Bucket Lists and Festive Knits!

We were back to our usual busy evening last week. Was nice to see so many come along, especially since we finish up soon. Quite a few people were hastily working on projects for Christmas as the time has been flying in.

Helen though, has been steadily working on her quilting. She finished this beautiful stained glass window piece. If you look back to last week Stephanie said that she was never doing another one of these. Helen said the same thing. How long do you think before either of them cave or move onto something even more complex?

While we are all awaiting Christmas, Helen is awaiting another arrival. She knitted up these beautiful cardigans and hats for a friend who is expecting her first baby. The designs are gorgeous!

Roberta has been back into the crochet. She made this beautiful large granny square blanket. I love the fact that it's mainly white with small hints of colour through it. I am hoping that my memory is correct and that she is keeping this for herself. I know I would be keeping it if it was me.

Roberta also knitted up this lovely elf. I feel festive just looking at him. The pattern was from one of this months knitting magazines. I think it's one of Alan Darts patterns (looks like an Alan Dart pattern).

Margaret had some yarn left over from another knitting project. She decided to use it to knit this lovely hat and cardigan set. I love the little apple buttons. They go perfectly with the set. This will be passed on to the hospice charity shop in the new year. Margaret plans to knit a few more items before handing it over.

Elaine has done a first for our group. These festive little jumpers are for dogs! I love a Christmas jumper so I'm not lying when I say that I am jealous of whatever dog gets to wear them. Think the snowflakes are my favourite.

Noreen is working on a project for a neighbours little girl. She is getting a boy doll for her Christmas. Turns out boy dolls clothes are hard to come by. So the lovely Noreen is making some (which will be far superior to shop bought anyway). These adorable dungarees are the first of a few items she plans to knit. I love the wee pocket on the front.

Stephanie picked up this yarn online. She liked the look of it and thought it would make an unusual scarf. It doesn't have a brand name and just comes as you see it in the first photo. Sadly Stephanie spent the entire night trying to unfankle it with the help of the lovely Janice. Even then she still had a bit to go by the end. I am sure though that it will look amazing when knitted up.

It's also that time of year when the Christmas fairs start. Magdalena had her first one on Saturday there and from what I hear it went very well. Elaine and Norma are sharing a table this Saturday (7th December). It will take place at Airdrie Town Hall from 11am to 2pm. So if you want to pick up some special gifts pop along.

I managed to get a few more bucket lists from people too which I will list in a second. Tuesday 3rd December is our Christmas party. There will be prizes, nibbles and a secret Santa game. It's always good fun and I will actually be able to make it along this time. The last time was at our first Christmas party. Should be a good night although busy. We finish up the following week and I will be able to squeeze in our last member of the month interview before we break up. Don't fret though as we are back on the 7th January.

Helen - Next year I plan to learn to crochet so that I can use my shiny new hook. I also want to make mug rugs and to do a bit more Sashiko

Yvonne - I want to learn to crochet, to knit socks and to knit mitts

Roberta - I plan to learn to knit socks and to knit some Santa slippers (slippers with Santa's on them and not slippers for Santa in case you are like me and wondered).

Ally - I plan to finally do something with the James C. Brett mohair that has been lying there for a good few months.

Caroline - Finish Ally's 50th birthday present (Ally's 50th was this year).

Izzi - I would quite like to take a course in millinery. I don't wear hats but I used to enjoy making dolls hats.

Fingers crossed I get more bucket lists from people this week.

A Star In The Rising!

It was a fairly quiet night on Tueasday. Lots of people away because of the fireworks. Either hiding indoors or taking their kids to displays. However, it certainly wasn't quiet for finishes. This beautiful baby cardigan was knitted by the lovely Swati. You may remember that Swati came along to the group in January hoping to learn to knit. Stephanie and Helen took her under their wing and she knitted some dolls. This is her first garment and Janice gave her a hand in teaching this along with Stephanie. She had quite an admiring crowd round her on Tuesday and it's easy to understand why. Hard to believe that this lovely pattern was at the hands of a beginner. It's not exactly a simple pattern and it was beautifully done. To top it off Swati is now learning to crochet granny squares. This time June is doing the teaching.

This doll has a new outfit thanks to Lyn. She knitted every part of it and decorated it with lace. Sadly she doesn't have a name yet. That will be rectified shortly as her name will be part of a competition to raise money for Children in Need.

Lyn also finished another of her hats. I actually quite like dark grey knitted up. Especially in lacy projects. The sparkle in the yarn though really makes this winter knit. It's lovely and soft too. For once my camera was able to pick up the sparkles. Alas, it's never going to pick up how soft a yarn is. You will just have to use your imagination.

