Buttons and Bows.

What do you do with your old buttons? Last week Janice displayed her beautiful cushion decorated with buttons left over from various projects. The lovely Norma has been putting her button stash to good use by creating these decorative letters. I have a feeling that there may be a world shortage of buttons soon.

Norma has her creative mojo back and is busy crafting for craft fairs at a nursery at St. Francis Primary in the Gorbals and a at Mearns Primary in Newton Mearns. This poncho and hat set will be fought over. The fairs are on the 6th and 7th of June if you are looking for somewhere interesting to go.

Norma was thrilled to win craft supplies from Lisa's "For The Love Of Yarn" site for her inspirational colour photo. She is determined to create something for herself with the hand dyed chunky yarn and buttons.

Stephanie is really getting into the swing of things with this lilac knitted ripple baby blanket.

Margaret completed the sashiko needle-case that she started at Gartmore. I love that pattern.

This handsome owl cushion was also knitted by Margaret and is for her daughter, Karen. Lucky thing! The knitted hats are for our group charity which ends on June 24th.

I finished another pair of socks for my daughter. Socks are an easy knit and I just love the way the yarn comes together to create a recognizable garment.

Talking of socks, have a look at this. Linda created a granny square blanket using up the remnants of sock wool. This is such a clever use of bits and pieces that would normally be discarded.

If you thought the granny square blanket was clever then have a good look at Linda's granny stripe blanket. Fabulous.

Izzy made this gorgeous little Scotty Dog Bag containing a dolls blanket and pillows. This would be ideal for any little girl to carry her most essential play things. The good news is that you get a chance to bid for it on Calum's Challenge Auction over on Lisa's "For The Love Of Yarn" site on Friday night after 8pm. All proceeds go to Cancer Research.

Yvonne's Auntie Jean kindly donated this handsome  knitted teddy for the auction.

Paula completed her sashiko needle case that she started on the Gartmore weekend. It looks great!

As you know, Fi is really getting into crochet and made this lovely little baby jacket. You will find the free pattern on Lisa's "For The Love Of Yarn" business page on Facebook.

At the moment I think the crochet people outnumber the knitting people at the group at the moment. Just to prove this point, have a look at this chunky cowl crocheted by Fiona using Pattons Fab Big Colour Yarn.

Anthea completed this Aran weight shawl in four and a half days! The pattern is called CLAPOCHET. It was for herself but a friend, who was visiting from South Africa, insisted on buying it!.The other shawl is crocheted in Regia sock wool and the pattern is called SAUCE-A-LA-CHECHE.

Fifi Trixibel crocheted this marvellous flower in a glitter yarn. I feel inspired to watch someone crochet!

Finally, Isabel completed her sashiko needle case and is about to tackle another. That just goes to show that hand stitching is not such a scarry thing after all!

The Mystery of the Missing Sock - A Knitting Group Mysetery!

First of all I apologise for the length of this post. The truth is that everyone has been so busy that there are a lot of finishes here.

Lisa has been making and collecting blankets for Yorkhill hospital. One of the blankets which in the works is actually a group project. She took this granny square to Yarndale and had people adding stitches to it. It's only about half done and she has requested that any corchet people from the group add some stitches next Tuesday. As I won't be there Helen will be asking (harassing) you to contribute. I think it's a lovely idea.

Speaking of Helen, she's been busy herself. She finished this beautiful quilted cushion. The design is another of her beloved Sashiko and done in her favourite colours. I tried to run away with this but alas she caught me and then refused to let it out of her clutches.

She has also been making some cards. She was inspired by quilter Janette. I don't think many of you will know Janette but she is famous for taking an idea and running away with it. As soon as I saw these I guessed who inspired Helen. Janette's original idea was to make quilted postcards. Helen loved the idea and found a simple crazy quilting design that could be used to make cards. Very effective!

She's also finished the socks she has been working on. The person who requested the socks prefers dark colours. Helen compromised with this gorgeous striping yarn by Zauderball. Helen said it was lovely to knit with.

Margaret has also been busy. She finished this lovely baby blanket for her friend who is about to be a grandmother to a little boy. The lady had specifically requested the brick blanket after seeing someone else receive one.

