Oxfam blanket

On Friday,I recieved a letter from Sarah Blakemore, of Oxfam. With the letter, she had included a postcard of the blanket for Maternal mortality. It (the blanket) was huge. Something like fifty feet wide by two hundred and something feet long!
I will, Of course, bring letter and picture to the next meeting, but I was so pleased to receive them, that I had to share it immediately.

More baby hats!

Here's a couple of hats I knitted for a friend's. She was 5 weeks premature so needed little hats! I'm not sure she looks especially pleased about having to wear them though!

Well, It's been a pretty thin summer for the Blog. Many of us have had a 'gone off it' moment. And, of course everyone has been busy. So, a few things from me;

This morning I recieved a letter from Oxfam, re :the squares for maternal mortality. I will bring it to the next meeting, but you may like to know that Sarah Brown will be recieving the petition on WEDNESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER outside Downing Street, and adding her own square.
The 40m blanket will be displayed at LAWRENCE HALL, RHS HALLS, Greycoat St, London,
2 -5 pm the same day. We are invited to attend. The tone of the letter suggests that Oxfam are trying to get as many people as possible to the display.

Tutley Mutley, a fellow Raveller, has flagged up an event being staged by the Knitting group that she belongs to. The group is the Tea Shop Knitters, and the event is KTog 2. There will be stalls run by Yarn Shops, Workshops (which will be charged extra, but nominal) and TEA AND CAKE. Sounds wonderful. All this will take place in Bovey Tracey, on Sunday 19 October.
This is advance notice, and I will blog more details as I have them.

And I have finally finished Nicky's waistcoat. Yaaaaaay! Not as nicely 'finished' as I would have liked but, hey, we live and learn.

French Weir

A reminder, Ladies. On Sunday we will be knitting at the French Weir Park Fun Day.

Sunday 10th August - 10-4
French Weir Park FREE Entry
Lots of Activities ( some free )

So, bring your knitting and join us .Some of us will be knitting hats for the premature baby units at local Hospitals.

Hat patterns for premature babies

We were chattering on Friday night about whether we might knit some hats for the neonatal ward at Musgrove Hospital (a good idea for using odd bits and bobs wool).

Also talking about whether this is what we knit on Sunday at the French Weir family fun day.

So here are some patterns:

Baby
'http://www.p2designs.com/pdfs/Denny-BrokenRibHat.pdf
Free Knitting Pattern W80025-K Preemie Cap : Lion Brand Yarn Company
http://www.p2designs.com/pdfs/HatSeashore.pdf
http://www.p2designs.com/pdfs/HatPoppies.pdf

Change of Plan

Some of us made it to the Coldharbour Mill open day. Here you see Jacqui, Ness and little K. admiring the very sweet Alpacas, from Ashill Alpacas.
Various problems have caused us to call off the Close Knit attendance at the Fair on the 27th July,in the High Street,Taunton. We will, however, be meeting informally in the Old Library gardens, from 12 midday on the same day, to just knit. Join us if you can.

Not Fibrefest

On Friday, some of us were lamenting the fact that Fibrefest is not happening this year. Well, guess what? Coldharbour Mill is having an Open day, and Summer Art Show. Saturday 19th July. 11am - 4 pm. Free. There will be demonstrations of Spinning, Weaving and Feltmaking. Participation will be encouraged. There will be Alpacas in attendance. So, see you there!
[ I also picked up some flyers about Fibrefest NEXT year, 22nd and 23rd August 2009. I will have them at the next (August) meeting, although folk may pick them up at the open day].

July Meeting

What a jolly meeting, last night. Quite a lot of people, and such skills! With Rosalind carding, and Chris hand spinning and everyone else knitting, we had a 'start to finish ' of hand-knits going on. And plenty of cake.

The Oxfam squares are going well - Ness has some, as well as those in the photo. The collection reflects our range of expertise, in the level of ambition of pattern. All beautifully made.

I've realised that I haven't uploaded any pics from my camera for ages, so I can't post about my first ever finished knitted garment.

Still, here's a pic of my first ever knitted anything - the scarf that turned into a bag. I am still immensely proud - those were the days when I could barely hold the needles, let alone purl!

Thanks to all of you for the fantastic birthday cake and brilliant pressies. I still haven't spent the Hayes voucher, though I have thoroughly enjoyed using the money ten times over in my head. At some point soon I shall commit to a new project and blow the cash on something fabulous.

