Variety is the spice of life!

This amazing lace baby shawl was knitted by Joyce. I was blown away by the intricate detail in this work. Joyce knitted this work of art and Roberta worked her magic by sewing all of the pieces together. Now, that is what you call teamwork!

Margaret has been busy again with the old knitting pins and was delighted to display this little hooded jacket and the little blue and white jumper and hat you can see below. These garments were made for a friend at work.

This is the pair socks I knitted with Lisa's hand-dyed yarn. I think the colourway is called Peacock. It could be called Deep Fried Spam for all I care! I just loved the bold colours.

Roberta knitted this lovely wee baby cardigan for her niece who is about to become a gran. Sadly, you can't see the sparkle in this yarn. So cute!

DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET!!!!!! Stephanie had asked if anyone would be interested in knitting GERMS for a Health Project run by Strathclyde University and the Science Centre. Audrey was the first of our group to complete some GERMS. They are lovely! This handsome tortoise and the waistcoat were also by Audrey. The waistcoat is in Super Chunky by Sirdar Indie.

Sally has been working on this Infinity Wrap in Pure Wool. The pattern was found in KNIT TODAY and the body displaying the wrap was found at the Knitting Group! NAME THAT BODY!

Anthea made this Giant Granny Square Bag for Jill as a Christmas present. She lined it and attached handles to complete the bag. as you can see in the picture below. What a great idea! Ideal for carrying craft supplies to our group meetings.

Ally has almost finished this pram blanket in James Seabrett - Baby Marble. These colours really appeal to me.

Isabel is still enjoying her colourwork and sock knitting. She makes it look so easy! This pair of socks is for a friend who is about to retire.
P.S. Isabel belongs the body modelling the Infinity Wrap. Shhhhh! Don't tell anyone.

 I love our Knitting Group. Every week I am astounded by the ideas and creativity by the people around me. This week, Morag brought along some amazing figures she had created. They are from a book of knitted fairies and animals. When she got into the zone, she then adapted the patterns to create her own imaginative characters. These are such great fun!

Ribbons and things!

Another busy night in paradise! It was lovely to see so many crafters turning up on Tuesday night. The room was buzzing with chatter and laughter and original ideas. This is what you missed if you were tucked up in bed with a gin and tonic..............

Stephanie had fun with ribbon weaving and created another cushion. "There is no truth in the rumour that she is opening a store specialising in soft furnishings," said a spokesperson.

Margaret completed this lovely wee tank top for a friend's baby.

Roberta finished another cosy hat for our chosen charity.

I (Helen) had two finishes to show this time. I'm delighted to finish the mosaic socks, as it was a challenge and I may not do another pair any time soon. My second finish was a charity quilt for Yorkhill hospital. As you know Valerie Lennox is a co-ordinator for Quilts 4 Yorkhill. This charity was adopted by The Village Patchers quilting group as their chosen charity and they have created about 50 quilts for seriously ill children being treated in Yorkhill Hospital.

Kathleen F has been really busy making hats. The gorgeous pink and the green hats are for her granddaughter and the blue hat is for a friend's wee boy.

Now, as you know Caroline does not like to blow her own trumpet, soooooooooo this fabulous baby blanket is for a friend who is expecting a little girl. Her friend does not like pink, sooooooooo Caroline made this eye catching purple and white blanket. This photograph does not do it justice! What you can't see is that the yarn SPARKLES! Love it!

A lot of the excitement in the room was because Donna was starting her crochet lessons for beginners. As usual, Donna was prepared with differentiated handouts for all of her students. What a star! The class was really popular with crafters of differing abilities and they were soon busy and concentrating on mastering whatever stitch they chose to learn. I am happy to report that no one cried and everyone is looking forward to the next class. Well done, Donna!

I always learn something new each time I come along to the club. Jill proudly displayed her knitted purse which had beads incorporated in it. She had to thread all of the beads onto the yarn before she actually started to knit. I was really taken with this and must file this idea in the back of my mind for something to try in the future. Jill's second finish was a cross stitch pattern from a magazine that she had adapted and made into a wllhanging. Such a talented lady!

A lot of noise came from this end of the room. The chat and giggles did not prevent Anthea from working on her spinning wheel. Below you can see an example of a skein of spun yarn which is a mixture of merino and silk in rainbow colours which is double knitting/ aran weight.

 Anthea provided pictures of two cowls she had completed and given away as presents. The light green one is made from Stylecraft Alpaca DK. Ideal for the windy weather.

I hope I get this the right way round. The light blue hat was created by Elaine and the dark blue hat was crafted by Sally for our charity. OR..... it could be the other way round!

Finally, Stephanie was recruiting knitters to knit GERMS. Yes, GERMS. She saw an article in the Evening Times about a collaboration between Strathclyde Uni and the Science centre concerning the teaching of hand hygiene to school children in the Glasgow Area. The knitted germs will be used as a teaching aid, One thousand germs are required. How many can you do? Please pass the completed germs to Stephanie or me. I dare you!

In a Spin!

So we all know that Norma has been crafting up a storm at the crafting house. It seems she's not the only one. Her hubby made this beautiful wooden sign. He carved it out himself before decorating it. He is working on another in black and white so that it looks more like a negative. Looks amazing!

