More Presents!

New member Fiona brought along more presents for Ellen. In the first photo you can see the diaper cake she made. Diaper cakes are a current trend in baby showers. This was the first I have actually seen one and it did look fantastic. Ellen was chuffed to bits with it. She also knitted a lovely reversible jumper and hat in cream.

Another new member, Alison finished this lovely pink baby cardigan. The pattern is lovely and several people have asked about it. It was finished on the evening and she moved straight on to an aron cardigan for Isabel.

Margaret also finished her Christmas crochet blanket. This was started during out weekend away when Donna taught us all to crochet squares. Donna will be so proud. She then moved onto another throw.

I also had two finishes. A pair of socks I knitted for myself and a hat also knitted for myself. The pattern and yarn for the hat came free with Lets Knit magazine. If any of you are thinking about knitting it please be on the look out for saving the yarn. I ran out five rows before the end and was only able to finish thanks to Margaret generously giving me her yarn. I spent the evening working on a pair of socks for my cousin.

As you know I always like to photograph when members help each other out. New member Isabel helped out our other Isabel (this can get confusing, lol). She needed to learn to crochet in a circle to finish a project. After Isabel's help it didn't take long for her to get going. Also Stephanie helped out Julia with a mistake in her jumper. Isabel spent the evening working on a blue aron which looks lovely but she's not enjoying. Isabel is knitting one of the charity boobs (only one brave enough to do so as yet). Julia is working on her pink top and Stephanie was working on school sweaters for her grandkids.

We also had Magdalena who was working on a lovely pink top for her daughter. Roberta was working on a cardigan for Alison. Monika finished off a last square for our charity. June who handed over yet more squares was working on a large crochet square blanket.

Watch this space for photo's of the entire square collection. I will be sending them on in the next week or so.

New Arrival!

I didn't think anyone would want me to wait for the normal blog post to announce this. Big welcome to our newest member Jan. He was born within 12 hours of our Magdalena leaving the knitting group last week. As you can see Magdalena was back on Tuesday with Jan and both looking fantastic. Congratulations Magdalena!

Ellen's baby shower!

For those of you who don't know Ellen runs the Starbucks we meet up in. She kindly gave us some space when we needed to find somewhere new. When we heard she was expecting we jumped at the chance to hold a baby shower for her. From Roberta she received a lovely baby cardigan.

Joyce knitted some lovely baby sets.

Margaret knitted a lovely hooded baby jacket.

Helen created a lovely baby album using her scrapbook skills.

Stephanie knitted a baby set and Ellen loved how soft the yarn felt.

Julia gave a lovely baby blanket.

From Linda Ellen received some lovely bath toys.

Elaine made her famous baby toys and hat and mitts set.

Of course Janette made her famous quilted dog which was named Toto.

From Magdalena she receive some very cute baby toys.

From Monika Ellen received baby toys and bibs.

There was also gifts from myself, Val, Aileen and Isabel but unfortunately the photographs of those were a little to dark. I think it was a safe bet that Ellen had a lovely time. She said to tell everyone just how chuffed she was with everyone's generosity.

Alpha Dog!

A while back Laura brought in some little squares she had been cross stitching. Janette saw them and offered to turn them into one of her quilted dogs. Liking the idea, Laura then stitched the rest of the alphabet and handed them over to Janette. On Tuesday night the finished dog was brought along. You can see him here. How cute is he? Janette spend the evening knitting a scarf.

We also had a couple of finishes from Magdalena. The first is a beautiful jumper and hat set for when the wee one arrives. The second is a lovely cardigan for her little girl. Both were knitted using cotton. She finished the cardigan that night and went onto knitting a shawl.

June handed in another 40 squares which means she has done 180 in total. The knit a square has been extended another week as she wants to round it up to 200 plus Monika wants to finish another one.

As we were at our busiest last night I took some group photo's which you can see below. I also couldn't resist taking this lovely photo of Helen and Monika. Helen was working on a pair of socks for her upcoming holiday to Australia. Monika was working on squares.

We have had 7 new members in the last few weeks. A big welcome to all. Fiona was the latest new member to come along. We even have our youngest, her daughter Heather, who is 4 and loves to watch people knitting. She brought her mum along and was working on some cross stitch.