Margaret is also responsible for bring some festive cheer to the group. She finished a third robin which is going to her youngest daughter. She also knitted a stocking and some Christmas bags. These were from one of the latest knitting magazines. The cards were actually little mini kits from Hobbycraft. I am sure most of you who visit the store will have seen them. Margaret's attaching them to cards makes those little designs really stand out. She's now finished making all her family Christmas cards.

I was lucky enough to buy some hand-dyed sock yarn from the lovely Lisa. These socks were the end result. I love the striping of the yarn. More importantly the yarn itself was gorgeous to knit with. I actually didn't want to get to the end of this project.

I also made a little skull broach for my sister. This was done with metallic thread and some plastic canvas.

Seeing me work on the skull broach Norma decided to have a go herself. Norma decided to use the colours suggested by the magazine. It's amazing how different a design can look just by changing the colours. Norma has decided to make more of these for her craft fair and she plans to play with the colours.

This beautiful baby blanket was also done by Norma in crochet. I love the fold-over at the top with the bow and button. This will also be sold on her craft stall.

Pamela knitted this beautiful preemie baby set. This is for a tiny baby born at just 26 weeks. The baby is doing well and will be the best dressed on the ward. Pamela said it felt like she was knitting for a doll it was so small. Beautifully done!

She also made more of her bootees which will decorate the baby's pram. I love these and this project seems to have become a group favourite.

Janice has been knitting baby clothes too. She knitted all of these baby jumpers. Everyone loved the stripes. Particularly in the blue cardigan. The dark blue stripe makes it all the more striking!

Janice also finished knitting a shawl. This is her first attempt at a shawl and her first project using circular needles. It's a gorgeous colour and looks impressive.

This is another baby set this time done by new member Libby. The photo can't convey just how delicate this little outfit is. The booties alone were beautifully done. Very sweet!

Baby sets aren't the only items that have been on her crochet hook. She has also done this lovely beret. Not only that but this stunning top. Libby hadn't done any crochet in years when her daughter asked if she would make this for her. It truly is beautiful work.

Jean has also been busy with the baby items. The baby cardigan is lovely. Love the detail in the sleeves. I also love these little booties. The little bows at the front really set them off.

Our Esther is fairly shy about her finishes and it's usually left to poor Noreen to snatch them from her and bring them up for a wee photo. To think, if it wasn't for Noreen we wouldn't have got the chance to see this lovely row of booties. These were all knitted by Esther for her great granddaughter. There is even a few pram decorations in there. All beautifully knitted.

Kathleen has also been knitting for her granddaughter. She is very much a girly girl and loves handbags. So thanks to Kathleen she now has a lovely new bag to play with and a gorgeous wee hat for the winter.

Kathleen is also a beeder and she made this beautiful bracelet. I love the colours. Always love a purple bracelet.

You may have seen on Magda's quilting facebook page that she has been busy with some sewing. She has also been working on a blanket for her son who picked the colours himself. This hasn't stopped her on getting some knitting in there. She finished this beautiful Hitch-hiker scarf. Purple seems to be the colour of choice just now and you can see why. Lovely purple stripes.

Helen had bought some lovely sock yarn from Lisa a few weeks ago and at the same time requested a crochet hook. This is her new crochet hook which will be Helen's pride and joy. Helen loves it because not only is it her colours but it also has some sparkle!

Tuesday was also the last day for the scarf charity. 76 raffle tickets were handed out but I know there were far more scarves than that handed in. A few people didn't come forward to get their tickets. There were a few prizes. One of which was for handing in the most scarves. This of course (in case anyone was in doubt) went to Isabel who had handed in 23 scarves in total. Isabel had the audacity to act surprised. She even made a speech as she was handed her prize. She thanked everyone and especially "Margaret for stopping". Of course Margaret was second at 21 scarves. Not to worry, Margaret won a raffle and was the lucky recipient of this beautiful crochet hook designed by Lisa specially for the event. There were also other winners in there too. Janice and Helen also received prizes.

