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!

Apologies!

I am so sorry. I really have no excuse for not updating. As it is I will split the last few weeks into two posts. Mainly because the photographs from last week are still on my camera which is at the bottom of my bag.

First of all we had the return of our Ginnie. Not only did she come back to us she was knitting something other than socks (actually she was knitting socks too). The first photo above is a lovely lace scarf she is knitting from the book Arctic Lace. Obviously inspired by her recent quilting cruise in Alaska. The yarn she is using is called qiviut which comes from the down of the musk ox. It is so lovely and soft and Ginnie is enjoying knitting with it. Very expensive too though. The second photo you can see her pinning down a quilt she is working on. She decided to make use of the extra space we have. Hopefully I will get a photo of it all finished.

The above three projects were completed by Roberta. She knitted a lovely cardigan for her granddaughter. In order to use up some white yarn she used it to knit the border and bands. Gives it a more striking look. She also crocheted these lovely blankets (just in time for the lovely weather we are having). She has also been working on another project as a favour to our Josephine. I have a photo of that too but will show it in the next post.

We also have Suzanna here with her very own cross stitch project. After weeks of helping Alison find her way in her own cross stitch Alison brought in a Winnie the Pooh design for Suzanna to try herself. You can see Alison here showing her how to read the chart.

Donna has been working on a lovely beaded scarf using kidsilk haze. In the meant time she has managed to finish this lovely flower broach.

Stephanie has also had a few finishes (most of which you will see on the next post). The lovely cardigan above was knitted by Stephanie although I don't think it has a new owner yet.

This beautiful card is an example of Dawn's other talents. She made this card as for me from herself and Donna. It's a thank you for the sock knitting lesson I gave. I can't believe the amount of detail that has went into the card and it's definitely getting pride of place. Dawn is currently working on a lovely cable scarf for a friend.

We also had some new crafts being tried out. Fiona and Lesley both picked up Christmas latch hook kits from Hobbycraft. You can see them trying it out for the first time.

Again I am sorry for the lack of updates. I do have more photo's to post for you which I will hopefully do soon.