Collaboration!

An actual early post for once. Or is that on time? There is a reason for that. As we celebrate our fifth year running next week I thought I would do some nostalgia posts. Have a few ideas up my sleeve so look out for that.

Meanwhile everyone is still working away. I don't think I have mentioned Yvonne here yet. She joined the group just before Christmas. She's primarily a knitter but brought this beautiful cross stitch along on Tuesday. It has a lovely story to it too. Yvonne's mother in law used this piece to teach her to stitch. Then her mother in law moved to New Zealand. Rather than give up it has been travelling back and forth between visits. When the can't visit it travels by post. It's really a collaboration between the two and I think it's a fantastic idea. Gives more meaning behind the work.

How lovely does our Helen look here? Practically outshines her beautiful knitting. After knitting an aran cardigan for Laura she decided to knit one for herself. Quite right too. This looks lovely on and so cosy. I love the lattice work on the bands.

Lyn has been claiming for a while now that she can't sew. Izzi on the other hand will tell everyone that anyone can sew, it's just a case of learning. Izzi has been giving demo's at Hobbycraft and whilst there she took the opportunity to help out Lyn and Fee. This gorgeous drawstring bag and make-up bag are the result. I love the colours. Now Lyne can no longer claim she can't sew. We have seen the evidence! Fee also finished a bag but she forgot to bring it along.

Anthea has been struggling a bit with her blanket. Not with the stitches. She says the stitches in this aran crochet are relatively easy. It's the monotony of one colour (if you have seen her previous finishes you will know she likes her stripes). To cheer her on I took a photo of her progress. It's looking fab and is just past the halfway mark.

Almost every week Helen and I discuss how wonderful it is that everyone in the group shares ideas. Here is another example of that. Fiona T had mentioned to Magdalena the idea of creating a sampler using small crochet squares. The idea is that you use the colours you would like for a blanket and see how they fit in. This is exactly what Magdalena has done. She says she has just one more colour to pick out. It looks so lovely too. Magda says that when she is finished this might become a blanket for a soft toy she has on her shelf. It would be a shame to let the little squares go to waste.

As most of you will know, Donna has been working on the Cath Kidston rag doll for little Abigail. The doll itself (which a few cruel people have named Bob - not telling why) is just about finished. She's also finished one of the dresses. I love the fabric. It looks so small and delicate. Not sure I could stitch anything that tiny but Donna has done an amazing job.

You can sort of see Donna and her project here. She's brought her sewing machine along so that she can get some more of it finished.

Izzi's bag lessons were also ongoing. After Fee's sewing lesson a few weeks ago she decided that she wanted to make a bag too. You can see her in the first photo preparing her fabric. Lyn has done that part and here she is cutting out her handles.

Lots of exciting things planned for next week so expect lots of posts as well as my nostalgia pieces. On Tuesday we will be having our challenge, swap night and some goodies to munch on. On Saturday we will be having our Gartmore at home day and then a number of us are heading out to Frankie & Bennies to celebrate. Should be good fun!

Thank You!

First of all I had to show off these thank you cards from Sheena. She took photo's of little Charlotte with her various gifts and made them into cards. She even managed to add decorations and write a paragraph in each. I think from now on Sheena shall be known as supermum. They were gorgeous and very much appreciated.

During the evening Norma had a finish. This is her first finished crochet project. She was very proud of it as she should be. The colours are gorgeous and she even added a fan edging to set it off. First granny square project done - no turning back now.

Swati, our beginner knitter, has also had another finish. She finished this beautiful doll. Love the sparkly yarn. It really sets the doll off.

Jean finished another of her wine cosies. I have to apologies because I am sure I called her Joyce when I showed the photo of the red one. This cover was much admired. How fab would it be not only to get a bottle of wine but to have it decorated by hand.

Isabel is at it again. She is knitting for the Beatson. This time she is knitting the Easter chicks. She is using a different yarn this time which makes the chicks a lot smaller and extra soft. With the chicks so far she has raised £80.

Isabel has also been back to updating Daisy's wardrobe. Another spring outfit this time in purple. She even has a purple scarf. As Isabel had just lost her own knitted scarf (this is the umpteenth) we hope that Daisy manages to keep hers. There might just be a summer outfit coming up but Isabel is really looking forward to making her some Christmas outfits.

