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.

Hands-on evening - Crochet an edge

At our June meeting we learnt how to work a crochet crab stitch edging that is suitable to go round the edge of something we have knitted, either by hand or machine. Crab stitch gives a very neat edge with a little bump in it. It's worked in the opposite direction to most crochet stitches. If you have never tried it, there are some good sites on the web showing you how to do the stitch. Some of us found it easier than others to start with. Clover make a set of crochet hooks that have an enlarged handle which some members found more comfortable to use than others, especially those that had problems holding the finer crochet hooks due to arthritis. Everyone joined in and had a go and once they got the hang of it were surprised how easy it was.

June Meeting

Another month has rushed by and it's almost June. Our meeting will be next Tuesday (2nd June) at the usual time of 8 pm. What a difference it makes being about to get there and back in day light.

No speaker this month as I know some of you will be on holiday. Instead, those of us that are there will be learning a bit about crochet and how to use it in conjunction with our knitting. We will be showing you how to do crab stitch which is a great edging to use when putting a zip into our knitwear. Of course it also has other uses as well.

So whether you have never mastered crochet, can do a little bit or are an expert at crochet, do come and join us. If you are an expert, you can pass some of your skills on, or if you haven't every mastered crochet you may have by the end of the evening.

Bring a crochet hook, a tension swatch and a little yarn can. Don't worry if you can't, there will be some there for you.

Visitors welcome.

Bill was quite happy to model his creations!
















Weaving, using wool and cutting the floats.













Bill demonstrating at his machine, so quick using his thumb to push needles in and out of hold!















Another beautiful garment!

A beautiful sample combining texture and lace.











Now this is colourful!











Holding position used to make chevrons.










More patterns made using holding position.













And again, more intricate this time!

Cleverly shaped garment using holding position and ribbing.


















An attractive pattern using a tuck and rib stitch.
















More tuck and ribbing.

















This pattern is reminiscent of a spiders web, all done using holding position to achieve the shape.

May Meeting

Tonight we had a very special, and interesting guest speaker, Bill King, who is a knitwear fabric designer. Bill doesn't design the garments, just the fabric and patterns which will be used in production. His samples are taken to the fashion houses and shows and hopefully bought and eventually end up as garments in our shops! He explained that to show these fabrics at their best he has to knit his samples as mini garments, consisting of the front and maybe one sleeve, with relevant edges and trims. He does not work from charts or patterns, just straight from ideas in his head! On average Bill will produce at least two samples a day.

We all found Bill to be an entertaining speaker, full of ideas which he was willing to share, and he was more than willing to sit at his machine and show us some of the techniques he uses! It was a bit like a magic show to watch as the intricate patterns appeared, sometimes using the most simple of techniques! We do not realise what wonders our little machines are capable of producing. If only we had the time to sit and play and explore all the possibilities, but for now I for one, am quite happy to admire Bill's creations!

This was one evening to remember, and if anyone has the chance to see Bill in action, it is well worth it!

May meeting with Bill King

OK this post is very late, my excuse is I've been away for a few days and didn't have time to do it before I went.

However I do hope you find this in time to come to our meeting tonight. Bill King is coming to speak to us, all the way from Derbyshire. You may have heard of him. He has been writing recently for Machine Knitting Monthly.

I've also spoken to some members of the Guild of Machine Knitters that have attended one of his workshops. They have all thoroughly enjoyed the day, learnt lots and come away with heads full of different things to do on their machines.

I am really looking forward to hearing Bill speak. Visitors are welcome. We will be starting at 8 pm as usual.

April Meeting

This month we had a return visit from the ladies of the Woodley Knitting club. We visited them earlier this year, taking some of our knitting to show, so it was time for them to bring their knitting to us!






This selection of photos shows some of the lovely ladies, and the beautiful knitting they brought with them.







Each lady showed her garments, and explained how it was done, using any special techniques. There were examples of cut and sew too!







And one lady even brought her hand knitting to show us!

We had a fun, lively evening, and think we might all have learnt something. It is so amazing how friendly and willing to share machine knitters are.
Thank you to the ladies from Woodley!

Show and Tell

Two baby cardigans knitted by Sandra.














Two baby jackets machine knitted by Sue.















A jumper machine knitted by Sandra.
















No shawls from Chris this month, instead this beautiful hand knitted top.

