Craft Day, 25th April 2015

Lisa gave an inspiring talk about how she juggles her day job as a graphic designer in her own company, a mum of three and  mastermind of For the Love of Yarn. It all started with a bout of repetitive strain injury while crocheting....after a little investigation Lisa fell upon the idea of customizing crochet hooks so that they were more comfortable to hold. The hooks were a big success! Then Lisa became frustrated because she was unable to find colours of yarn that inspired her. Being Lisa, she decided to dye her own yarn! The yarn 

idea flew and many crafters wanted their custom colours. Now, Lisa runs yarn clubs that are themed. the boxes include, yarn, matching hook, a pattern, and a free gift.

This is a family business. Lisa designs the hook, the dyeing of yarn, making buttons etc. Husband winds the yarn into yarn cakes etc. Everyone assists with filling the boxes. 

One day, six year old Callum told his Mum that he wanted to make pennies for the sick people. Being a talented boy he began to custom a range of hooks for sale. Lisa is allowed to place them in the oven to set. Callum has his own Face Book page and has raised £2000 for his charity, so far. Four year old, Kayla May creates buttons for Callum's fundraising. Talent clearly runs in the family. I wonder how Miss Bella will shine when she gets older? Watch this space!!!!!

Isabel agreed to organising the catering. She found this amazing table cloth at Aldi and assembled a range of nibbles and drinks. Well done that girl! The gluten free stuff went down a treat.

Izzy completed some dresses for her charity that sends cotton dresses to Africa. Anyone found sitting about doing nothing was asked to sew on some buttons. The dresses will be well appreciated.

Anthea was spinning grey yarn with a silver thread for Magda. This is a big assignment and has to be completed before we go to Garmore.

Elaine is full of good ideas. This time she gave a demonstration on how to make some face scrub which was then scented with lavender or lemon and presented inside a cute jar. Well, that's Christmas sorted!

Alison was crocheting squares together to make a blanket.

Paula was working on these amazing granny squares. I can't wait to see the completed garment!

Donna was working on a sewing kit that was from a Kath Kidson book. She also brought in a quilt she has been working on for her niece.

Janice started the baby bag for her daughter-in-law. Look at the picture! The girl loves Spiderman!

Linda was knitting a baby blanket using Sirdar Squiggle super chunky.

Morag was working on a baby shawl using yarn from poundland.

Jillian was working on her first quilt. The design is taken from a book on Jelly Roll Quilts. I was really taken with the colours.

Caroline has been experimenting with crocheting flowers.

Isabel brought some fabric to be made into a table mat. This is one of her adventures in retirement!

Elaine was working on a knitted corner to corner shawl.

Lisa started a skirt for Kayla May.

Dawn was in the process of doing a blanket.

Patsy was being tutored by Izzy to create this fab quilt top.

A big thank you to everyone who came along and made the day a success.

All About the Colours!

  

  

 

 First of all apologies for the lateness of this post. I have had computer problems. This is being posted from the university library (shhhh, don't tell anyone).

Our seafarers hat charity has gone off to a fantastic start. We had our first balaclava handed in thanks to Margaret. She also posed with it on but I didn't think she would appreciate me posting it. Roberta also got two hats done. She combined the leftovers from previous hats to make these stripey numbers. Think that's a fab idea, it uses up yarn and it makes them slightly more colourful (men like colour too people). Esther also handed in a hat for us. That's 7 hats and one balaclava already.

 

 Poor Norma had lost her crafting mojo until recently. She just finished this beautiful, hooded baby blanket. It's for a friend who is expecting. I love the stitch style. It almost reminds me of the blocks from tetris. The yarn is also super soft.

Norma's husband has also been busy. You might remember a photo similar to this before. This one was made for one of the ladies in the group who very much appreciated it.

After seeing Lisa's t-shirt rug last year I've been dying to have a go at making my own. I had wanted a red border but I couldn't get the shades of yarn I needed to finish it. So I had to make do with alternative. I'm happy with the outcome but not so happy with the yarn.

I also used some of the leftovers to make this basket. It's a little lopsided mind you but sturdy.

  

 

 How beautiful is this blanket? This was made by Stephanie. It's another quilted blanket going to Yorkhill. Some child is going to be delighted with this. I just adore the dinosaur material.

 

 Our Izzi might not have been well enough to come along to the group as often of late but that doesn't mean she hasn't been doing anything. This beautiful baby blanket is for a friend. The colours go wonderfully together and I love all the different fabrics that are used. So many lovely ones I don't know which is my favourite.

 How fab are these? She also quilted some bibs. Who isn't going to be delighted with them? They are so unique and yet useful too. I love the fact that they use velcro rather than ties.

Last but not least is the lovely dolls blanket. This is made up of little scraps of leftover fabric that have them been quilted onto backing fabric. I love the effect of it. On the evening Izzi was working on another one so we got to see her cutting leftovers and piecing them onto fabric.

Magdalena has got a new range for her stitching rainbow business. I love the fact that she started with quilts (which she still does) but is constantly developing her range. The latest are these notebook covers. I was lucky enough to be able to purchase the one at the bottom. I can't wait to start using it but will have to think of something special for it first. The larger one with the birds went to Isabel who bought it as a gift for a friend who is moving on to a new job.

Anthea has been decorating her youngests room. For a crafter of course, that never just means a lick of paint. You have to think about all the little accessories  that you get to hand make. This beautiful granny square blanket is one of them. I love how the squares were cleverly placed together to produce a gingham effect. 

Meanwhile Anthea has also found a new hobby - Spinning. She brought her spinning wheel along on Tuesday so that we could all see it at work. What you are seeing int he photo is exactly what we saw. A wonderful blur of colour. I imagine it would be quite therapeutic to do.

She also brought some of the yarns she spun. How fab are these? Imagine creating something and being able to say that you not only knitted or crocheted the item but you also spun the yarn to make it.

Our Donna has also been busy making things for little Abigail. She saw a Winnie the Pooh soft book on the internet. It came as a kit and you stitched it yourself. She was dying to have a go and thankfully Caroline was able to find the exact one that she was looking for. This is new even to our group.

She has also been making things for Abigail's room now that they have moved to a bigger house. She has made a few cushion covers but couldn't resist the Winnie the Pooh design. She also stitched a duvet cover. This will look fab when Abigail gets her big girl bed.

These are in progress but I couldn't resist taking some photo's. These are hand stitched nursery rhyme books which Donna got from America. Abigail already has her favourite nursery rhymes. With books like these it would be difficult not to have favourites.

On Tuesday Donna also took names for people wanting to learn to crochet, both beginners and intermediate. If you haven't put your name down please let Donna or myself know with some idea of what stitches or patterns you would like to learn. The sock class is starting to wind down. So hopefully there will soon be dates for when this class starts.

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/