See you soon xxx

My last two projects

I finally made the move from scarves to cardigans. I had a button left over from the first cardigan so chose a cardigan to go with the button.

World Wide Knit in Public Day

Hello, all!

If you are looking for a WWKIP Day event, here's a link for finding one! :) Happy knitting!

Check it out!

Grafting stitches

Thank you Linda for all your help on Friday sorting my knitting out. I thought I would post what I found about grafting stitches as there is a helpful video on this site. http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/tips/graft.htm

June

It's the June Close Knit tomorrow. Hurrah!!!

Some Party!

Well, Knitting and Friday night arrived, and so did lots of cake! Here you see Ness cutting the birthday cake, with a little help from M.
We also welcomed lots of new members. (eight,I think). I can't remember everyone's names, but we will be delighted to see them all return.
A fair amount of knitting went on. So many different styles of project!
Several people ( Steenie, Amber, Jacqui, Ramona, Kat, Carla, me, and I can't remember the names of the others) went and Knitted In Public at Wellington monument on Monday. That was lovely. It was to publicise the Oxfam project, as well as Close Knit.


While we were there, we were able to get fabulous coffee from the lovely Lisa, who was running Coffee for gossip from her portable coffee bar. (You get cheek as a side order!).



On the knitting front, Steenie has reminded me (!) to post a photo of my mittens/gloves. I finished them in March, from a Rose Michelle Orne pattern. The wool is Jaegar matchmaker d.k. from Hayes.

Tomorrow 5th May wellington monument from 12 noon

Hello everyone - don't forget to come to Wellington Monument tomorrow from 12 noon, to celebrate May day and to knit and eat cake as well as enjoy some of the other attractions (music, dancing, tree decorating, woodland play scheme, Painting etc) that will also be going on. We will have the close knit gazebo up hopefully from about 12 - and all you need to do is to bring chairs/rugs to sit on - and your knitting of course. Don't forget to bring cake too - if you wish/have time!

Hope to see you tomorrow! Blessed Beltane! xx

Happy Birthday

Today is the May Close Knit, which means we have been meeting, knitting, and eating cake for a year! So, Happy Birthday, Close Knit. Also, Thank You, Ness, for setting it up.

[It's also Amber's Birthday about now]

So, tonight, come and knit. And eat more cake than usual.

Yeah baby - all done!

Here you go all! My (or rather M's) lovely new vest - my first attempt at cable! Am so proud! It was from a pattern in Knitty i think. I used a paton's dark raspberry wool mix pink yarn -reasonably cheap - from Dave's of course. Only needed 250g. I did have abit of a problem with the straps as they weren't long enough the first time - so having totally finished it I had to undo all of it (arm holes and straps as well as the collar border) and start again - but it was OK - no biggy. Anyway, hope you think it's as wonderful as I do! M loves it too - which I guess is the main thing! Hrmm - what to do next!??? xxx

My Fininshed Bag!!

I used yarn Christina gave me to knit up a Saturday Market Bag.

This fantastic bag was knit in a few days, though it took some time for me to do the finishing touches (though I tackled those in our staff meeting!). I used it for the first time last week and it held up well. I put the details on my Ravelry page, but the highlights are that I loved it. :)

I will bring it along the next time I attend a meeting. I won't be around next week as I will be flying back to the states! Enjoy the cakes for me! :)

Cables

Right. Cables. Well, you should not need to add or subtract stitches when you make cables in the design, BUT you must keep your tension even. Another must, if you want well defined cables, is that there should be at least two stitches either side of each cable that are different from the cable and the border; i.e.

5 stitches garter. 2 st. reverse stocking st. 8 st. st.st.[cable] 2 st. rev st st. 5 st. gart.st.

I hope this helps, but if it's as clear as mud, I can demonstrate at our next meeting, which is next week. Also, remember that if you are doing a main ground of something like moss stitch, you need to have an odd number of stitches to get good border definition.
Have fun!