I feel now that I should explain the title of this weeks post. This incident of course involves Isabel. She turned up on the night extremely upset. She had been working on her second pair of mosaic socks. This pair was in red and white and she had finished the first one the previous week. However, she had somehow managed to lose the completed sock. This isn't really surprising if you know Isabel (famous for losing her beloved scarves). As you can imagine she was very upset about it and refused to start the second one until she found it. Helen and I were even considering making a reward poster, 'have you seen this sock'. After everyone had arrived and no sock made an appearance Isabel finally settled down to do some sewing. Then Magdalena appears and sits on the other side of Isabel. She gets settled and then turns to Isabel, 'have you missed something?' There in her hand is Isabel's beloved sock. I have never seen someone move so fast. Isabel launched herself across the table and gripped poor Magda in a bear hug. I didn't think she was going to let her go. I would say this was one of the funnies things I have ever seen at the group but there have been a fair few funny moments and quite a few with Isabel at the centre. So there you have it. We had the mystery of the missing sock at the start of the night only to have it be solved at the end.

Just a reminder that I won't be along on Tuesday. I am working and so duty calls. However, the lovely Helen will be taking photo's in my place.

Show and Tell

Last Tuesday we had our show and tell which was a lot of fun. It was just an opportunity for people to bring in some finishes that they are proud of. At the end we had a we raffle just to celebrate. No judging involved. Just a fun way to see what everyone likes to do.

I have a confession to make and I feel so rotten about this. I got home to discover that there were a few photo's missing. I think it must be my camera at fault because there are two photo's missing that I specifically remember taking. They are of new members too. The lesson to learn here is to look through my photo's as I go. I feel bad because one of those new members was so reluctant to have her finish on display (it was beautifully knitted too). I apologise and please don't let that put you off joining in anything else.

These photo's are just in order of my notes so that I don't get mixed up.

Margaret was first with this cross stitch of a swan. This is her pride and joy as it's her first large cross stitch and she loves swans.

This was stitched by myself. I did this about 10 years ago. It was my first large cross stitch with beading and my first time stitching on anything but aida.

Janice is proud of this finished quilt as it was so awkward to do. Due to the geometric pattern everything had to be done right for it to work.

Helen is proud of these recently finished Sashiko pieces. She took her time thinking them out. She liked the style because it's not meant be done fancy. Unlike embroidery there is no fuss.

Stephanie brought some her knits out from her box. A lot of hard work went into these and a lot of new patterns and different yarns were used.

Noreen knitted these beautiful little bootees to hang on the pram. She knits these and sells them for charity.

New member Maureen made these gorgeous hats. This was her first attempt at doing crochet. She even adapted the pattern so that it became a sun hat.

Esther knitted this beautiful baby jacket. She actually didn't want it displayed. Noreen had to sneak it in.

New member Lesley knitted this beautiful cardigan. She altered it so that it used a raggling and she gave it a crochet border (which really sets it off).

Linda made this for her daughters first Halloween (she's now 16). She didn't have a pattern and the spots are all hand stitched because she had no spotty fabric.

Elaine brought along Rosie and Jim. These were her first knitted dolls which she had made for her daughter. She had to rescue them a few years ago when her daughter almost threw them out.

Donna crocheted this gorgeous shawl. She loves granny squares and was looking for a pattern which was a variation of the granny square. She also treated herself to some fancy yarn to make it.

New member Agnes had brought along these beautiful bracelets. Agnes is a beader rather than a knitter and almost didn't come to the group for that reason. Luckily her friends talked her into it knowing she could do her beading too. She enjoys challenges and different types of beaded jewellery including pieces for weddings.

One of the missing photo's was of a baby cardigan by new member Pamela. It was beautifully knitted up on variegated yarn. She enjoyed knitting it because it's all boys in her family and it was a nice change knitting for a girl. The pattern also involved no sewing which she loved.

Audrey had also brought along a lovely owl teddy/cushion which she had knitted up. It was her first time knitting an owl and has since knitted a few more (I tried to take him home but she wouldn't let me).

Everyone who took part got a raffle ticket and there were a few wee prizes. Dawn was my lovely assistant and pulled out the tickets. One of those prizes I had made special. The lovely Lisa designed this gorgeous crochet hook especially for the group. It even has knitting needles and a crochet hook out the top of the ball of yarn. Maureen was the lucky winner which was apt since she had crocheted the sun hat.

Again my apologies for the missing photos. I promise to do better in future. Meanwhile we have September's member of the month interview on Tuesday. The lovely Anthea has volunteered for that so look out for it.