Little Bit Purple!

Remember this? I gave a sneak peak into something I was working on a while back. It was something that I had been taught to do by Donna at Gartmore using the granny square stitch.

Well it's finished. It's a granny triangle or half granny square shawl. I used cotton in two different shades of purple. It was fun and fairly easy to do (thanks to Donna's lessons). I will probably use it as a scarf come winter.

I also finished this months socks. It's been a very purpley month. I used Zauberball sock yarn in the shade blackberry. I had planned on using a pattern rather than doing a basic sock. However, I had started knitting with it a long time ago, forgot where I was and unravelled it. It got a little bobbly which made it difficult to knit a pattern with. So whilst this is a lovely yarn to knit with I don't recommend it if you think you might have a lot of frogging to do.

I can't take credit for these. Remember the sock classes I gave? One of the girls finished her first pair. I can't take much credit for the lesson either. She had been taught to knit socks the year before. I just started her off again. She pretty much followed the pattern herself. Looks good though.

Learning Something New!

I had a fun day yesterday with my Knitting group. We decided to get together for the day at the weekend in order to learn some new things. Not of it knitting related this time. We had a quilting demo which I plan to have a go at eventually. We were also taught how to make draw string bags. My sewing machine and I are not the best of friends so it was nice to learn to make something with it. Isobel who was teaching us even brought along some pre-cut material and I made the bag above. It's so pretty I don't know what to use it for.

We even got our very own pin cushion made by Isobel.

We also got a demonstration on how to stitch Japanese folded bags. I didn't have a go that time but took notes. I made this one today. It's great to use as little gift bags. One friend even suggested using them instead of an advent calendar. Mine is on the small side so plan to make a larger one in the future.

Socks#6

Still quiet here. If I am honest I am being very lazy with my crafting. I have been reading more than I have been knitting. I did manage to finish this months socks though. It's just a basic sock pattern as I was using it to teach two friends how to knit socks (and they have almost finished their first one). I used Happy sock yarn by Wendy. They have some new colours out and I couldn't resist this green and blue. Plus I love how soft this yarn feels.

In between I am still working on my crochet project although it was set aside to finish these socks. I have also started work on the next baby shower project. I promise photo's when both of these are done.

My folksy shop got a mention on another blog. See if you can spot me on Finally Made It.

Last but not least my knitting group has had its five minutes of fame. At the start of the year I did an interview talking about it and it was published in this months edition of Knit Today.

National Knitting Day!

My knitting group are going to be at Hobbycraft Glasgow on Saturday from 12-3. They will be giving knitting demonstrations to celebrate National Knitting Day. Sadly I won't be there but if you are free or are thinking of joining a group then come along and say hello. They are a friendly bunch.

Baby Shower

The baby shower I have been knitting for was on Tuesday night and as always was good fun. I love knitting for baby showers. I always have fun picking out patterns. As you can see I did my usual and knitted a blanket and a pair of trainers.

The trainers were the first things I knitted. I was going through some old copies of Lets Knit magazine and reorganising them. When I saw these I knew instantly that I had to knit them. The pattern suggested pink and white or blue and white. As Annee doesn't want to know the sex of the baby until he/she is born I chose orange and white. I used Calico yarn by Sirdar which is a lovely cotton. The pattern was fairly easy to follow and knit up despite the dreaded colour changes.

The reversible baby blanket was done with an aron yarn which had a purple fleck through it. I got the pattern from one of those knit-a-day calendars from a few years ago. This is the second time I have knitted a blanket from one of these calendars and this time there were no mistakes in it (the last time the pattern missed out a line). I love the effect of the double moss stitch.

I have another baby shower to knit for in August. I think I might start that next week as I already have planned what I am doing.

Wee Weekend Away

My weekend away with my knitting group seems so long ago now and it's only been just over a week. Sadly we didn't get the weather for it so there was no long walks to go visit the cows (too muddy). We did venture out when the sun came out and I managed to snap a photo of one of the many bunnies that run around the grounds.

As I said it was lots of fun. I did teach one of the classes. Elaine and Dawn both wanted to learn adult sized socks. I think it went okay although I did seem to drive poor Dawn to madness.

On Tuesday there I managed to take a photo of Elaine's progress. She's now started on the heel. I'll post more photo's as they progress.

I sat in on a class too. Donna taught a granny square class last year. It proved so popular that we asked her to do another. She decided to mix it up a little and had several different patterns we could choose from. I decided to have a go at a granny hexagon (it's not supposed to be out of shape, honest) and the granny stripes. I love the effect of the granny stripe and have plans to do something with that pattern. It's certainly given me more confidence in following crochet patterns. Something that has felt like double dutch to me.

I also tried another pattern Donna brought along but I am only showing you a small section of it. Will show you the final thing when I have finished it.

I also finished a present for a baby shower which I will be able to show after tomorrow. This months socks are being used to help teach Dawn and Elaine so they are going to be basic ones. I love the yarn though which you will see when finished. And I am working on a blanket for myself. Just one or two projects then.

Lucky Me!

I will post something about Gartmore soon but wanted to give a quick update. My good friend Helen has recently taken up quilting. If you follow my knitting group blog you'll already know this. The quilted book bag cover is a particular favourite and has been much admired by the rest of us. In fact one or two people have been giving her commissions for them. Over the last month or so I have been loaning her books and as a thank you she made me one of my very own. You have no idea how excited I was about this. She even decorated it with some of the sewing machines fancier stitches.

My particular favourite though is the 'Read Me' stitched on the back. Can't wait to use it!