All About the Colours!

  

  

 

 First of all apologies for the lateness of this post. I have had computer problems. This is being posted from the university library (shhhh, don't tell anyone).

Our seafarers hat charity has gone off to a fantastic start. We had our first balaclava handed in thanks to Margaret. She also posed with it on but I didn't think she would appreciate me posting it. Roberta also got two hats done. She combined the leftovers from previous hats to make these stripey numbers. Think that's a fab idea, it uses up yarn and it makes them slightly more colourful (men like colour too people). Esther also handed in a hat for us. That's 7 hats and one balaclava already.

 

 Poor Norma had lost her crafting mojo until recently. She just finished this beautiful, hooded baby blanket. It's for a friend who is expecting. I love the stitch style. It almost reminds me of the blocks from tetris. The yarn is also super soft.

Norma's husband has also been busy. You might remember a photo similar to this before. This one was made for one of the ladies in the group who very much appreciated it.

After seeing Lisa's t-shirt rug last year I've been dying to have a go at making my own. I had wanted a red border but I couldn't get the shades of yarn I needed to finish it. So I had to make do with alternative. I'm happy with the outcome but not so happy with the yarn.

I also used some of the leftovers to make this basket. It's a little lopsided mind you but sturdy.

  

 

 How beautiful is this blanket? This was made by Stephanie. It's another quilted blanket going to Yorkhill. Some child is going to be delighted with this. I just adore the dinosaur material.

 

 Our Izzi might not have been well enough to come along to the group as often of late but that doesn't mean she hasn't been doing anything. This beautiful baby blanket is for a friend. The colours go wonderfully together and I love all the different fabrics that are used. So many lovely ones I don't know which is my favourite.

 How fab are these? She also quilted some bibs. Who isn't going to be delighted with them? They are so unique and yet useful too. I love the fact that they use velcro rather than ties.

Last but not least is the lovely dolls blanket. This is made up of little scraps of leftover fabric that have them been quilted onto backing fabric. I love the effect of it. On the evening Izzi was working on another one so we got to see her cutting leftovers and piecing them onto fabric.

Magdalena has got a new range for her stitching rainbow business. I love the fact that she started with quilts (which she still does) but is constantly developing her range. The latest are these notebook covers. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase the one at the bottom. I can't wait to start using it but will have to think of something special for it first. The larger one with the birds went to Isabel who bought it as a gift for a friend who is moving on to a new job.

Anthea has been decorating her youngests room. For a crafter of course, that never just means a lick of paint. You have to think about all the little accessories  that you get to hand make. This beautiful granny square blanket is one of them. I love how the squares were cleverly placed together to produce a gingham effect. 

Meanwhile Anthea has also found a new hobby - Spinning. She brought her spinning wheel along on Tuesday so that we could all see it at work. What you are seeing int he photo is exactly what we saw. A wonderful blur of colour. I imagine it would be quite therapeutic to do.

She also brought some of the yarns she spun. How fab are these? Imagine creating something and being able to say that you not only knitted or crocheted the item but you also spun the yarn to make it.

Our Donna has also been busy making things for little Abigail. She saw a Winnie the Pooh soft book on the internet. It came as a kit and you stitched it yourself. She was dying to have a go and thankfully Caroline was able to find the exact one that she was looking for. This is new even to our group.

She has also been making things for Abigail's room now that they have moved to a bigger house. She has made a few cushion covers but couldn't resist the Winnie the Pooh design. She also stitched a duvet cover. This will look fab when Abigail gets her big girl bed.

These are in progress but I couldn't resist taking some photo's. These are hand stitched nursery rhyme books which Donna got from America. Abigail already has her favourite nursery rhymes. With books like these it would be difficult not to have favourites.

On Tuesday Donna also took names for people wanting to learn to crochet, both beginners and intermediate. If you haven't put your name down please let Donna or myself know with some idea of what stitches or patterns you would like to learn. The sock class is starting to wind down. So hopefully there will soon be dates for when this class starts.

Them Birds!

Knowing that I was going to be away a week I let everyone know to hang on to their finishes until the following week and they did. The one I was anxious about was Alison's birds. I knew this was coming back from the framers the week I was away. Thankfully she also held off bringing it in. I know many of you will remember Alison working on this. A lot of work went into it and it was well worth it. In fact this piece seen us move from Starbucks to the Management Suite. I just wish the photograph could pick up all the tiny pieces of detail. It should be noted that Alison did quite a few other things while this was in progress.

Alison has also been working her way through all those free kits you get with magazines. Here are a couple of Christmas ones she finished. I love the second one on it's hanger. Someone will be organised for Christmas this year anyway.

For the last year Anthea has also been working on a large project. Remember her crochet blanket using up lots of odds and ends last year? That went to one of her daughters and as she has two they wanted one each. Anthea began this granny stripe blanket soon after finishing the first. I took a close up of the stripes so that you can see it in more detail. Like Alison though, Anthea had also worked on other things in between.

Anthea had also finished a crochet knitting bag. It has been lined with some funky fabric and even has a draw string closing. Stops those needles from falling out. I love the fan edging. The inspiration for both Anthea's projects came from a blog loved by many of the group. It's called Attic 24 and is worth a look for the fabulous photographs alone.

Roberta has also been busy. She got the pattern for the brick style blanket from Margaret and had a go herself. She used a smaller yarn size and more colours. The result is very different and very striking. Makes it look more delicate and will be a lovely, spring, baby blanket. She also learnt to crochet this beautiful flower. She has no idea what she is going to do with it now that it is finished. However, she was chuffed she rose to the challenge (rose - get it).

Margaret has once again been busy too. She also finished another of those brick style blankets. This time she used shades of pink making it ideal for a baby girl. The bold pink makes it very striking. You can also see the contrast between hers and Roberta's take on the pattern. It makes you wonder what other colours and methods would do to it. She also finished this cute, white, baby set with little cat buttons and the pink bootees.

Lisa is one of our newer members who joined us just after the new year. She has intrigued us recently as she has been working on a t-shirt rug. You might have seen it round the net, people making rugs from strips of old t-shirts. They are very effective and striking. Lisa bought her t-shirt material online already to work with and this is the end result. The colours are lovely together and it will make a fabulous rug.

Joyce has been with us a while but I don't think I have every posted any of her finishes. She knitted this beautiful wine cosy as a present for a friend. I love this pattern. Another unusual gift idea which is set off by the buttons up the front.

The last of our many finishes comes from Magdalena. Little Zuzanna's first communion is coming up and Magda is determined to make everything for it (we have no doubt whatsoever that she will be successful). She recently finished this beautiful shawl for the day. It looks so delicate but cosy. She got the pattern from ravelry and it's one especially for children. You could even adapt it for older children.

Speaking of Zuzanna. She has been working away too learning new skills. She has already been learning crochet thanks to her talented mum. She now has a few more stitches under her belt as she is learning to make granny squares. She used her favourite colour to practice.

Anthea also has an unusual technique to show us. She is making a blanket for her friends wedding. She found a crochet pattern that actually involves making an aran blanket. Unusual to have aran crochet. Has cables and bobbles. Look forward to seeing how it turns out.

There was also some Gartmore prep going on. As many of you will know we hold classes when at Gartmore. They are just a bit of fun but they really make the weekend. Izzi is going to be giving us the benefits of her wisdom again by showing us how to make bags. This time bags big enough to hold our knitting. On Tuesday she had everyone picking out their fabric and talked them through some of the preparation stages.