.


Roberta also did some cross stitch for her entry. Cross stitch is one of her favourites and if you remember back to her interview she would love to challenge herself with some more cross stitch. She also loves oriental designs.

Helens entry showed her love of scrapbooking, cardmaking and paper crafts in general. She created this lovely folder which held a whole range of her facourites.

A little mini scrap book filled with her favourite photographs.

Her favourite music.

A lovely cupcake hard which contains her favourite cake recipe.


A holder for her favourite bookmark which was made by Laura.

And last but not least a mini scrapbook with photo's from our group and her finished creations.

Donna did a cross stitch sampler which showed her favourite things. She also knitted and crocheted then attached the pieces too it to show examples of her favourite things.

Ginnie's friend, Joyce, came along again to judge. She says its one of the more stressful thing she does, coming along and having to chose but enjoys seeing all the entries.

Aunty who is over for a visit kindly stepped in as our second judge. I bet when she arrived she didn't know we would put her to work this time.



Elaine's beautiful cake won for the original entry. Everyone agreed that the flowers looked like actual embroidery. So pretty it was such a shame to cut it. The guilt though only lasted for as long as it took to taste it.

Helen won for the adapted entry. All those lovely little pieces inside that folder and so much work too. Everyone loved looking through them.


Joyce kindly brought along a bottle of champagne as a runner up prize (Elaine and Helen were awarded £25 of Hobbycraft vouchers). This was awarded to Margaret for her cross stitch sampler. I don't know if any of you remember but Margaret won the first challenge we had also for cross stitch.

Due to how close it was to our weekend away I think a lot of people forgot that it was challenge night. I know I almost did. There weren't quite as many entries as last time. However there was still that wide range of talent we have had with the last three. With luck we will have more people join in our Autumn challenge. It did though attract the attention of other customers in the store and as a result we may have another new member along next week.

Heirlooms

One of thing the group loves is seeing what family members have created and passed down. The above table cloth was embroidered by Roberta's aunt. The very aunt who taught her to knit. In the close up of the centre piece you can see the intricate detail and the different types of stitches used. Believe it or not if it wasn't for the writing this would be reversible. The stitching is that perfect. The edging is done in lace crochet which was also done by Roberta's aunt.

Roberta also brought a long a few finishes of her own. There are eleven scarves there in total. A friend commissioned her to do them so that she can give them away as gifts. Roberta was actually working on a twelfth scarf as there is one amongst those she is considering keeping for herself. I asked her if she was loathe to knit another scarf again. Surprisingly she said she actually enjoyed it and is considering becoming the scarf lady much like Ginnie being the sock lady. The cross stitch design was also done by Roberta. So pretty and framed by a friend. She brought it along to prove that she can do cross stitch.

Elaine also had a few finishes for us. She finished the lovely wrap she had been working on. Her sister is getting married in Jamaica in the summer and she knitted this especially for the occasion. Unfortunately the camera didn't pick up on the swarovski crystal beads she stitched to the edging. Trust me, they really do set it off. The tassels also have beading. Elaine also finished another crochet square for the charity and set to work on another.

Linda brought along the sets of juggling balls she had been knitting over the last few weeks and over the weekend away. The bag on her lap is filled with them. Whilst I was able to get a picture of her posing with them she said no to actually juggling them. I don't know if you can see the book next to her in the photo. It's 100 flowers to knit and crochet loaned to her from Ginnie. She is hoping to make some more things to attach to her bra during the moonlight walk in June. If anyone would like to make something for her to wear she will gladly accept it. Linda then spent the evening working on crochet squares for our knit a square charity and also finished one before we left.

Despite a few people unable to make it along due to holidays it was a fairly loud evening. Everyone was excited to talk about the weekend away. Lots of us were practising the crafts they had been taught at the weekend. I was working on a granny square blanket and had brought along a toe up sock to get some advice from Ginnie. Margaret, Linda, Elaine, Aileen and Sheena were all practising their crochet squares. Although Donna wasn't there I do know that she has since started working on a pair of socks for herself.

