Great Ideas!

As usual Norma has been very busy crafting. This week she had crocheted this delightful doll's pram set.

This is a scarf I made using some odds and ends from my stash for the Shoe Box Charity.

Margaret donated another scarf to our charity. This is in Crofter yarn.

This beautiful set of jewellery was created by Yvonne. She fell in love with these colours and put the whole thing together in an hour and thirty minutes. Yvonne is convinced that anyone could create jewellery to co-ordinate with any outfit.

Isabel has been working away like a beaver making scarves for the Shoe Box charity. I'm not sure how many lucky tickets she has collected so far but I am reliably informed that she is determined to win the prize for the most scarves donated to the charity. Remember, that everyone who donates a scarf will receive a lucky ticket for the prize draw.

A big CONGRATULATIONS to Magda who got married recently. She has been with us only a short time and after a brief lesson from Magda Sobula she knitted these mini capes for her two bridesmaids and the matching headbands.

Magda Sobula has an eye for the unusual. Can you believe that Magda was knitting a waterproof hat by recycling plastic shopping bags? This eco-warrior gave a brief explanation of the process and intrigued many of us. I hope that we can persuade Magda to give a full demonstration on the cutting process in  the near future.

Start collecting your plastic shopping bags of your choice. Most of mine are green. Where do you shop?

Bags of Fun!

Stephanie has had a busy week crafting. She managed to find time to make two scarves for the Shoe Box charity and.....

 
 
....had great fun working on this bag from a kit she bought at Purely Patchwork in Linlithgow a few weeks ago. The quilted effect was created by using shrink fabric which reacted to the heat of an iron. It was amazing to see this happening and Stephanie and I hope to demonstrate this process in a couple of weeks time.

Fiona has joined a sewing class in a local school and is learning how to use a sewing machine and develop her sewing skills through basic projects. I love the motif.

 

The white scarves were made by Roberta for the Shoe Box charity. Any wee girl would be delighted to get one of these.

Roberta also knitted these jumpers for an African charity.

As you can see Roberta has been really productive and made this lovely baby jacket in pink yarn which has a lovely sparkle.
















The Mini Mouse hat was created by Kathleen. She adapted the pattern she had for a beanie and ended up with cute hat.

Margaret has also been busy this week adding another two scarves to our charity. 

As you can see Karen has been busy doing a bauble scarf and here she is passing on her knowledge to Dawn.

Lynn finished this beautiful blanket and add the crochet flowers that  were included in one of our Gartmore classes.

Lynn would like to remind everyone that this is "World knit in public week." Everyone is invited to come along to Hobbycraft on Saturday between 11am and 1pm and join in. In the past members have supported this event and were made very welcome. So if you are free come along for a chat and bring your latest project.

On Saturday Stephanie and I went along to Hampden Park to support Alzheimer Scotland. Someone had the great idea to cover Hampden in quilts. As you can see many quilters contributed quilts to be sold in aid of this charity. The rest of the quilts would be given to altzeimer suffers. It was an amazing display of colour, skill and generousity.

And finally......... when we had a baby shower for Sheena I gave her an I.O.U. for a baby album. As you know Charlotte arrived and I put together a scrapbook  album to hold some of the photographs of Charlotte's first year. I know that Charlotte will keep Sheena and Simon busy. I just wonder if this album is big enough.

Norma - June Member of the Month

1. Tell us three things about you we might not know.

I am a qualified swimming teacher. I am a qualified hairdresser and I don't like exercise.

2. Who first taught you to knit?

Miss Thomson, my primary 5 teacher, first taught me to knit. She was a lovely woman.

3. What project are you most proud of?

My crochet blanket because I have just learned to do that.

4. What has been your biggest crafting disaster?

When the kids were young we tried to make paper mache pig which they would use as banks. I got them all excited at the idea of painting them. I hung them on the pulley to dry overnight. When we got up the next morning the balloons were still on the pulley but the mache had dropped down onto the floor.

5. What other crafts do you like to do?

I like knitting, crochet, cross stitch, card making and cake decorating.

6. Your list of favourites;

Favourite yarn - wools that are different
Favourite designs - anything with bright colours
Favourite colours - pinks, lilacs and cream
Favourite shop - hobbycraft and bargain wool
Favourite online shop - ebay

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

I would love to be able to crochet more than granny squares. Would like to crochet hats and things.

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

Paul Weller. I also like to watch cookery programmes.

9. Any words of wisdom to beginners out there?

Don't give up - just keep trying.

10. What craft would you like to learn next?

Different kinds of crochet such as Tunisian crochet.

Summertime!

Tuesday night was sweltering and I actually thought that our band of crafters would be busy soaking up some rays in their gardens. Luckily, the call of the knitting group was too strong and we had a good number of people there.

This is Isabel's pride and joy! She has mastered the bauble stitch and proudly showed it off to one and all. The yellow scarf was a combined effort by two of Isabel's patients. Isabel just added some finishing touches.  It looks great!

In this sweltering heat our attention was on the scarves for the Shoe Box appeal. I managed to hand in 3three scaves to Linda this week. That means I have three raffle tickets for the big prize draw at the end of the project. I used garter stitch in one, double moss stitch in the pale pink and Irish moss stitch in the middle scarf. .

Margaret finished a scarf in this Italian yarn she was given by a friend. Margaret found that the yarn was not pleasant to work with as the fibers were loose and got everywhere. She is in no hurry to work with this again.

This little rabbit was a big attraction that night. So cute! It was made by Alice who used Patons 4 ply cotton yarn from John Lewis.

Karen finished this lovely Hitch-hiker scarf for the shoe Box Appeal. Just my colour, the charity might be short of a scarf if I have my way!

Fraya was a real show stopper in this dress which she made herself for her school show, The Dracula Rock show. A star is born!

Now as you know, Fraya, is one of our talented junior members. She is always busy and on Tuesday evening she managed to commandeer a table for herself. Here she is hard at work preparing items for her next creation.

FLOWER POWER

Fran created this beautiful crocheted flower as a possible decoration to a bag.

This is June's second flower after her lesson at Gartmore.

This bonnie wee dress was created by our new member, Alice and is cotton yarn.

Margaret has been busy knitting baby sets for friends in work who are about to become grandparents for the first time.

Margaret has also been busy completing this red hot Dalek for herself. I think there is a family of Daleks residing in that household!

Stephanie modelled her latest creation for herself. This quick knit aran she adapted from a pattern. To make the jacket more individual she created the honeycomb design as part of the collar.

Isabel wanted to learn a new stitch in crochet and used the Shoe Box charity as an opportunity to master an unusual scarf pattern. Admittedly she found this challenging but rewarding.

Isabel was really taken with the Gartmore class that Laura taught - to crochet a bauble. She was determined to adapt her new found skill and has started a scarf for the Shoe Box appeal. Apparently, this stitch is addictive.