Category: Meetings

There was a discussion and demonstration of the techniques used by Gillian R and Anthea to make a jacket following an Iris Bishop pattern.

This month we had the competition (no photos, sorry forgot to take camera) this was delayed from last meeting, congratulations to all the winners. And thanks to all those who entered, there were many more entries this year than previously and we had a new novice class. Entries were of a high standard.
Here is a list of those who won and the categories:

Catergory	winner
Jumper	Tricia Doughty
Lace	Claire Causton
Toy	Gillian Quenzer
Novice	Lyn Leventhall

A large number of cones of yarn were brought in to be sold, along with a collection of books. Thanks to those involved.

As usual there was delicious cake to be had during the tea and coffee break.

The Cheese and Wine was a very small event this month due to appalling weather conditions, only a few members braved the elements.
The competition was postponed until the March meeting.

There was a good turnout this month.  We also welcomed a visitor.  As it was a club evening there was no speaker but members were asked to consider the future of the club programme as it is increasingly difficult to get speakers on machine knitting now.   What form should  the club evenings  take in future?

An error in the competition programme was  noted – the third item should have the words in lace added.

Also, in regard of the competition, a novice category was added for anyone with less experience who  wants to enter but feels they do not share the same level of expertise as some of our very experienced knitters.  They can submit items using any of the categories but the novice class will be judged as a single group.

Notices included a list of knitting related events running throughout the year, these include:

Dates	Event	Venue	Link
23rd January – 25th January	Creative Crafts Show	Sandown Park, Esher, Surrey	http://www.sandown.co.uk/fixtures/details/the-creative-crafts-show
22 February – 23 February 2014	Unravel 2014	The Maltings, Farnham, Surrey	http://craft.farnhammaltings.com/portfolio/unravel-festival/
28 February – 2 March 2014	Knit & Stitch It 2014 – the exhibition for Southern Needle Crafters and Stitchers	FIVE, Farnborough, Surrey	http://knitandstitch-it.org.uk/
Saturday 1st March	Machine Knitting Live!	Bournemouth School for Girls in Castle Gate Close,Castle Lane West, Bournemouth BH8 9UJ	www.machineknittingmonthly.net
13th-16th March 2014	Spring Knitting & Stitching Show	Olympia, London	www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com
Sunday 6th April	Machine Knitting Live!	LiveWest Park Leisure CentreWilsthorpe Road, Long Eaton NG10 4AA	www.machineknittingmonthly.net

After coffee and cake – delicious as usual, several members gathered around a machine to try to develop a knit-weave effect to mimic grass, and help was given to a hand knitter who needed to solve a tricky problem.
Finally, anyone who wishes to stand as a member of the club committee should submit their names at the next meeting in February.

As usual everyone enjoyed themselves.

Your usual reporter unfortunately missed this meeting, but the students from Morley College experimental knitting course who brought along their interesting and unusual work  by all accounts, encouraged members to try new ideas.

There were a large number of eager knitters with machines at this workshop. Iris brought various punch cards and samples along with some workshop notes and we knitted and tried out various techniques during the day.  We all enjoyed ourselves chatting and learning methods.  It was an inspirational day, many thanks to Iris who kept us entertained with anecdotes and knitting.

This month we had Fiona Morris as our speaker,   her talk was entitled Pattern Play. She used a single punch card to experiment with the various techniques used in machine knitting, encompassing Fair Isle, tuck and slip stitch, weaving as well as various colour combinations.

Fiona brought along various samples so we could compare the texture and handle of the fabrics.  She also brought a large number of lovely garments she had made and a selection of her patterns.

This was a club evening and Frances gave us a class on cut and sew necklines.

There will be a set of instructions and photos to match  on our Knitting Notes section.  These will be made available soon.

 

Due to a cancellation by the planned speaker this month several members got together to demonstrate some crafts they were  having fun with.

• Margaret showed us Arm knitting
• Gillian had been trying finger knitting
• Dawn demonstrated Japanese Braid making

After a demonstration of each craft we split up into groups and all enjoyed trying one or more of these out with varying success.

Margaret made some cowls with the large knitted cords that she had tried, she used several ends of yarn to create a  thick enough yarn to give a good effect, this is useful for using up all those odds and ends you have in your stash.

Show and Tell

Several members brought in garments they had made recently to the show and tell at the end of the evening,  

Baby Cardigan in pink