Coffee pot covers

Well, what happened was.....

It was Christina's fault, she made Lisa a brilliant coffee pot cover for her birthday. It was just at the time when I was trying to work out how to knit using 4 needles so obviously all coffee pots in Taunton needed covers....

This is the first one made for Christina's birthday. It's a bit saggy and I think she regularly covers it in coffee as it's pouring.

So the design was refined and then they just kept coming! I love knitting with 4 needles! Since then I've knitted lots of pairs of pulse warmers (long fingerless gloves) using 4 needles. It's so much quicker and you don't have pesky seems to sew up. So here's pictures of a few of them (cue 'The Gallery' music). Thinking about 4 needles reminds me of a conversation and various drawings (?schematics!) by Christina to help me understand the concept of 4 needles!
Ok, I'll stop now! xxxxxx

The Joy of small knits

Jacquie inspired me to show these dear little booties, which I finished on monday. They are from Simply baby, by Debbie Bliss, and made in Jaegar matchmaker, [from Dave,at Hayes]. These are the first baby boots I've ever made. So tiny!

Home needed urgently...

OKAAAAY - so - since this is a blog for all things knitty, I thought I had better include the disaster that I have been busy knitting for the last week or should I say, the photo I have been working on for a 'spot the difference' book?

I believe my problem might have been 'lack of concentration' and I issue a severe warning: 'don't knit one sock in one place and another, in another'. As you can probably tell - one sock was knitted on the train to London a week ago, the other was knitted on a saturday night...which may have included some red wine...ahemm...in fact, my warning should probably read 'Not to be knitted under the influence'.

The funny thing is that I didn't realise the disaster until today, as I had not been matching both socks as I went along, so only discovered it when I looked at them both lovingly finished this morning! oh dear - I should just mention that they come from the BabyBliss Debbie Bliss book - and I hasten to add (for fear of being sued) they didn't look like this on the picture.

So - if anyone knows of any Pontipines in need of a new hat or hobbits with odd shaped toes who might benefit from these socks, then please do let me know, or they will end up on the 'wall of disasters - lessons to be learned', which is currently quite full, so any help in locating a home for them, very much appreciated! Thank you!

Cup Cosy

I thought I would use the occasion of completing this cup cosy to learn how to post photos and maybe a web link. I made this for a friend at work's daughter and it turned out quite well. It's in double knitting, washable acrylic (from Hayes) using a pattern from the web.

http://mkcarroll.typepad.com/mk_carroll/2007/07/mug-and-french-.html

I adapted the pattern so there was no knitted base as I thought the cup might be wobbly if it had a knitted bottom. Not doing the base meant I could knit the cozy flat rather that in the round.

The button is really sweet and came from Ginger Fig in Bath Place.

My Dad said it was 'ridiculous', that may be so but I like it anyway!

hi close knitters!

Christina, I am not worthy! I don't know how you find the time to do everything you do, bake cupcakes and create a blog!
On the knitting front - I'm sorry I missed the last get together. I was itching to show you my newly finished (at last) stole. It's now so long it's practically unusable, but hey ho!
My grotty illness did have the small advantage of giving me lots of sofa time, so I have finally tackled a real pattern with funny stitches, decreasing, shaping and all. Rowan now has the back and half a front of a pullover, which she keeps getting me to measure up against her to see how much it's grown!
I'm feeling very excited because I went wrong, and managed to rescue myself with no outside help - a huge confidence boost just when I needed one! I shall be displaying my efforts so far at our next session.....

Looking back....

January is a time to look back over the last year, assess what is worth repeating, and what is not. The photo at the bottom shows some of our members knitting, drinking tea, knitting, eating cake and knitting, on National Knit in Public Day, 2007. It was a lovely warm day, and we had great fun.

The one at the top was taken at Fibrefest, another lovely day. Also to be repeated, if we get the chance. I was completely bowled over by the volume and variety of yarn, people and skills packed into such a small space. I spent every penny I had on me, and even had to borrow £2 from Jacqui. I know that others in the group felt much the same about the quality of the festival in general.

Hope you like the photos. Linda.

Knitting and Baking [hoorah!]

Hello,my name is Linda,and I am an addict.I am addicted to Knitting,fondling yarn and Baking.[Those words had to have capitals,because they are so important].The talented and versatile Christina has set up this lovely blog,and I'm so grateful to have a 24 hour place to discuss K. and B.So,a big hug to you,Christina.Remember,our motto is 'Knit and eat Cake.

It's also somewhere to post the notices I forget to bring to meetings.There are already things knitty on the horizon,so look out for details.Happy Knitting!

Hooray for the blog!

I wanted to add my thanks to Christina for the setting up of this blog. I am hoping it will be another way of us all keeping in touch in between meetings. I love catching up and spending time with everyone at the meetings and now I can have a more regular burst of knitting joy by checking the blog. I'm also hoping the blog will provide me with motivation to finish things so I can post pictures and inspiration for more projects (and purchasing!) from the things other people are knitting. Jacqui x

Hello from another close knitter

I'm Ness, a member also of this merry band of women. Knitting because my fabulous Ninna and Mum taught me a long time ago and remembering it again last year to stop smoking.Although I no longer smoke I do now have an obsession with wool (probably teetering on the unhealthy). Meeting up for close knit helps me to realise that waking up thinking about which wool to use for a pattern is perfectly normal. And the cake is good too. Thank you to Christina for creating this blog and for Linda for insisting on it! xx

Why so Close Knit?

Welcome to our Close Knit - Knitting a Community Blog. We are a group of women knitters and crocheters (from beginners to seasoned wonder women) who got together for the first time, about 9 months ago to knit and share stories, patterns, recipes, eat cake and generally have a lovely time - sometimes with wine, but mostly over a cups of tea and coffee, and always with a homemade cake.

We soon found that there were more women out there who want to join us and we ended up having to hire a hall once a month in order to accomodate everyone, as previously we were meeting at each other's houses.

So - why so close knit? Well, although we started out as the usual Stitch and Bitch group, we realised quite quickly that this name really did not fit us well. There was an awful lot of stitching going on, but no bitching at all! Instead we found that the more we knitted, the more we had in common to share, the more we got together, and the more our community grew. We met new people and found new friends - hence, Knitting a Community.

So - we decided that we needed a platform for us all to share our community with others, to record our best successes, our frustrations, our wool obsessions, and of course our best spoils and finished items for all to see! We also have a facebook group, entitled CloseKnit - so if you are on facebook, please feel free to join.

We hope you enjoy it - we will each update this blog as and when we can - and we will also be very willing to help with queries, should you have any - of the knitting/crocheting kind - or if you just want to share, we would love to hear from you - so feel free to contact us on closeknitcommunity@googlemail.com .

Joys to all of you for a wonderful 2008! Happy New Year - Happy Knitting!

Christina
( Just one of the closely knitted women!)