December is here - it will soon be Christmas!

It's the December meeting on Tuesday 5th December.  I'm sorry but we won't be getting a visit from Father Christmas as he is resting the reindeer to make sure they are fit for work later in the week!

It's our Christmas charity evening when we hope that you will bring along donations of new and unused items surplus to requirements for the Friends of the Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton.  It can be almost anything (not sweets/chocs or things edible please) that you've made or been given.  I'll be visiting the hospital on Saturday 9th so if you can't make the meeting and have items for me to take then please get them to me before Friday.

Of course I hope you will bring your knitting to show and to work on whilst we have "seasonal refreshments".  It would be lovely to see lots of you there.  Numbers have been a bit down recently, but I hope it's just a blip and they will start to go up again.

Hope to see you on Tuesday, 8pm.  Visitors welcome.

November 2017 - Christmas Knits

Tuesday was a dark, wet and cold evening. 

A branch of Hobbycraft has opened in Farnborough, and there is a opening offer discount code in the Courier.

Club members had been very busy knitting in the last month, possibly due to the darker evenings. 

Show and tell

Collection of Christmas knitted toys and decorations. The snowman and cat are made from the same basic pattern, with a circle of cardboard at the base to aid stability. The mini wreath and trees are made from i-cords. 

Reversible doll made on a knitting machine. The blond hair curls were made by alternating 2 knit stitches with 1 dropped stitch, and the resulting effect is lovely.

A Santa hat and a snowman had using different yarns and colours with the same basic pattern. The snowman's eyes, nose and mouth are attached by hand.

A collection of reindeer items. Matching hat, glove puppet and badge. The antlers have pipe-cleaners inside to provide shaping.

A slightly more random collection of Christmas knits. The stocking is made using the after-heel method for the heel and toe. The green hat is made from a 1 inch section of cardboard tube from a toilet roll inner, then lengths of green yarn are hooped over the tube. Popular on Pinterest and Instagram, but very fiddly. It would have been quicker to knit a mini hat, for a regular knitter. 

The red and white mini stockings and baubles are from a Knit 1 pattern. 

Two-tone hand-knit cardigan with a simple cable pattern. 

Grey machine-knit jumper, with lovely neck detailing, and subtle white and pink arm stripes. A clever way to use up small sections of left-over yarn colours.

This beautiful matching lace scarf and beret was to be an entry into the two-piece competition last year, but due to circumstances, the meeting couldn't be attended. 

Exquisite hand-knit shawl with leaf pattern in soft green single ply yarn from Spain. The shawl is pending a second blocking to bring-out the pattern details and edging features.

A well-loved regularly-used pattern for a child's purple and white striped hoodie.

Two smaller size cardigans, with colourful button.

November Meeting

Another last minute post - sorry!

Hearing the fireworks tonight reminded me that we must be having our meeting on Tuesday, 7th November.  Usual time of 8 pm.

The scheduled topic is "Little Knits for Christmas".  So come along armed with your knitting, and some ideas of small things that can be knitted for decorations and for gifts.  You could even have a go at some of them.

Sorry I won't be there, but I have an appointment elsewhere.  However Sally, Annette, Carole and Nina are all planning to be there and will get things going.  And I shall look forward to hearing all about it.

Visitors and new members are always welcome.  You'll find information on where we meet on this page if you look around.

Have fun on Tuesday.

October 2017 - Knit, natter and unfinished projects

This month the theme was unfinished projects. There was a wide range of projects that were brought along, and a wide variety of reasons why the different projects had stalled.

Liz worked on the second incarnation of a white patterned cowl. The first version was knit in the round with an accidental twist, so it became an accidental Mobius strip.

Crochet projects included a cushion cover and a square for a blanket.

Knitted projects included a reversible child's jumper, a cardigan with cables, a ribbon yarn scarf, and hand-knitting the rib on the edges of a machine-knit kid's jumper.

Show and tell

Gaynor crocheted a selection of Dorset button patterns. Wikipedia has a page about Dorset buttons.

Julia crocheted a beautiful purple-themed blanket made from a variety of complementary design squares.

October meeting reminder

Another month has passed and Autumn seems to be well and truly here.  This month we will be knitting, nattering and hopefully finishing! 

I'm sure we have all got knitting and crochet projects that have "stalled"; been put to one side because you've reached a bit that you don't understand, you haven't got the number of stitches you should have, it's boring or for any number of reasons.  It's been sitting there glaring at you and just asking to be picked up and worked on again.  Dig it out, bring it with you this month and get going again.  I'm sure someone will be there to help you sort out any problems (so don't forget the pattern!).  And if you don't have any UFO's then pick needles, yarn and pattern and start something new or work on your current project.

