The Blankets

The 'blanket evening' went very well. A lot of people turned up with some ready knitted squares to join together. We sat around a huge table and decided who was doing what and split into various groups. One group brought yarn and needles and continued to knit more squares. Another group sewed squares into strips. A knitting machine was assembled ready to knit too.

Nina brought in a linker and joined together all the machine knitting strips. At the end of the evening Nina had assembled almost the whole machine knitted blanket except for the finishing. On the hand knitted front we had assembled most of the strips for a double bed size blanket. So we had acheived almost 2 double sized blankets between us.

Finishing and some strips still need to be sewn together so Liz may bring it to the Knit in Public event she has organised at Hart Shopping Centre, Fleet Road, Fleet on Saturday 8th June 2013. Some volunteers and a bit of delegation is needed to get them both completed and donated to a worthy cause. We will keep you posted both on the finishing and where they end up.

The next group of photos are from the show and tell

Fleet Knit in Public

We're planning to go public! 

Come and join us in the Hart Shopping Centre, Fleet Road, Fleet on Saturday 8th June 2013.  We'll be there between 10 am and 4 pm so plenty of opportunity to drop by and stop a while.  We will be knitting, plus showing off a knitting machine and teaching anyone that is interested how to use a pair of needles or crochet hook.

Knitting is becoming a popular pastime  again.  It is no longer something that only old people do.

May equals blankets

The May meeting is coming up fast and will be on Tuesday 7th May.  We look forward to seeing as many of you as possible as we are aiming to complete at least two blankets during the course of the evening.

We already have some hand knitted and crocheted squares plus some machine knitting strips so we stand a good chance of getting them all sewn together.  There are enough machine knitted strips to complete one blanket, but we don't yet have enough squares for the hand knitted one, so I hope you've all been busy and knitted a few. Wouldn't it be great if we can complete three blankets!

Bring all your completed squares with you, plus some yarn and a pair of needles in case we need a few more squares or some pieces to fill in the gaps. Please also bring either a crochet hook or a sewing up needle so that you can join in the construction process.

Plans are also coming on for our Knit in Public event arranged for Saturday 8th June at the Hart Shopping Centre and we will update you about that as well.

We'd also like to see anything else you've knitted recently, so bring that along as well.

We'll be starting the club meeting at 8 pm as usual and visitors are always welcome.

Birthday Meeting

This month our speaker was a club member who showed us how to make more of our tension swatches and samples. By adding some iron-on interfacing to the back of the samples they were ready to cut and sew and attach to other materials to make cushion covers, bags, or used as applique in regular sewing projects or stitched together in a multitide of ways to create fantastic new fabrics and textures.

April meeting was our 35th birthday. Shirley made a tasty cake and some sausage rolls to go with our teas and coffees.

There was some interesting items in the show and tell.

A huge jacquard cloth of the Periodic Table of Elements for a backdrop on a stall at a designer maker show

3 designs drawn freehand and scanned into an electronic machine

A beautiful circular shawl

 Hand knitted boot tops, the latest trend seen at the Olympia knitting and stitching show

 A cute cotton top

Very tiny little hats

April meeting

Oops, I almost forgot to post about what we doing in April.  It seems to catch me out every time when the meeting is early, like this time on the 2nd of the month.  And to cap it all it's Easter although you'd never believe it with the weather we are having.

Still - to the meeting.  This year our club has been meeting for 35 years.  I bet the ladies that first met never thought it would still be going after all this time.  And there are still a couple of ladies from the original group that come along.  So it will be cake with our tea and coffee instead of the usual biscuits.

Jean will be talking to us about how to use the tension swatches you've finished with to make patchwork cushions and bags, and other things as well.  You could of course knit especially for it as well.  And there will be yarns for sale so bring along your purse.  The money raised will go to charity as usual.  Plus plenty of time for a show and tell and to sort out any problems you may be having with your knitting.

