December Meeting

Our December meeting was a social occassion, with plenty of chat, show and tell, and of course, mince pies!


Our members were, as usual, very supportive of our charity and the table groaned with their contributions to be sent up to the Royal Marsden Hospital! Lots of handmade goodies mixed in with a variety of other things. Hopefully these will all raise a lot of money for the patient amenities at the hospital.


This past year has been very succesful for our club, and we have attracted a few new members, both for hand and machine knitting.













































We would like to wish all who read this blog a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.


There will be no meeting in January, but we'll be raring to go by February!

Anne knitted this lovely jumper!

Show and Tell

Nina and her machine have been very busy again this last month!

Stephanie was busy knitting these pull through scarves that Liz showed us last month.








Stephanie also hand knitted this beautiful doll!


















Another blanket for SANDS.

December Meeting

Our December Charity Evening is almost upon us. Tuesday will be 1st December. We might be a bit early for Father Christmas to visit however we can still get into the Christmas spirit and do a little giving of our own.

Please bring along anything that you have made or found to donate to the Friends of the Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton Branch. They do stirling work, helping to provide a few extra comforts and some much needed equipment for patients at this amazing hospital. We may live too far away to offer assistance within the hospital, but we can still help raise a few pounds to swell the kitty.

Also this month Sandra will be bringing along some things to sell in aid of another charity, this time one that helps people in less fortunate areas of Africa to become self sufficient. They raise money in the UK, which is then spent in Africa, as items we send attract huge import duties and often don't reach the end destination.

As for what else we will be doing, well mince pies will be eaten, tea and coffee will be drunk and lots of seasonal chatter will be going on as well. If you have completed any knitting projects, please bring them along to show and we will see what else we can find to do.

To remind you again, the December meeting is on Tuesday 1st December. 8pm. Visitors are welcome.

November Meeting

At tonight's meeting we had a talk from Jill Brownjohn about the Horst Schulz method of knitting. This is a way to construct knitted forms eliminating sewing up seams wherever possible. The secret is in how you knit the edges!
Jill had many samples for us to see, in all colours of the rainbow! The main techniques used are knitted strips, and mitred squares, which can all be joined by knitting together, so no sewing!

Jill was a very interesting speaker and we thank her for sharing her knowledge!



Horst Shulz published two books about his knitting method, but apparently they are very hard to get hold of now.







An example of knitted strips and mitred squares joined together.

An example of knitted strips where instead of stocking stitch, the strips have been knitted in bands of plain and purl.

Example of mitred squares, joined together as they are knitted.

This is the end of a scarf where mitred squares have been used as decoration and the main body of the scarf is knitted in strips and joined.

Here are some more blankets and hats knitted by members and friends for SANDS

Sheila has been busy making herself new sweaters for the winter. These are all knitted by machine!

Liz was challenged to work out a pattern for this thread through type scarf popular in the shops!

Here is her finished scarf!

This cute little bunny was knitted by Sue!

Finished baby surprise jackets, hand knitted by Chris. The only seams to sew up when the knitting is finished are the shoulders! Sounds good!

Another fine hand knitted shawl from Chris!

Ann hand knitted this lovely shawl, her first attempt at a lacy shawl!

Jumper machine knitted by Jean.

Our November meeting

Jill Brownjohn is coming this month to show us some techniques by Horst Schulz. Club members will have received by e-mail or letter through their door some "homework" to do before the meeting. If you haven't received it let me know and I'll send it to you again. If there is anyone else out there that would like to join us for the evening, please contact me via the comments. Leave your e-mail address and I will send you the instructions.

Horst Schulz techniques are for hand knitting, but they can be combined with machine knitting. He has worked out ways of knitting garments whereby there is very little making up to do when the knitting is finished. No long seams to join, and only a few ends to sew in.

The meeting is on Tuesday 3rd November at 8pm. There will be time for show and tell as well, so if you've had chance to make anything do bring it along.

October Meeting

Another new month and another meeting for the members of our club, and a couple of new faces to welcome!
Tonight we didn't have a speaker, but split into several groups for different things.
One group discovered more about Designaknit, the computer programme for designing knitwear and patterning, not just for machine knitting but for hand knitting too! Thanks to Carol for bringing in her laptop and showing us!


Another group tackled Tunisian crochet, and were surprised to find it is quite easy and fun!

Chris kindly taught a new member how to hand knit, and had a brilliant pupil, who could cast on and off, knit, purl and garter stitch by the end of the evening, and it was all so neat. The ideal pupil!

There was a lot of chatter, about the shows, where to buy knitting supplies, and other assorted subjects.

These little blankets and hats are this month's donation to the charity SANDS. Thank you to the members who have kindly donated yarn and time to knit these.

Not many garments for show and tell this month, but here is a lovley saddle shoulder jumper knitted by Jean. Also in the photograph is a novel use for swatches, turn them into bean bags!

October meeting

October already! Where has the year gone?

It's our meeting on Tuesday 6th October, 8pm as usual. We are having hands-on evening when you can try something new. One new member, who as yet doesn't know how to knit will be shown the basics, someone else whats to learn tunisian crochet and a few others have asked to a bit of help with DesignerKnit. We are going to try and fit them all in.

So if you have a knitting problem, hand or machine, this meeting will be a good opportunity to try and get it sorted. We will also have a knitting machine there as well. Bring your knitting problem with your pattern along and the experts will show you where you are going wrong (we hope!).