 Donna has just had her first go at quilting a blanket. She made this lovely Thomas quilt from a kit she bought at the craft fair. She stitched it up very quickly and is all ready for a friends little boy. It hasn't been shared on our facebook page yet as the little boys mum might see it. As soon as I get the okay I promise to post it there too.

We also have another craft to show off. Fi was having a go at felting. I'm sure it's not the first time she has tried it as she seemed to be an expert. It was the first time we had seen it though. Look forward to seeing the end result.

Elaine and Linda made a trip to West Kilbride. There is a yarn shop there called mchattie. They got to chatting to the owners and told them about our group. The result is that if we ever make a trip out there they would kindly offer us a table for the afternoon. They are also more than willing to come along one Tuesday night to show and sell us some of their yarns. It sounds like they have a lot of nice yarns. You can visit their website at Wool4u.co.uk. You can also follow them on facebook, just search mchattie. If any of you would like one of their business cards I have some and will bring them along.

Blankets, blankets everywhere!

Hobbycraft had kindly offered us the use of some space for our group. Sadly, with over 40 members we are too large to use it. However, they are still looking for groups to use their space and it doesn't have to be a knitting group. It can be any sort of craft. They are also will to give their space out to anyone who wants to give a demo of any kind and if you have a craft business it would be the perfect way of advertising. Just contact Hobbycraft at the Glasgow Fort.

This is a two in one post (again, sorry). What we have noticed over the last few weeks is that people have been into creating blankets and we have a fair few blanket finishes. First of all Izzi showed us again how talented she is with this beautifully quilted baby blanket. I love the colours. The white background fabric is actually covered in little white flowers which just adds to the beauty.

Magdalena had been working away on this gorgeous crochet blanket for her eldest son (to go with his matching quilt). Each of these squares were done whilst travelling, either on the train or by car. She says next time she will plan out the squares and crochet theym into strips rather than squares, means less joining. However, when she first started this blanket she didn't know how she wanted it.

This lovely granny square lap blanket was done by Linda. She did this for her shoe box charity as there aren't that many boxes done for older ladies and it's sometimes difficult to think of things to make for them. This blanket will be perfect however. Many of you will know that Dawn recently moved house and she gave Linda her leftover sock yarn rather than throwing it out. This was the end result.

I have to admit I have seen t-shirt quilts around the net but this is the first any of our group have done one. The idea is to take favourite t-shirts and to turn them into a quilt rather than throwing them out when they are done. I have seen it done with concert t-shirts and football shirts. This one was by Janice for her son and she used all his heavy metal shirts. She said that she is pleased with the result but quilting t-shirt material is harder than it looks.

Last but not least on the blanket front is this beautiful one made by Roberta. The centre is one large granny square which is then surrounded by smaller granny sqaures. I love the different colours and how they compliment each other. This is all set off with a beautiful flower in the centre.

Before I go any further I have to congratulate one of our newest members. Swati joined us when we started back after Christmas. She had never done any knitting before but had a pattern picked out that she had wanted to learn. Hardly the easiest of patterns to learn by but with the help of Stephanie, Helen and Janice she managed it. The end result is this lovely snowman. The stitches are unbelievably neat. You would never know this was her first project. Well done Swati!

 If you think back to a few weeks ago I posted a photo of a work in progress by Laura. I took a photo because it was a style of crochet we had never seen at the group before. The end result of the booble crochet is this beautiful scarf.

Fiona who finished her first crochet project not that long ago has finished another. This time she made a hat and scarf set for her partner. He did want a pom pom at the top but Fiona gave up on that. I have to say it looks a lot nicer without.

Before Christmas Stephanie had give Isabel one of her dolls with a black sparkly outfit to match. Isabel has decided that since it is now coming into spring (not that you would know) that she needs a new outfit. Hence a little spring dress, Easter bonnet and egg basket. Since Isabel loves these little project she has already begun another outfit.

Mothers day is coming soon and Alison is the first to finish a mothers day project. This beautiful card is (funnily enough) for her mum. Beautifully stitched and even better, has no dreaded backstitch.