Other projects on the go were squares for charity by June, Isabel, Ada and Monika. Magdalena was working on a shrug for her daughter. Ginnie was working on a pair of socks in lovely spring colours for herself. Julia was working on her pink top. Stephanie was working on a doll with a little help from Ada. She has already knitted up it's clothes and just needs to put the doll together. Helen was also working on a pair of socks in some lovely self striping yarn. Laura was working on her crochet blanket.

This week will be another busy week as it's our Spring challenge. Our second Spring challenge since we started and our third challenge altogether. This year the theme is favourite things and due to our limited space shouldn't be any bigger than A4. Looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with.

Roberta - May Member of the Month

1. Tell us a little about yourself.

I am married and have three children. I also have three grand children and one great grand daughter.

2. How did you learn to knit?

My aunt was a great knitter and had great patience. She taught me to knit and tried to teach me to crochet (I could only do straight lines). I was about 10.

3. What has been your proudest achievement?

Today (at Gartmore) knitting a sock and crocheting a square. I also love Jigsaws and very proudly finished one at 2000 pieces.

4. What was your biggest disaster?

A jacket (similar to the one Janette did) which was knitted with four balls of wool at the same time. Every time I wear it it gets bigger and bigger. Now I wear it as a dressing gown.

5. What other crafts do you do?

I do cross stitch, baking and I make rugs.

6. List of Favourites.

Favourite yarns - Just double knit

Favourite tool - straight knitting needles as I bend mine. When I was at work I used to get the guys to straighten them in the vice.

Favourite patterns - I like the wool that does that for you.

Favourite store - a shop on Argyle st near the Barras. Murry Market.

Favourite colours - Red. I like bright colours as I grew up with browns, blues and greens.

Favourite craft book - At the moment it's Hooked On Crochet.

7. What would you like to achieve in the future?

I have a Celtic Christmas cross stitch kit I would love to be able to do.

8. What do you like to listen to whilst knitting?

I like a mixture of music. Nice music.

9. Any tips for other knitters?

Just patience. Don't be put off by something.

10. Favourite non craft book?

I like Harry Potter which I am reading just now. I also like Agatha Christie. I used to like romance books by Emma Blair and then found out it was actually a man writing them. Put me off a bit.

A Wee Reminder

Just wondered if anyone has realised it's the Spring challenge this Tuesday. Or are you like me and thought it we had another week? Guess what I will be starting today.

Plea from Linda

As you all know Linda knits regularly for a charity. The knitted items are placed into shoe boxes and passed on to those in need. Linda has asked that if anyone has any spare shoe boxes would they mind bringing them in to her. They would be very much appreciated.

Our Stitch 'N' Bitch Weekend: Part Four

I promise this is the last part to our Weekend away. Roberta's member of the month interview will be posted tomorrow which was taken during the weekend. But that's it. With this last part I just wanted to prove that we did in fact leave the building at points during those two days. It wasn't all sitting about and knitting and eating. Look how pretty the building is and all of this area was filled with rabbits. Which we of course found fascinating since most of us rarely step outside the city of Glasgow.

On the first night Helen, Laura, Margaret and myself took a short walk round the grounds. We ended up near a field of cows which then tried to stare us out. This of course amused us no end and we must have stood there twenty minutes laughing.

After a very large breakfast on the Sunday Margaret, Elaine, Linda and myself decided to walk some of it off. The walk through the trees was lovely (if you ignore the midgies).

Helen and Magdalena were out enjoying the view. I just missed snapping a photo of June who had that minute walked round the corner of the building.

Roberta and Alison also heading out for a walk after breakfast.

Aileen here was the only one to take complete advantage of the sunshine. It didn't occur to the rest of us to take out our projects into the sun. All in all it was a fantastic weekend. A beautiful area, lovely weather, lovely staff, lots of project time, fantastic classes from Ginnie and Donna and of course not forgetting Ginnie organising all of this for us. Who's up for next year?