Hope to see you on Tuesday 3rd October, 8 pm as usual

September 2017 AGM and catching up

The first meeting of the club year started with the AGM. There was a smaller turn-out than usual. The first tuesday co-incided with schools starting, and it was a wet and dark evening.

We talked through all the meeting titles for the forthcoming year. Unfortunately there is a declining availability of speakers. If you know of anyone who does interesting knitting or crochet-related talks, please speak to one of the committee.

The annual challenge has been changed to two charity evenings. The club will still continue to support The Royal Marsden at the winter charity evening, but we're looking for suggestions for local charities to support for the summer charity evening. Please keep an eye open for any local charities that are appealing for knitted or crocheted items, such as hats and blankets for baby care units.

Show and Tell

Liz has been learning how to use a 12" knitters loom, and had made 3 different scarves.

Sally brought along an old Knitmaster 4500, with Ribmaster, in a large wooden box (possibly a croquet box?). It was found in the For Sale area at a recycling centre in Oxfordshire. One of the bakalite fingers was missing, but it could be useful for spares for someone with a working model.

Sylvia had knit grey striped top on her Knitmaster, and hand-knit a hat and mittens for a child.

September and a new year for us

At Fleet Knitting club we follow the academic year so September is the start of a new year for us. We've worked out a programme so you can see what we are doing each month, but it is subject to change so if we find someone who will come and give us a talk we'll just swap things round!  The programme as it stands now is on the left hand side of the page.

Our first meeting of 2017/18 is on Tuesday 5th September at 8 pm.  We will be having a very short AGM just to keep things in order! And straight after that we will be asking "can we help?"  So if you are having a problem with some knitting, stuck on a stitch pattern or don't understand what to do next bring it along and we'll see if we can explain. Maybe you are an experienced knitter and your help sorting out these problems will be gratefully received.

I'm sure there will also be time for a show and tell, so if you've completed, or almost completed some knitting or crochet please bring it along as we'd all love to see it.

New members and visitors are always welcome to any meeting.  Look around this page and you'll see a box which tells you when and where we meet.  Bring your knitting or crochet with you too.  We're not a class nor do we run courses.  We're a group of people with a common interest - knitting and crochet.  We will try and help wherever possible and we often learn things ourselves when others bring their problems along.

Look forward to seeing you.

July meeting

The July meeting will take place on Tuesday 4th July.  It will be a knit and natter evening (we haven't had one of them for a while!) so bring along your work in progress and have a chat with others whilst you knit.

July is also the month when we bring along the items we made for the club knitting challenge.  You may remember that it is to knit a two piece set, so hat and gloves, scarf and hat, or even a jumper and skirt - whatever you choose.  More details should be in the side bar.

Please bring any items you've completed this month too, so we can have a show and tell as well.

There won't be a meeting in August as it's summer holiday time!  So if you can't make this meeting the next time we meet will be September and the start of a new year for us.

So same place, same time - Tuesday 4th July, 8 pm!

Our June meeting

Apologies twice over.  Firstly for being so late in posting about our June meeting, and secondly I didn't take photos!  (Note to self - must do better!)

The topic of the meeting was knitting with beads.  The attendance for the evening wasn't great, but we had a good discussion about the different ways to knit beads in and what "extras"  could be purchased to make the task easier.

There a number of Youtube videos showing different methods, as well as written tutorials.  All were quickly found by searching on line with Google or other search engine.

During the notices it was mentioned that the Guild of Machine Knitters National Guild Day would be talking place at a location not too far away.  Some members of the Club attended and had a great day despite the heat (we were having a mini-heatwave here in the UK!).  Lots to look at, speakers to listen hear and a day spent chatting with other machine knitters.  Lots of tea, coffee and cake too!  What more could we want.  The Guild of Machine Knitters website  They also have a Facebook page now too  Guild Facebook page and have posted a photograph taken on the day.  I can spot two of our members in the photo!

June meeting tomorrow

It's been a busy time for me, so apologies for this late posting.

Our club meets tomorrow, Tuesday 6th June at 8pm.  The topic for the evening is knitting with beads.  We'll have a machine there for those that would like to see how to add beads to their knitting.  We will also show how to add beads to your hand knitting.  

If you'd like to have a go, then bring needles and yarn.  If you have a tiny crochet hook (0.5mm or 0.6mm) then bring that too plus seed beads size 6 or 8 if you have them or any other beads that have a hole large enough for the yarn to go through.  Don't worry if you haven't; there will be some available.