Once again Margaret has been keeping herself out of mischief by working on various projects and so has a lot of finishes. She has a lot of friends in work who are about to become grandparents and so the first two projects are for them. A beautiful hooded jacket and bootee set followed by a lovely pink cardigan. The last one is a toothbrush holder for her younger daughter. This has been promised to her when she first moved out and she is now on flat number 3. Better late than never.

For the last few years people have been contributing to Linda's charity, the Shoe Box appeal. A few weeks ago Linda brought in this certificate which was sent out as a thank you. Thought everyone would like to see it.

Just a reminder that I won't be at the group next time so there will be another gap between posts.

3 in 1!

Apologies for the long wait. As I think I mentioned before I am unable to go along to the group or post as regularly as I did. Five more weeks though and all will be back to normal. For now I have three weeks worth of photo's for you. Sadly, since I wasn't there, I can't tell you quite as much about the ladies finished projects as I would like.

First up we have socks finished by Helen. This yarn is by Regia. Helen first spotted Dawn knitting with it. She liked the colours so much she went out and picked it up too (as did I). Looks fabulous knitted up. Sadly the colours look a little washed out in this photo due to the lighting. I promise you they are more vibrant than that.

Stephanie finished another of her famous dolls. She has an outfit all in black with sequence. A glam doll. This one is for Isabel who I am guessing didn't win the competition doll after all. At least she still got one.

This Polar bear was made by Freya. I'm afraid that the photo is a little out of focus. I think this was done with fimo. Either way it looks amazing. Well done Freya!

Janice has been busy preparing for Christmas. She knitted up some little Christmas stockings and some of her famous fairies.

Caroline has been back to stitching bags again. This time with a Christmas theme. Love the festive colours.

Remember those stitched advent calendars? Isabel has decided to have a go. You can see Roberta and Alison lending her a hand here.

This lovely bag was knitted then felted by Jean. Love felting and I love the flowers decorating the bag.

Janice's fairies again but now they have a friend. This is Flat Ben who is visiting from Belaire Pre-school, LA. He has been sent here to his friends gran (Isabel) so that he can see all the sights of Glasgow and have his photograph taken.

Here he is again and he is showing off Isabel's lovely tree decorations!

This beautiful dress was made by Rhona. She made it for her eldest daughters first communion. It's now been altered and passed on to Freya.

Last, but not least, we have Margaret. Here she is with a finished Hitchhiker scarf. This one knitted using regia sock yarn. We can also thank Margaret for all of these photographs and for keeping me updated. Thank you!

Tomorrow is our Christmas craft day. We will have our usual classes and lots of chat. I will be there this time so expect lots of photographs.

Halloween!

Apologies for the late post. I'm afraid it's going to be like that whilst on placement. This images on this one is from over a week ago. Worth the wait. First of all this amazing Halloween scene was knitted by Lyn. She did this so that it can be displayed in Hobbycraft but is going straight home with her after Halloween. I had to post some close ups so that you can see the amazing detail that went into it. I particularly like the bats!

Roberta has been busy once again with her Christmas prep. She stitched two more amazing advent calendars so that everyone in her family has one. Then she stitched these Christmas bags using the pattern taught to us by Izzi last year. I am now a proud owner of one of those Christmas bags as Roberta gave one to me.

Margaret has been equally busy with her Christmas prep. She knitted a Christmas cracker decoration and a Christmas pud tree decoration. She knitted the lovely snowman and the snowman garland. A few of us fell in love with the garland so she has said she will knit a few more.

Do you recognise this doll? It's one of Stephanie's handy work. Unlike the others it's not going in her famous box. Instead she donated it to Lyn who is raising money for Children In Need. The idea is to guess the name of the doll. We have all had a turn at guessing her name. However, I think Isabel is the most determined to win. If she doesn't there may be an exchange organised later for one of Stephanie's dolls.

We also had a bit of a demo. Roberta had asked Lyn how to use the acrylic and rubber stamps. Here are some photo's of Lyn showing her how to use them. The good thing about these particular stamps is that you can peel them off the acrylic to give them a wash and use something else on them.