Apologies as I don't remember what everyone was working on. This was due to the fact we also held a baby shower. This one was for Ellen who manages Starbucks and kindly gave us use of the space when we needed rehomed. I will post photo's of that soon. I do know that Val was knitting a lovely Spring cardigan. Joyce was also working on a cardigan. Helen was working on a pair of socks. Isabel was working on bunny egg covers. Margaret was working on a baby cardigan and I was working on some socks.

Lots more new members!

Josephine finished this lovely crochet set for her niece. She was in showing us the pattern only a couple of weeks ago and it's finished already.

Monika also made these lovely toys. She was commissioned by Joyce. The rest of the evening she spent working on squares for the knit-a-square charity.

Speaking of the charity, if you have any squares please get them to me soon. Our official charity knitting is finished for the year. As soon as I have all the squares I will do a tally, take some photo's and send them off. I'm afraid I'm not going to bring them all in for everyone to see as I have over 200. I also have next years charity lined up and there should be something for knitters, crocheters and stitchers to do if they want to take part. Our unofficial charity is the knitted breasts to for the NHS. If any one would like a copy of the pattern please let me know.

We have three new members and a possible fourth coming along next week. That makes six in total this month. Big welcome to Isabel, Ally and Caroline. Isabel was working on a blue cardigan, Ally was working on a lovely pink baby top and Caroline was working on Christmas decorations. As we are slowly running out of space we might have to find a new venue. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them.

Congrats to Donna who got married last Saturday and is currently travelling the US on her honeymoon. And it's Aileen's turn this Saturday. On Tuesday we also have a baby shower for Ellen.

More Celebrations

July seems to be a busy month. Amongst the group we have one baby due and a baby shower. We also have two Weddings to celebrate. Congratulations to Aileen and Donna who are both to be married this month. Donna's Wedding is this Saturday and Aileen is two weeks later. We are all wishing them the best (and looking forward to seeing those photo's).

How cute is this bunny egg cover? She was knitted by Dawn who fancied doing something quick but different. Dawn was working on her lovely baby blanket. I can't wait to photograph it when finished as the colours are gorgeous.

We also have another armful of bears. Isabel and her sisters knitted a total of 13 bears for Val. Unfortunately Isabel was reluctant to give them up and was saddened that she didn't have to knit more.

Monika made this beautiful guardian angel for Donna. Believe it or not the hair is made from curtain rope. The doll was much admired as so much detail has went into it.

We have some sad news too. At the end of the month Monika will be leaving us as she returns home. We didn't want her to leave empty handed and so made her a photo album filled with memories. If you haven't written you message inside don't worry there is plenty of time. I have promised Monika I will hang onto it until everyone gets the chance to do so.

Elaine is in Jamaica just now for her sisters wedding. She did manage to pass on a new possible charity for us since our knit-a-square ends next week. The reaction of Magdalena and Monika in this photo pretty much sums up the reaction of everyone else. She has suggested we knit boobs. These boobs are collected by the NHS who use them to teach breastfeeding. They can be knitted in any colour so long as two different colours used. Feeling withdrawal from the bears Isabel was the first to make a start. If anyone would like a copy of the pattern I will bring more along on Tuesday along with a crochet version.

Lastly a group photo. This is only a fraction of our group but thought I would post it anyway. I will try to get more in next week.

Between all the hilarity we also managed to say hello to another two new members. Isabel and Ally. A friend of theirs spotted us one night and mentioned our group to them. They decided it was a great idea as it would give them the chance to work on some of their knitting. Ally was working on a lovely blue matinee jacket and Isabel was working on a blue aran cardigan.

Val was working on her white on blue Japanese squares. Janette was working on a scarf. Linda was knitting a scarf for her shoe box charity. Aileen was working on her doorstop. Sheena was working on her cat cross stitch. Alison was also working on her cross stitch. Margaret was being taught to stitch together her crochet squares by Donna. Donna (between teaching) was working on a blue baby blanket. Joyce was working on another shawl for her daughters friend. Helen was working on a pair of socks.