This was another club meeting – we had a demonstration on Fisherman’s rib by Frances our expert on Brother machines, she added a nice embellishment – a small piece of cabling. This was a very interesting talk she showed us how to set up the carriages and what weights to use along with advice on sewing machine settings for cut and sew garments.
Fishermans rib with small cable embellishment, top is racked fisherman’s ribClose up of cable
We also had a sale of yarn, kindly Gillian’s daughters have give us he stash to sell, with proceeds to her favourite Charity at St Georges hospital. There will be more yarn and books next month too.
Finally a show and tell – Angie had crocheted a huge blanket using many ends of yarn on a large hook. We also had an octopus destined for a premature baby unit. It was very fiddly to make apparently.
Crochet Blanket from Angieoctopus for premature baby
Sadly our friend and fellow club member Gillian died in January. She was a regular at the club and came to most meetings even though she was in poor health quite often. Gillian loved crafting and was very skilled, painting, making jewellery, knitting and sewing.
She regularly ran a craft stall for a hospital charity which she supported with many things made by her and her friends. Gillian belonged to a number of knitting clubs and groups and we were all asked to create knitted or crocheted flowers by her daughters and these were used to make wreaths for the coffin at her funeral. Once assembled these were a beautiful tribute to her. Photos with permission of Gillian’s family and club members.
A small group of club members attended the funeral which was a celebration of her life. We all send our condolences to members of her family and her many friends.
Wreaths created by Gillians Friends and FamilyFlowers mainly contributed by members of Bookham Knitting Club
Her old friend and fellow club member April Hardman wrote this about her:
About Gillian
It was with great sadness that all members heard of the passing of Gillian. She had been a member of Bookham Machine Club for about 10 years. She rarely missed a meeting and was an active member of the club. Initially, she had a Knitmaster Electronic Machine, but when that failed she returned to a punchcard Machine. She knitted many garments on both these machines, she loved autumn colour mostly but occasionally wouldn’t knit in brilliant colours too.Lately, she had returned to her first love of hand knitting, she loved to create small animals of every kind. She was a prolific watercolour artist and when on vacation she would also have drawing material with her and also her camera. She had a wide knowledge of art and when looking at a painting more often than not she could name the artist. She was married to John Quenzer who was a fine artist and a potter.
We had two main themes this evening. The members were asked to knit squares of exactly 15 cm. A whole pile were made and these will be turned into a blanket. A discussion ensued ot the best way to do this. In the end it was decided that a Hague Linker be used as it gave good consistent results and was faster than hand grafting or crocheting the squares together
Patchwork Squares for BlacketHague Linker ready for Patchwork Squares
This linking will be done over this and the next meeting – members are asked to take turns during coffee breaks and chat times.
The second theme was crochet and members not familiar with crochet were given some instruction.
Crochet evenning
Then, with a pattern Margaret had found, we all made some cotton make up removal pads which were washable so did not use up environmental resources like tissues or cotton wool.
Cotton Face cleaners
Sheila’s jumper and blanket work in progress
Antheass cream jumper details
Emmy’s Scarf
Finally and very sadly, members had crocheted flowers to be put on wreaths at Gillian Quenzer’s funeral. Gillian had said flowers are for the living so her family had arranged to have knitted ones made by members of all the different knitting groups she had belonged to. She will be sadly missed.