Did I mention that we had a new sock obsessive in the group? I am sure I did last week. Isabel has knitted these beautiful Christmas socks for her grandson who requested them. She is now on her second pair for his brother. These socks are amazing. I do like colour work and this is one of Isabel's talents. It seems sock knitting was just waiting for her though as she worked between several different patterns to create these.

These lovely little flowers are the work of June. I love how delicate they are. She plans to attach them to pins so that they can be worn as broaches. Who wouldn't want to wear one of these?

Margaret hadn't quite finished her Christmas cards as we thought. This is her latest finish. She stitched this for her younger daughter. A perfect choice as she loves meerkats (both the real animal and the adverts).

She also knitted this lovely red stocking. The fork seems out of place but it was actually used in the making of the stocking. Our Izzi once showed us how to make pom poms using a fork. This is what Margaret did to make the little pom pom at the front of the stocking. Easier than using two tiny circles of card.

Janice also adapted something taught by Izzi. She took one of the bags that Izzi has taught us to sew in the past and she made it bigger. It is made by a kind of oil cloth material to give it that shiny look and make it sturdier. There are even handy pockets on the inside. I love the pattern on the fabric.

Stephanie has been knitting for her stash again. This beautiful baby jumper is going into her famous boxes. I am sure she has knitted this pattern before. I remember the stripe round the collar which I love. Very effective and love the two tones of blue.

I also took a quick snap of scarves that both Jill and Magdalena are working on. As you can see Jill is doing one similar to her finished scarf from last week. Magda is more of a closed crochet. The reason I took the photo is for the colours. They just scream autumn and since it was very cold that night they seemed perfect. Jill's yarn is by James C. Brett and Magda's is by King Cole. Both gorgeous yarns and beautifully soft!

Saturday is our Christmas craft day. I think everyone is looking forward to that. Sadly I won't be there but Helen will and she will no doubt post something about the day. So look out for that. Plus, if you manage it along, have fun.

Gartmore/Fifth Anniversary: Part 4 (the final)!

After breakfast we had our last class of the weekend. This one was given by Laura. She had offered to teach beginners crochet. Basically, different stitches and she was willing to show people specific stitches they wanted to learn.

Helen, Isabel, Anne and Elaine all took part. Even though I wasn't taking part I even learned what a half treble was. Isabel found this class very relaxing. There were no tantrums and she even helped Helen out at one point.

These are Elaine and Helen's practise pieces. I think the favourite among everyone was the bobbles. I can't wait to see what everyone does with their new found skill.

As I mentioned in the last post there were also some finishes. Caroline brought along this craft bag and zipped purse set. Once again I love the fabric she used. The ribbon in the drawstring bag is in the style of measuring tape. I think everyone was tempted to pinch it.

Caroline was also asked to knit clothes for a little pig toy belonging to the daughter of a friend. Without a pattern she managed to knit him a hat, scarf, trousers and a cardigan. I think he was our mascot for the weekend.

We found out recently that June knows how to tat. Anne had wanted some reminders on how to do it so June brushed up on her skills and helped her out. She also brought this doily along which is an example of tatting. So delicate. She rescued this from her church as they were going to throw it out. We don't know who created it but seemed a shame that it was being discarded.

Linda was making her pencil cases for the shoebox charity. She did this last year and manages to make quite a few over the weekend. I loved the little train fabric.

You can see here just how busy she was. 15 in total.

Isabel was also busy. She finished her advent calendar. There was a stamped foot at one point but as you can see she was very proud when it was finished. Quite rightly too as it looks lovely! She did also finish her baby blanket, the one with the brick pattern. She was sick of it by the end and although she has the wool for another she refuses to do it. It didn't help that she discovered she had picked up white instead of cream at one point and hadn't notice. I did take a photo but seems a little cruel to post it here.

Lastly, June brought along this bag kit that she got on her travels with Helen and Stephanie. At first it didn't seem like it was going to fit together and June thought she was going to have to take it back. However, it all worked out in the end. Unfortunately I do think that her granddaughter might pinch the bag no matter how much June insists that it's for herself.

It was a fab weekend and we all came home sad that it was over. It went in far too quickly. I won't be able to organise it next year and it's unlikely that I will be able to go. However, I have had a few people volunteering to be the organisers so it will still go ahead.

Tomorrow I am teaching Helen how to use blogger so Tuesdays update will come from Helen. Will be a nice treat for you as you must be sick of my voice by now. Worth looking out for. I also have plans for the next member of the month so look out for that.

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!