 Norma meanwhile has been busy too. She has been getting ready for a craft fair that she is doing soon. Somehow she still managed to find the time to make one of her lovely bags. Love the furry yarn.

Margaret has once again been asked to knit for a friend who's about to be a granny to a little boy. This is just the latest of knits Margaret has finished. Love the cables and the buttons match perfectly.

Fiona has moved on to a new craft. She has been making felt decorations. How sweet is this red heart? I love the little flower buttons and those perfect tiny stitches.

Now that Isabel has had her sock returned to her she has finished it's partner. These are her Christmas socks. The red and white really do go lovely together.

 I believe though that I have created a monster! After winning a voucher in the raffle she went straight to hobbycraft looking for sock patterns. She came out with three sock pattern books and some sock wool. These socks are knitting up lovely and are for her grandson.

Caroline is always great for holiday ideas. Every holiday you can usually find her creating something. For Halloween it's little pumpkins. These little pumpkins are amazing. A little tea light sits inside it to give any room a Halloween atmosphere. Caroline kindly sent me a photo of what they look like in the dark. Love them!

It can be safely said that Fran is now hooked on crochet. Her cross stitch has been set aside. This platted infinity scarf is her latest creation. I love the effect and I love the fact that it can be adapted with different colours.

Lisa also brought along some of her makes. I had offered to knit her socks and she brought along this beautiful rainbow yarn for them. As I thank you I also got to pick one of her famous crochet hooks. Excited is too tame a word to describe how I was feeling after that. I can't wait to see how the yarn knits up.

Spinning yarn is a new hobby picked up by a few members of the group. I can see it taking off with others. Lisa has had a class and now Anthea. Anthea went to the Glasgow yarn school and took a class there. She was working on it on Tuesday night. It was interesting to watch.

We have had quite a few new members again. In fact, I thought we were going to run out of seats. You can see Magdalena here helping out two of our newer members.

A couple of things to look out for on Tuesday. First of all Tracy is back to do nails. She has one person signed up but I am sure has room for more. I don't have her price list on me but just ask her and she will be happy to tell you.

Secondly, I am putting out a sign up sheet for Christmas craft day classes. The reason for that is that two of them require the lovely volunteers to bring enough supplies for those joining in.  I also won't be there on the day so it makes it easier for everyone if they know what's happening.

One last wee thing. Some of you may know that we have a facebook page. Well, I have changed it to a group. The page is still there but no one has been getting the updates. To be honest the group setting is better as it allows everyone to join in instead of it just being a page where I post updates. So feel free to request to join it if I have missed you out.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/500656310031511/

Demo Time - Plastic Bags.

Before she went on holiday, Magdalena had been doing some crochet with plastic carrier bags. It had us all curious. Five minutes before home time she tried to explain to us how to cut up the bag in preparation. Not easy in just five minutes. So now that she is home she kindly gave us a wee demo.

We all brought bags and scissors so that we could join in. It involved the cutting away of the bottom and handles and then folding.

It was then cut much like you would cut to make a Chinese lantern. Magdalena then demonstrated how to ensure that you end up with one long strand of carrier bag.

It really does work. You can see Magdalena here rolling up her now carrier bag yarn.

Everyone managed it successfully too.

You can see here our hard work paid off. I will say though that if you want the full carrier bag to ensure that it isn't torn somewhere before hand. Otherwise you end up with a smaller ball (voice of experience here).

Elaine started working with it straight away. It has quite a nice effect. You could also collect other bags to give it a striping effect.

We had some finishes too. Our youngest member had her very first finish. You can see Amilee here proudly showing off a lollipop she made with her craft kit.

Janice has been growing some tomatoes and brought some of them along for Helen. Margaret has also been growing tomatoes but they don't last long enough to be brought in.

Janice also finished this lovely baby jacket. Everyone has liked it so much that there are a few people planning on knitting one up.

One of our newer members, Audrey, had been wanting to knit socks. She is primarily a cross stitcher but she does knit too. As I was already teaching sock knitting a few others and a different pattern I was only able to talk her through a few bits with Dawn helping her with the rest. Not that she needed it. From me all she needed was some advice about the heel and a week later there was a pair of finished socks. They look fantastic. Looking at the toe you wouldn't know this was a beginner. Very impressive!

Carolin is going on her Caribbean cruise soon and has just finished a smaller bag to go with her beach bag. She used the same flip flop fabric and adorned it with buttons. Unfortunately her sewing machine went to sewing machine heaven in the process but it didn't stop her from getting it finished.

Jean also had a finish. She made this lovely card for me. Knowing my love of camper vans it was perfect. Thank you Jean!

Roberta has been busy knitting up baby hats. Well, the first three were done in crochet and look lovely. I especially like the flower. The rest are little preemie baby hats.

I also had a couple of finishes. I stitched this little owl hanging. It came free with a magazine and was supposed to be a keyring. However, I decided that I wanted it as a little hanging instead and I chose not to stuff it. I also finished my last pair of mosaic socks. These ones are for my dad.

Next week we have another busy one. We are having a show and tell. Just a fun way for everyone to bring along finishes they are proud of and let us all have a nosey. There will be no judging as it's just for fun but there will be a raffle with some prizes.