A question re the squares and tension etc

Thanks L for all the info re the squares and tensions etc...how does it work if you want to make a pattern? For example - if I decided I wanted to cable the square, would I put more stitches on, or would it not make a difference?
Confused and unravelled
Steenie

Good reasons to knit

Finished. The little cardi whose sleeves I forgot to shape. It is also the first knitted object I have ever designed. It is in superwash double knit pure wool, from Hayes wools [of course].Made for a friend's new baby girl.
Ness and I were discussing the OXFAM squares project last night, and realised that a number of our newer knitters may be wondering how to decide on needle size and stitch numbers for each square. We will do a little workshop at one of the meetings, but for now, I suggest this;
Use double knit wool, size 4 mm needles and cast on between 47 and 54 stitches.If you are a loose knitter, try the lower number.If a tight knitter, go for the higher end. If you are still on the big size having used the lowest number, you can go for even fewer stitches or use a 3 .75 mm needle [or both if it's really big ] and, obviously, the reverse [more stitches, 4.5 mm needles] if your knitting is still too tight/small. I hope you enjoy making your square, it's such a good cause.

Got some stash?

Hello, all.

I'm looking to tackle my next project and am hoping someone might have some unwanted cotton balls to spare from their stash. I'm looking to knit a bag on 10 and 6 mm needles, and was hoping to use some wool that needs a loving home before buying some new stuff. I'm hoping to find some cotton or cotton wool mix, not too stiff type of stuff. If you have anything that you don't mind parting with, I don't mind about colour, then let me know! :)

Tea Cosy!

I am so excited to say that my teapot cosy I've been working on is now finished! I started it at our last meeting, but frogged it all in order to make it better.

I decided awhile ago that it would be fun to create a tea cosy. Having never had a tea cosy, or a teapot, growing up, I wasn't quite sure what I would be creating. I looked on the internet, and a coworker even gave me a fantastic old knitting pattern for Gollywogs and tea cosys. But that still wasn't quite what a I wanted.

I set out and found a teapot for the cosy (though most people likely go about this the other way - cosying an existing teapot). I then spent some time sketching out what I wanted to make and actually did a gauge swatch to make sure it would work. I then knit it up. And it's fantastic! It looks like a corncob (or ear of corn as people say). Just as I wanted it to. And I adore it! :) When I get the camera working, I will go ahead and take a picture. :) Until then, anyone want to come over and share a pot of tea! :)

Another Oxfam update

Each square should be 9 inches in size and preferably made using double-knitting weight yarn. Please make sure that you use make a 9 inch square – odd sized squares can be very difficult to piece together.
You can use any type of yarn, provided that it is washable. All colours are welcome. Superwash wool or washable cotton yarns are particularly suitable.
Plain stocking stitch always curls up at the sides. You can prevent this by knitting a narrow border of garter stitch all round the square. To do this, just knit the first and last five rows (no purling!), and always knit the first five and last five stitches of every row with your stocking stitch in between.
Many people like to make patterned squares. You can find a dictionary of stitch patterns available free at each of the sites below: http://www.knittingonthenet.com/stitches.htmhttp://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/stitches.php
Others may wish to use up different coloured odds and ends of yarn to make striped or multicoloured squares. Some ideas and examples are available here:http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/afghans/sampler.htmhttp://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/motifs_squares.php

More haste, less speed..

It was going so well. A cardigan for a very new arrival. Colours chosen, basic pattern was simple, made the back. Oh, this is sooooo easy. I was within an inch of finishing both sleeves [You can see them both on the circular needles], when I realised -I had not done any shaping! So I had to frog back to the cuff....on both of them. Note to self -don't get carried away with your own cleverness!

More knitting challenge thinking

Lin has had a fabulous idea (hope it's OK to post it on here). We could organise a day/event/fete etc inviting people to come and knit a square. I've emailed the organisers to ask for publicity material but I'm running away with the idea now and was just thinking if we could organise local celebrities/dignitaries to come along to knit. Obviously there would be cake! Maybe we could we could have it in a local park if anyone has those sort of connections?!

Did someone mention UNravelry?

Just a very quick one to let you all know that after much knitting, unknitting, cabling, uncabling, purling and unpurling and even more unravelling, I am finally on the way to achieving my first cable knit sweater (FIRST! did you get that? F I R S T!!)...OK - so it's for M and not very big, and being done on 4mm needles, but its damn cute and a brilliant colour...and its a vest - so no arms! Excellent! Anyhoo - I just wanted to show you all how I am getting on...I guess it is safe to say that this weekend I shall be mostly 'cabling'...teehee!

Lazy-lay-about wraparound jacket not to be worn outside!

Morning all - a picture of my sheep - or what was a sheep - or at least a sheep's coat at some point! My lazy-lay-about cardigan' which I have finally finished! I did the front and back pretty quickly with some wool left I bought at the fibre fest - but although I thought there was enough, there wasn't! So - I waited for about 6 months and finally got some Rowan Big Wool for the arms...it is ever so slightly a diffferent colour and ever so slightly a lighter weight yarn, so I have been thinking about dyeing it another colour, so if anyone has any success stories in doing this, I would love to hear about them!