Look forward to seeing you.

May 2017 - patchwork knitting and crochet

This month the meeting was a practical workshop on multi-colour patchwork knitting/crochet.

Jean shared that there is a Farnborough Craft Guild craft fair at the Southwood Community Centre on Saturday 13th May.

Show and Tell

Janet had crocheted a multicolour blanket using popcorn stitch.

 Julia has knit some more hats for the Innocent Big Knit project.

Julia had crocheted her 5th blanket for the 60 Million Trebles charity project, and is working on a cushion cover.

 A variety of blankets and cardigans to go to charity. The christmas pudding is a scaled-up copy of the christmas chocolate cover, which will now fit a chocolate orange.

The bottom edge of some of the cardigans were rolling outwards. The bottom edge was several rows of garter stitch. There was a discussion about how loose garter stitch can be. Generally speaking, when edging with rib, the needle size is decreased by 2 sizes. With garter stitch, the needle size can be decreased by 3 or 4 sizes to adjust for how loose the stitch is.

 A needle-felt Blue Tit.

Patchwork knitting and crochet

Jean discussed the various methods of picking up and/or joining sections of knitting. There were lots of samples passed round for discussion.

At the end of the session there were some interesting samples that people had worked on during the evening.

May meeting soon

Fleet Knitting Club time again.  Tuesday 2^nd May.  8pm as usual.  Jean will be taking the meeting.  You are going to work on no-sew log cabin and other knitted or crochet patch work.  It sounds a good way to use up all those odds and ends that are just too good to throw away.

Jean has asked if you could bring a few things with you:

·         3 different coloured  balls of yarn of the same ply and a pair of needles or a crochet hook to match.

·         A pencil and coloured crayons or pencils

Don’t worry if you don’t have them; come along anyway.  I’m sure there will be some spares.

Don’t forget to bring your finished projects too for show and tell.

April 2017 - 40th Anniversary

This month's meeting celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Fleet Knitting Club. The club was started in 1977. To celebrate, Liz brought along a photo album of club photographs, and copies of all the printed copies of the newsletters/blogspots over the years.

Nina iced a beautiful cake that was shared and enjoyed during the tea and coffee break.

It was a smaller turn-out, possibly due to the excellent weather and coinciding with school holidays. Half the members brought along work-in-progress hand knitting and crochet. Several members brought along pattern books from the 1970s and 80s for some reminiscing, and some interesting discussions on the changes in patterns, yarns and designs over the last 40 years.

Upcoming events

The Shepton Mallet 'Craft 4 Crafters' show is on the 6th-8th April, 2017, at the Bath and West Showground.

Reminder that the club challenge this year is to knit a 2 piece set for the July meeting. Some of the ideas for the 2 pieces include: hat and gloves, scarf and hat, baby cardigan and booties, etc.

Wonderwool Wales is on the 23-24th April at the Royal Welsh Showground.

Next month Jean will be running a workshop on knitting patchwork. Please bring along different colour yarns of the same gauge, with the appropriate pair of needles, pens, and graph paper.

Show and Tell

Annette had handknit a blue mermaids tail snug for a baby (up to 6 months).

Light pink lacy top, with button front, which only took 2.5 balls of Opal yarn.

A machine knit blue and white stripped jumper from 4ply yarn from stash (possibly Bonnies or Bramwell).

Carol knit little jackets, both from the same King Cole pattern for DK yarn. The first is purple/white stripped with a hood, and the second was a blue jacket with a hood.

April meeting and we're 40!

Sorry – I’m really late sending this reminder!  It’s been really busy in my house and I’m not sure where the time has gone.

Anyway – the April meeting is tomorrow!  And it’s our 40^th Birthday meeting – yes Fleet club has been going for 40 years!  How time flies.  I’m sure we don’t look a day older than ...............

Anyway, I’ll be bringing the printed archive copy of our blog and the photographs taken before everything went on line, so we can look back and have a good laugh.  Bring your knitting with you, and if you’ve patterns or knitting from 40 years ago bring that too!  

Hope to see you tomorrow, 8 pm!

March 2017 - Talk by Anne Baker of Karabee Designs

The Bournemouth show was last weekend. We are able to be joined by this evening's visitor, who resides in Yorkshire, because they travelled down to host a stand at the show, and generously offered to attend several local clubs before and after the show.

The next shows are at Shepton Mallett, and then at Nottingham.

Reminder that the deadline for the Guild of Machine Knitters annual competition is approaching in just over a month.

Show and Tell

Julia is finishing off the last square of another colourful blanket for the 60 Million Trebles project.