Look forward to seeing you there, and visitors always welcome.

An Inspiration

The talk given by this months speaker, Designer Ros Wilson was so inspiring. Ros explained how she started designing and writing patterns from her own frustration about the lack of scaled fit for real women in knitting patterns. The talk was well structured and delved into the background of designing to suppliers schedules and seasons that may not be obvious to the novice. It covered all the key points to consider ourselves when creating a similar business. Ros urged us to have a go, it was something we could do if she could.

Enjoying the presentation 

 Beautiful show and tell from members

A little but very expensive in (UK terms) Possum token from NZ

March meeting & other things happening during the month

The March meeting is coming up in a few days time. Tuesday 5th March to be exact.   We have arranged for Ros Wilson to come and talk to us about "Designing for the Yarn Industry".  Ros is an independent knitwear designer and artist, and undertakes the design of garments from drawing to completion of the garment.  She designs and writes hand knitting patterns (including larger sizes) in up-to-the minute styles.

Some of our members are also hoping to visit Machine Knitting Live on Saturday 2nd March at Bournemouth School for Girls.  It is a great day out if you can get there.  More details should be on the Machine Knitting Monthly website.

There is also a new show coming up in March called The Spring Knitting and Stitching Show.  It is at Olympia 2 from 14th to 17th March.  It is organised by Twisted Thread, the same people that put on the show at Alexandra Palace in October, so I am sure it is going to be very good.

For those that can travel further afield, Sewing for Pleasure (exhibition) will be at the NEC, Birmingham from 21st - 24th March and that is also a delight to visit, although the temptation to spend too much needs to be kept in check (well for me anyway!)

Regular visitors will also have noticed that the website has been re-designed and updated (well, we're using a different template!).  We thought it about time as we have been writing this blog since 2006.  It has become very popular with spammers (30 or more messages a day some times) who have been offering us prescription medication, and hot dates, so for the time being we have switched the comments facility off.  I know some people do like to leave nice messages,  so we'll try switching the comments on again in a few weeks time and see if the spam has stopped.

I do hope some of you make it to the Fleet Knitting Club meeting on Tuesday 5th March.  The meeting starts at 8 pm and usually finishes around 10 pm.  Tea and coffee are served during the evening.  I'm looking forward to hearing Ros talk.  It's been a while since we had a speaker and this talk should be really interesting.

Good Start

The first meeting for the new year got off to a great start. It was very busy with a sales table full of yarns, show and tell, as well as knitting/crafting gadgets of all kinds and vintage to explore.

Which one shall I have?

 

 

 

 

 

The following pictures are all the wonderful items the members have made since the last meeting. What a lot of activity and creativeness. Some are hand knitted and some machine knitted.

 

Garter Bar, wool winder, clips...

Liz had an interesting selection of gadgets including a number of vintage skein winders

First meeting of 2013

The first meeting of 2013 is on Tuesday 5^th February.  I haven’t been able to book a speaker who lives nearby and I’m reluctant to ask anyone to travel a distance as we can never be sure what the weather is doing. So I put my thinking cap on!  Now I know you’ve all got gadgets tucked away that you use when you are knitting, or to embellish your knitting or that use yarn (yes I’ve got plenty too!).  Or maybe it is something you bought, but haven't ever tried! I would like you to bring them along and a bit of yarn and whatever else you need to use with them.  Then we can all have a play and it could help us decide if it is worth us looking out for them.

I’ll also bring a machine and some gadgets that aren’t made by the big companies so you may not have seen them before.  If you have any tucked away that you aren’t sure how to use, or you think are great, then bring them along.

And bring your purse (with lots of cash in it) as I will be bringing some yarn with me to sell.  Any money raised will go to Cancer Research this time at the request on the person who is passing it on to me.

Don’t forget to bring things to Show and Tell.  

Looking forward to seeing you all again after the break.  And visitors are always welcome. 8pm is our start time.