You may notice that I look rather tired and like I have been actually shearing the sheep myself - I hadn't - I had just cooked for about 3 hours and had eaten a huge meal with good friends...no change there, thank goodness!

Anyway - I hope you like it. It is almost too big to wear outside, so I am turning the heating off and sitting calmly and quietly, wearing it on the sofa, of an evening. This is fine, as long as I don't knit, as any form of exercise in it brings me out in a sweat. I must just mention that it came from a book that Pam has, which I can't remember the name of (I will find out) and was knitted in super chunky wool, with a pair of 10mm needles. It is called a Wraparound Jacket...but even the picture of it is a lady in her PJs on the sofa, wearing it. It should definitely come with a health warning, as it can't be worn if it rains, as this might result in being weighed down so heavily that one would get stuck in the mire. Should there be any mire near by...

I definitely recommend knitting one of these...I love big needles and as long as you have all the wool to hand and don't have to wait for ages to get it, then you can probably whip one of these up in a couple of days. Instant gratification knitting - perfect.

Oxfam challenge

Oxfam is calling on all knitters in the South West to purl together and support a new campaign to help reduce the numbers of women who die needlessly every year in pregnancy and childbirth. Millions of mums in poor countries get low-quality health care or are forced to go though pregnancy and childbirth without it altogether, meaning that, every minute, a mother dies because she doesn’t have access to the medical care she needs.

The campaign is being launched in partnership with the parenting website http://www.mumsnet.com/ and knitters across the UK will be asked to make 9-inch squares for a giant baby blanket, with each knitted square representing a mother who did not survive pregnancy or childbirth to be able to care for her baby. Some Stitch n bitch groups are also involved already (http://stitchandbitchlondon.wordpress.com/ ).

Our aim is to get 250,000 squares by September, the number of mothers who could have been saved in that time if decent healthcare had been available. The giant blanket will be handed over to the UK Government just before world leaders meet in New York to discuss progress on the Millennium Development Goals, aimed at halving world poverty by 2015. It will represent a demand to global leaders to act now to ensure that everyone in the world has access to free basic healthcare. After the giant blanket has been handed in, it will be dismantled and sold in Oxfam shops and at festivals, with the money raised going towards Oxfam's work to fight poverty.

If this is something you would be keen to get involved in it would be fantastic to have your support.

Meet Ronnie

This is Ronnie, he will be a present for K when we meet her. The pattern is one Linda kindly gave me, a Mary Ann Gebhardt classic teddy bear pattern from interweave knits.com.

The main colour is another beautiful eco wool and the coloured parts are odd bits and bobs from my stash.

He's got some curvature of the spine issues but his jaunty little twist gives him character!

Some people run marathons...

...other people knit snood/ cowl type things with 400 stitches in each row! I have finally completed this for Bella, a friend at work. It has been a bit of a labour of love. It is knit in 100% angora (which I bought from Coldharbour Mill) and is beautifully soft. I can't really call it my own 'pattern' - I just cast on 400 stitches onto a long circular needle, joined into a round and worked 1x1 rib until it measured 13 inches, ending up with a giant loop. The idea is that she can loop it once around her neck and once round her head, or twice round her neck. Here's a photo of her modelling it!

Big Bear and Little Bear

Big bear is the big bear and little bear is the little bear. Big bear and little bear lived in a house with a mouse and her mummy. The mouse's mummy often tried to knit things and sometimes she was less successful than others. This particular time she had attempted to knit a sock on the train and although she thought she was doing very well, it was in reality a different story all together. When she got home she was very excited to have finished one of the socks and so decided to celebrate and drink some red wine, and commence knitting the other sock. Let this be a lesson to all bears (mice and people)...as you can well imagine, the 'under-the-influence-sock' did not quite turn out the way it was supposed to, and much to big bear's disatisfaction, and little bear's amusement, she bequeathed the odd socks to the mouse, who loved them very much and put them straight on big bear's cold feet to warm her up - right after she had finished her Oliver Newton-John work-out. THE END.

