Our New LOGO!

 I asked Lisa to design a logo for our group. Lisa is multi-talented and came up with this. It even has a RED element in the design in memory of Margaret. Great job, Lisa!

Anthea made a large pencil case to fit into a ring binder to keep all of her drawing and writing tools while out at college. On Tuesday night  she was just completing a bolster cushion for a friend. It is now living in its new home and her friend is delighted.

I completed this little pram cover for my box. I bought the panel last year at the craft show in the SECC.

Stephanie completed a Twiddle Muff and had great fun adding a variety of adornments. The second Muff was made by Alison and sewn up by Stephanie. I'm fascinated by these muffs. I love the textures and the decorations. We could all do with one of these!

Lyn and Elaine used the squares made by the Happy Hookers, during their charity walk, to create two lap blankets for the Beatson raffle.

Lyn had fun making this First Birthday present for a little girl she knows. It was greatly admired on Tuesday night.

Noreen likes to keep busy even when she is away on holiday. She needed gifts for 3 friends who were expecting little girls. Now she is super organised!

Janice was part of the Twiddle Muff enthusiasts. She knitted the muff on the left and decorated the muff on the right for someone else.

I love this! the colour changes are great. Jillian made this scarf for her daughter, Jemma, who starts studying at Edinburgh  Uni shortly.

Janice even had time to sew a Beatson bag this week.

Stephanie was felling inspired and made 6 Beatson Bags! Bright and cheerful!

This is a selection of Twiddle Muffs made by Allison. They look great!

 
Roberta completed sewing up this muff while we were in M & S Cafe. It will be decorated with all kinds of everything for next week.

We enjoyed our visit to M & S cafe on Tuesday night. There is always a lot of crafting going on and M & S are very welcoming. Annee sent a message to say that work will begin on the refurbishment of the Management Suite sometime Sept/ Oct. When this happens we will camp in M & S cafe.

Are you organised for the RED Challenge? Some people are super organised! Just saying.

Next week we are in the Management Suite.

Happy Crafting!

All the Pretties!

This adorable little girl belongs to Lisa. She is modelling a hat that Lisa knitted for her. Sadly none of the photo's I took really shows off the hat. Trust me though, it's lovely. It's done in crochet using variegated yarn (possibly Lisa's own yarn?) and has a pom pom on the end (as all the best hats do).

One of the group also commissioned Lisa to make a crochet hook. She already made R2D2 so it seemed only fitting that C3PO was next. But then, as a Star Wars fan, I am a little biased.

Margaret has been working on some Christmas decorations. She knitted up two elves. One for me and one for herself. It's the same elf that Roberta knitted. Margaret couldn't get the shade of green suggested so picked out a darker one. Again, I love the difference just changing a shade of colour can make. I also love the little tree decorations. Especially the robin.

Audrey emailed this picture to me because these cushions were already heading down to London for her nephews Christmas. A while ago we had show and tell and Audrey had brought a little owl cushion which my camera then lost. This is a bigger version of that owl. Audrey adapted both patterns to make them larger. Love them and probably just as well she wasn't able to bring them in as I might have tried to go home with them.

These are boot liners or boot cuffs. I knitted them up as I had just treated myself to a pair of wellies. A few people were asking me about the yarn. It's by Wendy and is called Roam Fushion. The colourway is called Fosse. It comes in 100g and would be perfect for socks. I got it from John Lewis but I am sure that you could get it online. The pattern was free from ravelry.

This is the lovely radley dog  and was knitted by Roberta. He turned out a little larger than expected but I think he is cute. Roberta also adapted the pattern to suit herself. I love his little dog collar.

Elaine has been preparing for her craft fair and knitted up some of these bags. She used bangles for the handles as Izzi taught about a year or so ago. I love how the different yarns make them look different. The fluffy ones using the eyelash yarn are my favourite. Would have loved one of these when I was a little girl.

Elaine also finished crocheting this beautiful blanket and pillow set. The amount of time that must have went into that and well worth it too. They aren't colours I would have thought to put together and they look amazing. This was well admired by the group.

Another finish we all admired was this beautiful quilted pillow by Linda. Each of these fabrics are from dresses her daughter wore as a baby. Her daughter is now 16 and this makes a fabulous memory piece. It's so pretty too. Such a good idea!

Magdalena is all set for the winter. She finished her cowl/scarf. It looks so lovely on and I love the colours. Very autumn like. I also love the buttons. They all go so well with the colours in the scarf. I love the fact that she used different colours.

Anthea has also been busy but nothing for herself. Everything she made is for Christmas. These hats are all for other people. It's a shame. Not sure I could give them away. Although, I am sure that the people who receive them will love them. I love the crochet flower on the red one.

These were also by Anthea and again are Christmas presents. The scarf is for her husband. Anthea is really getting in to her cables although she hated knitting black (don't blame her). The poncho is being modelled by Magdalena. The amount of time that has went into that. It's especially admirable since Anthea loves colour and doing so much work in grey was difficult. Turned out beautifully though.

I have been dying to see some of Fee's work and it's finally happened. In case you don't know Fee is a silversmith by day. She designs a lot of pieces but as it's for the shop she works for she can't exactly bring it in to let us see. We just get to hear about the wedding rings she designs from her mum, Lyn. Well, she made this lovely heart necklace for Lyn for her birthday. It's such a pretty design. I love the simplicity of it and I'm not surprised that Lyn was wearing it with pride. Beautiful!

Well, we have one more week left before Christmas and we have one more member of the month interview. So look out for that!

I also have a favour to ask on behalf of Fiona. Her sister is taking part in crocheting triangles for bunting. It's for a charity. So if anyone has any spare time after Christmas and would like to crochet something let us know. Fiona is going to give me the pattern so I will send that out after Christmas.

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.