Gartmore at Home Day/5th Anniversary Celebrations

So Saturday was our last day of celebrations. Well not completely the last, we still have Gartmore to look forward to. Saturday we had one of our Gartmore at Home days. This time there was only Izzi continuing the bag lessons. This meant that people could relax and get on with their own projects. It was a good day and there were a lot of laughs. This all began with Stephanie who had commandeered a trolley to carry all her supplies.

Donna continued to work on a dolls dress for the rag doll. Whilst Stephanie worked on her knitting bag.

Izzi moved on to teaching everyone to add pockets to the bags.

We also had a surprise visitor. Sheena and baby Charlotte appeared at the door which gave everyone the excuse to down tools.

Isabel was of course back on baby sitting duty. However it took her a while to realise that Charlotte was awake so a few others got cuddles first.

Fran had brought along some crochet that her gran had started but with no pattern. Crochet experts were brought in to help.

Alison brought a new project. She is now working on some chunky cross stitch. It will make the cover of a cushion.

Aileen kindly did some baking and brought along some delicious banana loaf.

The first of the bags were also finished. These were by people who aren't going to Gartmore but still wanted to make a bag. This first one was finished by Janice.

You can see all the pockets on the inside which makes the bag ideal for knitting projects.

Stephanie finished hers next. Her material had more of a sheen to it rather than the canvas style fabric the others were using.

In the space of the day I also got my very own knitting bag. Thanks to Izzi, Janice and Stephanie. They hid the fact that it was for me well. I had even threatened to pinch the fabric when Izzi first showed it to us. I love it!

We also had some finishes. Caroline has been showing off her beginner sewing skills again. Doesn't look like a beginner to me. She made this little zipped bag to hold her crochet hooks and knitting gadgets. She even managed to get her initials on there.

These zipped bags were made by Izzi for Lyn and Fee to make up for teaching them an awkward way to add zips. I love the monkey fabric.

Margaret finished this during the day. This is a lovely hooded cardigan she knitted for some friends who have just become grandparents.

Alison finished the train cross stitch she had been working on the last few weeks. It will become a card for Fathers Day.

 Linda crocheted this gorgeous granny square scarf for her shoebox charity.

Isabel also finished this lovely scarf done in crochet. I think this was some of the yarn that she got from the charity shop (when she did last years challenge). Hopefully she won't lose this one.

As well as bringing along an unfinished project by her gran Fran brought along some of her grans completed crochet. Some of these are over 80 years old. The amount of work that has went into them are amazing. Everyone in that day were astounded by them.

The last of our celebrations that day was a trip to Frankie & Benny's. This is the first time we have all went out to dinner and we had a great time. Think we will be doing this again. We won't wait five years this time.

At the end the group gave me a bottle of wine and some vouchers. Just want to say a huge thank you for that . You honestly didn't have to. It's been a fun five years and I have enjoyed seeing what everyone has been working on. Lots of great friends have been made and I can't wait to see what we have ahead of us. Thanks everyone!

Christmas Craft Day Part 1

It was our annual Christmas craft day on Saturday. Only our second Christmas craft day but I think this will definitely be a yearly event. It wasn't quite as busy as our craft days have been in the past but there were still a lot of people there as you can see. Including a few members who had never been to one of these events before. As usual I will split the day up in parts as there are far too many photo's to post all at once. Even then you will have to head over to our facebook page to see the rest. 

Our first lesson of the morning was from Donna. Despite being a new mum she found the time to prepare a lesson on crocheting Christmas decorations. She made up sheets and samples of the above. The white triangle is from a pattern to crochet Christmas bunting. There is even a snowman design to go on the front of it. However, Donna recommended trying out all sorts to decorate the front such as stitching felt letters to it. Or decorating it with some cross stitch. It doesn't even have to be for Christmas.

Here Donna is helping Margaret who has decided to have a go at the Christmas stocking.

Margaret concentrating on her crochet. This is her first attempt to do something other than the granny square.

Aileen is working on the bunting. She is using some scrap yarn just to practice. She plans on making some bunting with a non-Christmas theme. Something that can be used more often.

I am afraid Elaine was so quick with her crochet I didn't manage to get a photo of her working on it. So instead here is her finished piece. She decided to do the Christmas tree. Looks very effective. It turned out slightly larger because she used double knit but this way it could make Christmas coasters.

This one belongs to me. After a few false starts and some help from Donna I finally managed to make a triangle square for the bunting. The blue yarn was something I grabbed at the last minute but I quite like the colour and might make for a nice wintry theme. Here is hoping I have the time to finish it.

 Here is Margaret's finished stocking. With a little help from Donna she managed very well. Again this is larger than the sample Donna brought because it uses double knit. Just means it can hold more sweets.

We also had a mini member along. You may remember that Aileen had a little girl last year called Olivia. She has grown a fair bit since then and is even walking with a bit of help. Isabel took some time away from her work to walk Olivia round the room. In another post you will see how poor Isabel was made to work.

The last lesson of the morning was continental knitting from Magdalena. Magda's method of knitting uses up far less yarn and less movement. It has intrigues us all since she first came along to the group 5 years ago. Elaine here is being shown how to do it. There were a few more people up for the lesson but sadly they were unable to make it along in the end.

There will be a few more posts to come. They will contain more lessons, impromptu demonstrations and some finishes.