Nina had machine knit a pink jumper with a rolled rib collar.

Annette had hand knit two vests.

Liz had hand knit a pair of multicolour pink socks, and also brought along all the Innocent Smoothie "Big Knit" hats that were produced during the Make It show in Farnborough.

Sally has machine knit a brown child's jumper from stash yarn, using a top-down pattern with saddle shoulders.

Talk by Anne Baker, Karabee Designs

Anne gave an interesting talk about how she got started with machine knitting, and how she evolves her own designs. Karabee Designs began back in 1999 with 8 patterns. The designs are all straight-forward wardrobe staples, of basic to medium difficulty. There is clever use of variegated yarns to give the appearance that the garments are more complicated that they actually are. Anne discussed some of the more complex patterns, discussing the steps in detail. There was a lengthy discussion on textures, yarns and sizing, with lots of questions being answered.

There was a rail displaying lots of samples of the patterns, which all had boys and girls names. Some of Karabee's designs can be found in the Machine Knitting Monthly magazine, and on Ravelry.

March meeting - Anne Baker/Karabee designs

We have a speaker this month - Anne Baker of Karabee designs. 

Anne is based in Yorkshire, and is travelling South for Machine Knitting Live, Bournemouth on Saturday 4th March.  She is exending the trip to include visits to a number of knitting clubs, including ours. This is a rare opportunity to see her exclusive designs for hand and machine knitters.

We will also be collecting the annual membership subscriptions for the Guild of Machine Knitters. www.guild-mach-knit-org.uk.  So if you are currently a member and wish to renew, or if you aren't yet a member and wish to join, please bring £16.20 with you.

There will also be time for "show and tell" so if you've completed anything recently we'd love to see it.

February 2017 - Demonstration of no-roll edges

It was a bitterly cold evening, so it was lovely to see a good turn-out, and to catch up after the Christmas break. There was a lively discussion about current works-in-progress and the items brought along for show-and-tell. There was a small charity table, and the usual tea and biscuits. Liz provided a demonstration of a couple of techniques on the knitting machine to produce interesting no-roll edges.

News and Upcoming events

Unravel at The Maltings in Farnham. Running from  Friday 17th to Sunday 19th February.

Make It 2017 at FIVE in Farnborough. Running from Friday 24th to Saturday 25th February. There will be lots of stalls and demonstrations, including the Guild of Machine Knitters stand with demonstrations and advice available all day.

Machine Knitting Live Show at Bournemouth on Saturday 4th March at from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm at Bournemouth School for Girls, Castle Gate Close, Castle Lane West, Bournemouth BH8 9UJ. There will be lots of Machine Knitting designers and suppliers, including the Guild of Machine Knitters stand with demonstrations and advice available all day. This may be the last time Machine Knitting Monthly magazine hosts the show, due to decreasing attendance over the years. You are encouraged to attend, if you would like the event to keep going in the future.

The Guild of Machine Knitters newsletter had changed to a new format, and an external company is being used to mail out the newsletters. For technical reasons, the renewal reminder will no longer be bright yellow, so keep an eye out and please don't throw away the inserts without reading them first!

The annual Innocent Big Knit knitted hats need to be submitted by July, due to the huge numbers they now receive. Please bring any hats you make along to the club, and Julia has volunteered to collect the hats together and submit them all in one go to save on postage. Liz printed some patterns for machine knitters and hand knitters. Patterns are available from:

http://www.thebigknit.devonartist.co.uk/patterns.html

http://www.thebigknit.co.uk/

Show and Tell

Julia has crocheted two blankets for the Sixty Million Trebles project. The pattern is Mystical Lanterns by Janie Crow.

A jumper knit on a Passap using 2 strands of 2/30 using a double-bed tuck stitch. It felt very stretchy, and there were discussions about the tension.

A purple DK hand-knit jumper was very soft and chunky, with a double-over feature neckline. The pattern looks like vertical wavy lines on the front, and basket weave on the reverse.

Sandra knit a green-based multi-colour V-neck jumper in Denys Brunton Designer Yarns Magicolour. The yarn is no longer produced, and Sandra discussed the creative solutions she used to finish the neckline when the main yarn ran out.

There were 2 yellow baby cardigans, and a pink adult cardigan in sable crepe.

This was followed by a plethora of  beautiful crochets blankets that have been made to give to residential care home in Fleet.

Liz hand-knit a white sideways-knit wingspan scarf.

Demonstration

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XztMJV4ERBo Machine Knitted Decorative No-Roll Edge by Diana Sullivan

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUojfszGgIY  No Roll Edge by Roberta Rose Kelley