Spoke Too Soon!

Last week I was complaining (in jest) that there were far too many finishes as it took me ages to write the post. I was kidding but Tuesday I honestly thought people had taken it to heart as there were none. At least none at first. Turns out they were just holding out on me. First up we had Jean (and I did think it was going to be only Jean) who finished another lovely bracelet. I love it. It's quite classy and could be worn casual or smart.

She also knitted this lovely scarf. It's done with a type of ribbon yarn. I remember this type of scarf did the rounds when the group first started. it's nice to see it back as it does knit up lovely.

You will recognise this from last week. In a short period of time Jean managed to create another one. This was commissioned by Isabel who wanted one as a birthday gift for a friend. I am thinking we may have to talk Jean into giving us a wee beading demo some time.

Norma has been busy once again in her wee crafty house. She finished this lovely blanket and hat. I like the purples in the yarn. I think spacing them with white squares really highlights the colours in the variegated yarn.

Just to prove how productive she is Norma also finished this baby poncho on the night. This is the first one she has done and it's impressive. All of these items are for a craft fair that she has coming up. I think she is smitten with the poncho though so we may be seeing more.

Our Yvonne has finished yet another pompom blanket. I told you she was addicted to them. They are very cozy and soft so you can't really blame her. Plus the mix of white and blue made a rather fab pattern.

She has also been trying her hand at jewellery making again. She made this gorgeous bracelet and earring set. I think she made these as for a friends birthday. I love the silver on black.

Every time I see a large granny blanket I call it my favourite. This is my new favourite. This was made by Lyn. It's the colours I love. I do like a neutral colour breaking up vibrant ones.

Fee has also been busy on the crochet front. She made these adorable baskets. I love them both but the one with the lid is especially cute. How good would these be as little gift bags? I can tell you that Fee was working on more of them on the night so hopefully we shall see more.

 Last but not least is this rather sweet crochet cushion by Roberta. As well as having a fondness for blankets I also have a weak spot for  cushions. I love the colours in this one. I also love the fact that it's circular. I can also report that it is very squishable. I hugged it just to test it.

Although Helen was off on holiday we still did our weekly raffle. This time Norma won and she got a rather adorable snail which also acts as a tape measure. She was rather chuffed with it.

Hooks and Needles at the Ready!

In case some of you haven't heard, Norma now has her own crafting studio which has been built for her. We have all been jealous of the photo's she has been posting. It is working too as she has managed to crochet these baby hats in a short period of time. So pretty and cute. The grey one is for Fiona who wanted one for her niece. The rest will be part of a collection Norma plans to sell at a craft fair. Someone has managed to talk her into having a stall at some point in the near future so her crochet hook has been busy. As soon as I find out the details I will pass them on.

A while back Val had come along to one of our craft days and taught us to do Sashiko quilting. We were all intrigued by it and a few of us planned to do more. However, Helen has been the only one who has managed it. She stitched this gorgeous bag and book cover. I love the book cover. My favourite has to be the bag. The white thread on black fabric is very striking. Helen got the designs from a book and they are beautifully done. Would love to have another go myself.

We have another dark horse in our midst. It would seem that Kathleen is another beader. She goes along to beading nights along with Jean. They recently went to a new one and Kathleen decided to bring along a couple of projects that had been lying around unfinished. These beautiful bracelets are the end result.

Fran has also been busy with her crochet hook. The blanket she had been working on in purple and green and her son is now the proud owner. It has already been much loved by Kyle and who can blame him. The vibrant green and purple are striking together. She also crocheted this lovely yoga bag. I had always seen these in mags but this is the first one I've seen done in person. It looks fab!

Fiona's sewing lessons have continued. This lovely dress is her latest project. She isn't 100% happy with it but I think it looks fantastic. The sequence round the band really sets it off. The straps are a little different in that they tie at the top. If it was me I would be proud of it.

Aileen has also got the sewing bug. Donna had recently sent round an email letting people know about a sewing maching offer she had seen. Aileen got herself a lovely little Singer sewing machine as a result. She brought it along to get some advice on setting it up to which Helen was more than happy to help. I can't wait to see what projects she whips up.

On Tuesday I did the August member of the month which I will post soon. Lyn was the latest victim. She brought in a few finishes to photograph for it. Along with that she also brought in some scarves for the charity. Isabel had also brought one along just to ensure she is in the lead.

Amilee was with us again on Tuesday. She kept herself thoroughly entertained by popping bubbles in some bubble wrap. I have to say I was a little jealous.

