Collaboration!

An actual early post for once. Or is that on time? There is a reason for that. As we celebrate our fifth year running next week I thought I would do some nostalgia posts. Have a few ideas up my sleeve so look out for that.

Meanwhile everyone is still working away. I don't think I have mentioned Yvonne here yet. She joined the group just before Christmas. She's primarily a knitter but brought this beautiful cross stitch along on Tuesday. It has a lovely story to it too. Yvonne's mother in law used this piece to teach her to stitch. Then her mother in law moved to New Zealand. Rather than give up it has been travelling back and forth between visits. When the can't visit it travels by post. It's really a collaboration between the two and I think it's a fantastic idea. Gives more meaning behind the work.

How lovely does our Helen look here? Practically outshines her beautiful knitting. After knitting an aran cardigan for Laura she decided to knit one for herself. Quite right too. This looks lovely on and so cosy. I love the lattice work on the bands.

Lyn has been claiming for a while now that she can't sew. Izzi on the other hand will tell everyone that anyone can sew, it's just a case of learning. Izzi has been giving demo's at Hobbycraft and whilst there she took the opportunity to help out Lyn and Fee. This gorgeous drawstring bag and make-up bag are the result. I love the colours. Now Lyne can no longer claim she can't sew. We have seen the evidence! Fee also finished a bag but she forgot to bring it along.

Anthea has been struggling a bit with her blanket. Not with the stitches. She says the stitches in this aran crochet are relatively easy. It's the monotony of one colour (if you have seen her previous finishes you will know she likes her stripes). To cheer her on I took a photo of her progress. It's looking fab and is just past the halfway mark.

Almost every week Helen and I discuss how wonderful it is that everyone in the group shares ideas. Here is another example of that. Fiona T had mentioned to Magdalena the idea of creating a sampler using small crochet squares. The idea is that you use the colours you would like for a blanket and see how they fit in. This is exactly what Magdalena has done. She says she has just one more colour to pick out. It looks so lovely too. Magda says that when she is finished this might become a blanket for a soft toy she has on her shelf. It would be a shame to let the little squares go to waste.

As most of you will know, Donna has been working on the Cath Kidston rag doll for little Abigail. The doll itself (which a few cruel people have named Bob - not telling why) is just about finished. She's also finished one of the dresses. I love the fabric. It looks so small and delicate. Not sure I could stitch anything that tiny but Donna has done an amazing job.

You can sort of see Donna and her project here. She's brought her sewing machine along so that she can get some more of it finished.

Izzi's bag lessons were also ongoing. After Fee's sewing lesson a few weeks ago she decided that she wanted to make a bag too. You can see her in the first photo preparing her fabric. Lyn has done that part and here she is cutting out her handles.

Lots of exciting things planned for next week so expect lots of posts as well as my nostalgia pieces. On Tuesday we will be having our challenge, swap night and some goodies to munch on. On Saturday we will be having our Gartmore at home day and then a number of us are heading out to Frankie & Bennies to celebrate. Should be good fun!