Another really enjoyable virtual coffee morning. Lots of members had items to show everyone again this month. Some people are prolific knitters or sewers as you’d expect.
- Barbara had hand knitted a cosy cardigan
- Frances had made a smashing black and white scarf and hat all in one using the Alison Dupernex stitch pattern.
- Angie had made a rug and a crocheted cushion cover
- Sarah had updated an old cotton bag by adding some knitted squares to it. She had also made some more gaiter face masks.
- Ann had also made a mask.
- Emy had sewn some bandanas for kids with cancer and also completed some more scrubs for hospital staff.
- Margaret had been sewing dresses and had made a sideways knitted cardigan
- Gill had made a bag and finished off some UFOs (unfinished objects) that had been sitting around for some time.
- Lyn had also made some more masks for the family, experimenting with alternative patterns and fabrics to suit hearing aid wearers. Regular elastic around the ear can rub on hearing aids causing them to whistle and/or making a loud rustling which is very distracting and irritating.
- Angie had also been painting in her newish flat and done the inside of a cupboard door in cheerful patterns to brighten it up.
Also Lyn has collected some nice yarn for a club sale – it is now with Gill. We are looking forward to being able to have a face to face meeting eventually at which we can sell it to members. Thank you Dawn for donating this.
The second half of the meeting was themed – How did we get into Machine Knitting. There were a range of responses. Many people started when they had young children to make clothes for, this was at a time when Mums often made their childrens clothes and there was much less choice in the shops. A few members cannot hand knit or crochet so chose this as an alternative. Others were captivated by seeing demonstrations in the big stores – these were the days when most large stores had yarn, fabric and both sewing and knitting machine franchises. Demonstrators were very skilful.
Some people had been brought up in families where their Mum, Aunt or Grandma had a machine and taught them to use it. Note: Dads and Uncles rarely machine knitted although some husbands got hooked on the craft or lent a hand seting up or mending machines.
A few had attended college courses to study design or textiles and had the opportunity to try machines there.
One lady had fairly recently taken up the craft and was able to improve her skills by coming along to club meetings.