April Meeting

This month Woodley Knitting Club are coming to visit us and tell us about what they get up to and what they have been knitting. (We visited them in February). You'd think that there wouldn't be much to tell about what you do at a club, but every club is different. People like different things, use different yarns and work in different ways. And most knitters like to see what other people have made. So these exchange meetings are usually very interesting and a good way to pick up a tip or two.

I look forward to a good turn our of our club members to help make the members of Woodley Machine Knitting Club welcome. As usual visitors are welcome to come and join us as well.

March Meeting

Tonight we had a lively meeting with lots of practical demonstrations. Our speaker was Clair Crowston, a long time machine knitter and designer.

Two machines were set up, a Brother and a Knitmaster, so the techniques could be shown on both as we all have different machines. Liz manned the Brother, and Clair the Knitmaster. All the techniques are used in Clair's patterns.

We were shown a weaving pattern with pick up, magic fairisle, godets as worked in a skirt, and the latch tool cast on. One example of the magic fairisle used a lurex yarn and the resulting diamond pattern looked as if diamantes had been sewn on the garment, very fashionable at the moment!

A selection of Clair's patterns. All may be obtained through her website (link in previous post).

We all had a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and either learnt something new or had our memories refreshed!

Show and Tell

These little Easter treats have been hand knitted by Pauline for charity. Each contains a small egg.

Close up of baby girl complete with dummy in her mouth!

More of Chris's beautiful handknitted shawls and wraps, showing the stitch pattern details. Some of these are in very fine yarns.

Here's Sandra's top made with one of Clair's patterns!

March meeting

This Month Clair Crowston is our Speaker. She is coming down from her home in Scunthorpe for the Machine Knitting Live show in Bournemouth on March 7th and stopping off for a few days with us first. It's not very often we get the chance to hear and see Clair demonstrating as she lives so far away. Clair will be showing us some of the techniques she uses on the garments she designs. There is a link to her website http://www.machineknittingdesigns-by-clair.co.uk, so if you have time do take a look. I am sure she will have a selection of her patterns available for us to buy.

We have invited members of other knitting clubs to join us for the evening, so we expect a good turnout. Visitors are always welcome at our Club.

Looking forward to seeing lots of you on Tuesday 3rd March. 8 pm prompt please.

If you would like details of the Machine Knitting Live show at Bournemouth, please visit the Machine Knitting Monthly website: http://www.machineknittingmonthly.net/

visit to Woodley Club

Last week some of the members of Fleet Knitting Club visited Woodley Machine Knitting Club to tell them a bit about our club and to show them some of the things we had knitted.

They listened very closely to the things we told them and afterwards had a chance to inspect the garments and other things we'd taken along. We also took along some folders that we had of the printouts of pages of the blogspot.

We were made very welcome and had a lovely evening. Woodley are coming to visit us in April.

Febrary meeting cancelled

Due to the adverse weather conditions it has been decided to cancel the February meeting.

Although the main roads have been gritted and a thaw has begun, many back roads and pavements are still very icy. It is also set to freeze again tonight.

See you on 3rd March when Clair Crowston is coming to speak to us. Clair is stopping off on her way to Machine Knitting Live in Bournemouth (7th March). She comes from Scunthorpe and normally only travels about 70 miles to speak at a club, so this is a rare opportunity to hear her. Her website address is http://www.machineknittingdesigns-by-clair.co.uk/

February meeting

Our February meeting will be on Tuesday 3rd February. 8pm as usual and weather permitting. If the forecast snow settles and the freezing weather continues then do check that the meeting is going ahead as there is little point in putting lives at risk driving to a club meeting. I will put a message up as soon as the decision to cancel is made - no message and the meeting will go ahead.


The plan for the evening is to learn to crochet an edging (crab stitch). Lots of you were asking how I did the crochet edge on the blue/grey jacket with the zip (see October meeting blog) and this is your chance to learn. Bring a tension swatch and some yarn with you, and a crochet hook if you have one. Don't worry if you don't as I will have plenty with me.

I also have exciting news. I have now booked two speakers, one for our March meeting and the other for the May meeting. Clair Crowston is coming in March and Bill King is coming in June.
Both speakers are coming a long distance to talk to us, and it isn't often that they come down this way, so I am really looking forward to those meetings. Don't just pencil it in your diary, put it in in pen and underline it. You don't get the chance to see either of these speakers very often.

Hopefully the meeting on Tuesday will go ahead, and if you can make it, don't forget to bring the things you have made to show everyone.