The first ever cardigan

OK - so I can't resist telling you about the first ever cardigan i knitted. I decided to knit it when I was pregnant, having previously only ever knitted scarves or blankets (that began their life as a scarf and ended up as a blanket, but that is a whole other story and if I ever get the photo of it I will definitely post it). Anyway - it was supposed to be a white cardigan, for a newborn baby...my daughter is now over 2 and can just about wear it! I knew very little about babies when I knitted it (as you can tell), so just to illustrate what size I thought the baby might be (according to my knitting at least) when it came out, I have put it next to one of her dolls....

At least it has lasted 2 years already and I bet we can get another year's wear out of it! I made up the stripes myself from lots of different bits of wool I pinched off my mother, and I knitted it with needles that were too big f0r the wool...hence its quite holey! But, other than that - its not too bad for a first attempt - methinks! Enjoy!

The one that took tooooo long!

Goodmorning fellow knit-knits! I have finally managed to get some photos sent to me of the very lovely jumper (if I say so myself) that I knitted for little L's 3rd birthday. Here he is proudly modelling it! It was made in Chameleon (Wendy) which is the loveliest wool (and 47% wool, 50% acrylic and 3% polyester), chunky with a very fine black thread wound around it - knitted on 6.5m needles (uk). Its a sort of dark orange, yellow, pink and brown and knits in stripes beautifully. The pattern came from one of Linda's magazines - I can't remember which one, but perhaps Linda can add that at the bottom of this blog?:o) Anyway - it was easy peasy!

It's actually the first jumper I have ever made (have previously only made 2 cardigans, one of which was a cadigan coat thing) so have never previously had to tackle the V neck! But, all said and done, it turned out pretty good and I don't even think there were any mistakes in it! It did take an awful long time as for some reason I had knitter's cramp...and it does unfortunately seem to be lingering...it may have something to do with getting an allotment and not having space for 2 hobbies in my head! Have a wonderful weekend whatever you do! I shall be praying for sunshine! :o)

Lovely little cardi

I just wanted to add to few words about the lovely little cardi that Linda has photographed so beautifully (scroll down a bit!). It was made for my boss's daughter, who is now well on the way to being grown up, when she was small. Linda and I though it would be nice to post some photos because it uses such a pretty combination of colours and is so sweet - especially the hand made label. I think Linda may be working on a pattern to go with it or at least some instructions on how to do the exciting bobbly bits.

losing the will to knit

I thought I would post a picture of my mid-way through project as I can't get the motivation to finish it. Little needles and lots of stitches really aren't my thing but it will be my first ever adult sized cardigan when it's done.

I'm using the beautiful eco wool I got for my birthday along with a bit of green from the mill place in Tiverton (name is escaping me) and following a pattern from the Eco wool dk book. It'll be brilliant when it's finished....

Anyway, posting a half finished thing will now shame me into completing it (that's the plan anyway) xxx

Isn't this lovely!

Some knitting patterns may not be worth the effort...

Not really sure what to say about this. It's pink and it's a sheep (I know it looks like a hedgehog, think that might have something to do with her very pointy face). To help to make her more realistic I have added some grass (I think that made it worse).

It's good to do everything once in life. Now I wont have to make a pink sheep ever again.

Finished!

Here it is - the kidsilk scarf I seem to have been working on for AGES. It's soft, it's fluffy, and I love it.Now I have to get on with the Waistcoat I promised my sister for her Birthday [which was last week -oops].

Dates for your Diary

As promised last night at the meeting, a list of some events hapening this year.I will flag up others as I hear of them.

FEBRUARY
An indulgence evening at SCAT Conference Centre.
7.30-10 pm Thursday 28. tickets £3.
Tickets available from AMBER,
There will be a Close Knit table, bring your knitting, prepare to be indulged,
and have fun.
PLEASE SUPPORT THIS.

MARCH
Monday 10 - Sunday 16
JERSEY TEXTILE SHOWCASE 2008
http://www.mn19.com/

APRIL
Sat 26/ Sun 27
WONDERWOOL WALES 2008
At Royal Welsh Showground
http://www.wonderwoolwales.co.uk/

JUNE
Saturday 9
WORLD KNIT IN PUBLIC DAY

Friday 27/ Saturday 28
WOOLFEST 2008
Cockermouth, Cumbria
http://www.woolfest.co.uk/
There is also an open day projected for Bath Place, but I can't remember when Ness said it would be.
I also promised a link to a wonderful site for buttons VERY like the ones at Ginger Fig;
http://www.stockwellpottery.co.uk/
Lovely to see you all last night.What a delicious selection of baking! Have a blessed Imbolc. x

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!)