Speaking of Amilee, I'm not sure if I had posted this here. June had sent this photo to me a while ago. It shows Amilee not only enjoying her ice cream but wearing a jumper that June had knitted for her. Amilee had requested it and when it was finished she refused to wear it. Now she refuses to take it off. The fickle minds of toddlers.

We also had Tracy along again on Tuesday there. A few people once again had their nails done. Sadly I didn't get any photo's of them finished. I do know that Dawn had the Cath Kidston nail art. Tracy will be back along on the 27th.

Elaine is still waiting on people getting back to her in regards to their deposits for Gartmore. Please ensure you have it in over the next two weeks to ensure your place.

Remember to look out for Lyn's interview!

Oops, forgot to mention that there is a new edition under members blogs. Magdalena gave me the link to her personal blog. Lots of yummy images of her projects! http://www.megannismaking.blogspot.co.uk/

Time For Something Different!

Meet Yorick. Yorick belongs to Fiona and he is the holder of the sunglasses. He even has a pair of Ray Ban's. Fiona decided it was time he had his own hat and made him this one using crochet. I sense we have another member here who loves purple.

Jean brought along something else she learned whilst attending beading workshops at Gartmore. She made this lovely broach. I love the colours. The broach design does have a name but I'm afraid I forgot to write it down. It's always nice to see other talents though.

Speaking of the multi-talented, Freya has been at it again. She has now turned her hand to sewing decorations. How pretty are these? Whilst we are on Freya I need to apologise for getting one of her favourite crafts wrong. I've been calling it decoupage but it's actually decopatch. Lyn corrected me last week. Sorry Freya!

For the last few weeks or so I have been working on this pink Dalek. This is for my sister who picked the colour. She has a lot of sympathy for Daleks and has called this one Colin.

Norma is just back from Inverness. Whilst there she visited a yarn shop and the lady there taught her how to cast on using the pom pom yarn. The end result is this lovely baby blanket which is for a friend of Norma's who is expecting. She even made the ribbon flower.

Margaret is still busily knitting for friends about to become grandparents. This cabled cardigan is the latest. Even has some cute cat buttons.

Lyn's event with the famous Stephanie Weightman went very well. As a thank you Stephanie made this gorgeous card for Lyn. I think this will have pride of place in Lyn's home.

I am sure you are all excited to learn that member of the month is starting up again. Our Stephanie will be the first victim and I will be interviewing her on Tuesday. So look out for that.

5th Anniversary: Part 1

I was going to hold off posting about our challenge night as I had forgotten to photograph a couple of the challenge entries. I will get the last one photographed on Tuesday. However, I had planned on splitting the post about Tuesday night into two because I wanted the challenge itself to have a post all on it's own. It has only just occurred to me that I could post one of those parts just now. So here is the first part of our celebrations.

Elaine is famous for her cake decorating and has in fact entered cakes into previous challenges. One of which won. Knowing that she wouldn't be doing one for this years challenge I asked her if she would mind designing a cake for us. She here we have our very own knitting bag cake. It even has fondant balls of yarn.

The cake design is based on the bag Izzi has been teaching everyone to make over the last few weeks. You can see Izzi's prototype in the background.

Not sure if you can see it in the photo but Elaine made sure that 5 was represented int here with the needle size and the row counter.

As well as being challenge night it was also a swap night. Everyone brought lots of goodies that they were no longer wanting. What we didn't take went to the charity shop Roberta volunteers in.

I also brought along some edible goodies as promised. It was a celebration after all. I even managed to bake some cookies and a banana loaf.

It was quite a busy night and I think everyone had a good time.

There were even some finishes in there. Margaret finished this baby blanket for friends about to become grandparents.

It turns out Jean has been hiding talents from us. Not only does she make wine bottle cosies. She also does beading. She was at Gartmore a few weeks back and made this gorgeous bracelet while she was there.

Caroline has found yet another talent. She got some instructions from the Internet and made this lovely draw-string bag. Since she didn't have ribbon she made the ties herself. Love the fabric and you wouldn't know this was her first sewing project.

Lyn was preparing for superhero day at work and knitted Superman. I have to admit I have a soft spot for Superman. He looks fantastic.

At the end of the night we of course had to try some of Elaine's cake. It was such a shame to cut it so I had Elaine do it for us. I can safely say that it tasted as good as it looked.

Oh, and we also had another new member along. Definitely a great night and I look forward to seeing what crops up with this group. Our challenge post will be next so look out for that!