We have also been given 7 sacks full of coned yarns to sell or knit up for charity. With Christmas just around the corner you may find just what you are looking for. There may also be a few accessories and other bits and pieces as well. Now the weather is cooling off and there is less to do in the garden take the opportunity to bag yourself a bargin and knit it up straight away. Don't forget I will be asking for donations our Charity for the December meeting, so you may see something there that you can use.

Hope to see you on Tuesday. 8pm for a fun packed evening.

September Meeting

Tonight was the start of our new knitting year at club, so it had to be the AGM. All matters were dealt with in a timely manner, and we decided to support two charities this year, the Friends of the Royal Marsden, which we do each year, and also SANDS, by knitting small blankets, hats, jackets.





This evening we had a visit and very interesting talk from Kathy M, who told us about SANDS, the Still born and Neonatal Death Society, who support families at these sad times. We learnt a lot about what they do, and how they need help from the public. They have just started a campaign called Why 17, to raise awareness and get funding for research, into the fact that 17 babies a day die in this country either before, at or within 28 days of birth. A very shocking statistic! As knitters we can support them by making small blankets, hats, jackets which will be donated to the parents for their babies, and then kept in a memory box. It does not take long to make these small items which will mean so much to some, so we are hoping to donate generously.

For our challenge this year we decided to make blankets, which will then be donated to SANDS. So get knitting ladies!

Show and Tell

These socks and fingerless gloves were hand knitted by Liz. Also there is a mini sock key ring, very cute gift idea!











These two pretty cardigans were knitted by Sandra for her grandchildren.

Here is a selection of the blankets and clothes knitted by members so far collected for SANDS.

AGM Reminder

As our meeting is on the 1st Tuesday of the month, it falls on the 1st of September so I hope you will remember to come. It's also Bank Holiday week and some poeple will still be on holiday, but I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. Members will also have received an e-mail if we have your correct e-mail address telling you about the meeting. If you didn't received your summer message, please let me know.



Don't forget to bring the baby blankets and hats for SANDS (see the blog on 16 August for details of sizes etc.) I've knitted only one so far, but then I hope to do a couple more tomorrow.

Looking forward to seeing you all again after the summer break.

Our Guild Competition Entry

This year the theme for the Guild of Machine Knitters competition was Childrens Books. We thought long and hard about what to do and in the end choose The Wizard of Oz. Nina was overall co-ordinator as Liz didn’t have time to chase everyone up. We met a few times to discuss what each of us was going to do and also to do some of the handwork and decide what else needed to be done. These meetings really helped when we got stuck for ideas about how to achieve the desired effect. Those doing the knitting this year were Nina, Sandra, Sheila, Sylvia and Liz. Sadly we didn’t win or even get a place this time. So we will just have to try again next year!

Knit for our AGM

At our AGM on September 1st, we will be having a Guest speaker. Kathy M will be telling us about the work that SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) does in our area.

SANDS supports parents by amongst other things giving them blankets and hats for their child during a very difficult time. The parents then keep the blankets and hats if they wish so unfortunately there is a constant need for more.

During the next few weeks and longer, please could you spare a bit of yarn and knit a blanket or baby hat for us to give to Kathy. The blankets can be any size from A4 upwards and the hats from doll size to first size baby. They don't have to be white either, they can be any colour, hand or machine knitted or crochet if you prefer. Whatever you can make they will be pleased to receive so bring it to the September meeting. Thank you.

If you would like to know more about what SANDS does visit either the local website at www.farnboroughsands.co.uk or the national website at www.uk-sands.org.

July Meeting

At this meeting we all produced our knitted items for the challenge, which was something to wear on your hands. The photo shows

Gloves, by Sandra

Lacy fingerless gloves, by Chris

Pink mittens, by Sylvia

Mittens, by Sheila

Black fingerless gloves, by Margaret

Teddy mittens, by Nina.

Thank you ladies for your efforts!

Liz will be there in September for another challenge for the next year so watch out for it!

We wish you happy summer holidays, hoping the weather improves, and look forward to seeing you all in September for our AGM and meeting, please be there!

July meeting - the end of the challenge

Our July meeting has become the traditional meeting to end our annual challenge. Back in September last year, I challenged the club members to knit something to wear on their hands or lower arm and I will be interested to see just what they come up with. Nina will be running the meeting as I will be away unfortunately. I have completed my item to wear on my hands or lower arm and passed it to Nina for her to show you all so it isn't a way of me getting out of making something.

Nina will also be bringing our club entry into the Sherborne Vase Competition run by the Guild of Machine Knitters. We haven't won unfortunately, but it's not the winning, it's the taking part that counts. And it has meant that 5 of us have been working together and getting to know each other better whilst we did so. We will be posting a picture of the entry here once the club members have seen it as there wasn't time to show them before the closing date for the competition.

(There will be no meeting in August, but we will be back again in September for our AGM.)

The date for the July meeting is Tuesday 7th July. I do hope as many of you as possible can make it. 8pm as usual and visitors are welcome to join us.

June show and tell

Two beauiful hand knitted shawls from Chris this month. The first is in a fine random dyed yarn.

The second is in a slightly thicker yarn. Both are beautifully soft and use traditional patterns.

This little garment was knitted by Sandra.

Nina has had a go at knitting a top based on the techniques explained to us last month by Bill King.