Redbridge crafts

Looking forward to our final meet of the year we can all congratulate ourselves on being especially productive.

 Three boxes of items for charity have already been dispatched with another ready to go. We should have enough squares for another blanket for the night shelter and everyone has been sewing like mad to finish presents for friends and family.

The beginning of the year for Wanstead crafters will see a short hiatus as we are closed for refurbishment, the group will meet in a local coffee shop for the month of January but be able to come back to the library in February.

We hope to introduce teenagers to the increasing popularity of making your own stuff during the Teen week we are holding in March.

If I don’t have time to post before have a wonderful Christmas and a creative New Year

It is very difficult sewing dark fabric by atrificial light. I try and get the worst of it done during daylight but there is so little of that around at this time of year. Daylight bulbs just don’t quite match up.

The clubs are knitting well at present with lots going to charity and many making up the shoeboxes to go to orphans abroad. Like most public services we are fighting to keep going and the more publicity we can get, the better.

We are trying to get more reading groups going , by March, in all our branches – a bit difficult when you are closed for refurbishment for a couple of months as three branches will be. Still it will be worth it in the end. My branch will be starting groups for history buffs and teenagers so that should be fun. I would like to start a group for sci fi nuts but I don’t think it would be allowed.

We are a bit busy in the library at the moment with our Autumn book festival. It incudes knitting author Jenny Lord who has written a great book for beginner knitters. We launch a new Knit and Natter group at our newest and smallest library, Seven Kings, tomorrow so it will be interesting to see how it runs. We will then have ten groups so only three libraries don’t have groups of their own although Aldersbrook is involved with a group that meets over the road from the library building.

Older people’s day will also be an opportunity to promote ourselves and Library Discovery Day on 16th October should bring people out in force.

Charity knitting goes on apace with more boxes going to the Loving Hands Charity for distribution to a variety of worthy causes and we have just had an influx of new craft books for all our crafters to enjoy. The best bit of the meeting is still sitting around with friends having a good talk. I hope you can join us.

Well after complaining las time about how hot it is we promptly get a turn in the weather. At least it was nice for the Garden party we held this week for the Wanstead group. Strawberries and cream and Pimms went down very well all round and there was a lot of fun had by all. I have just discovered a Knitting Reading Group called the knitterati which sounds fun – it all depends on their meeting nights not clashing with late working so I might find myself heading into central London each month to attend.

Yet another box of charity items went off last week and we are starting the build up to Christmas with a look at the possibility of doing shoeboxes for the elderly. A charity has decided that there are enough boxes going to children so what about people at the other end of their lives – they can suffer just as much neglect if they are poor and disabled. Go to the Loving Hands charity website for more details.

Goodbye until next time

The recent hot weather has made knitting difficult for some – Who wants a shawl, jumper or blanket draped over their lap in this heat? Much better to do small projects that are not long enough to lie about on you.  So I have started knitting a Dwarf Helmet. Why you may ask. Well it all has to do with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. The Convention is in August and some of us , who didn’t get tickets for the main Gala Dinner, are doing an alternative event. Since the theme is the Crowning of The Low King of the Dwarves I am making an appropriate outfit. The main hat will be grey wool with a bit of cable to give it a bit of interest and the hair and beard will be knitted to fit. I have to get two of these finished by August Bank Holiday – in addition to the other projects!

Hi all

 It is some time since I have been able to post due to various circumstances but normal service will be resumed from now on.

Since our last post Clayhall library has started a Craft and Chatter group, I have taken part in the Race For Life and we celebrated World Wide Knit in Public Day at The George pub in Wanstead(pictures later)

Race for life was fun, many members of Stitch London were there knitting all the way round the course.

World Wide knit in Public day saw 25 knitters from several groups and a few people who don’t yet belong to any group meeting up to celebrate knitting. It was wonderful to see so many knitters and meet people from as far away as the Barbican Craft and Conversation group. We hope to make this an annual event at different venues

Ever had the feeling that spring will never come? Still the groups are all going along nicely with new members at every meeting and we have dispatched parcels to the Redbridge Night Shelter and Loving hands charity. Lots of new projects are being started – my latest will be a costume to wear at the next Discworld event at Wincanton on May 1st – full Morris dancers kit in pink!

Meeting space at Wanstead will be at a premium for the next month as our usual space is booked by fee paying groups so we will be migrating round the building for a quiet corner – still if we are in the main part of the building it might lead to more members

Everything is getting back to normal despite the weather.  Groups are meeting again and starting to think about what to make for the new season.

After a successful Christmas orders are already coming in for next Christmas so it is time to get the patterns out and gett stitching.

Don’t forget the Knitting and Stitching show coming up in February at Excel, London. It is usually an excellent opportunity to stock up on stuff for the next few months. Watch out for meetings of Stitch n Bitch , London and samples of Geurilla knitting round the capital.

In a library you can really get a distorted sense of the passing of time. When the three week issue date hits a bank holiday the computer says to itself “oh I have to give them an extra week”  over the Christmas period, of course, you get consecutive bank holidays so some lucky people have an extra fortnight to read their books. All of our groups in the libraries will be taking a break over the Christmas period and will restart in January. My own group in Wanstead will be the last to meet on 17th December.  The Keith Axon Centre group, Fulwell Cross and Ilford Groups all meet between 4th and 9th January and would welcome new members for the new year.

 My own projects are going well with only one scarf and the games board to finish before Christmas. After Christmas I have a couple of months costume making before the new reenactor season.

The new groups at Ilford and Wanstead are now affiliated with the Loving Hands charity organization. We hope to be able to produce lots of items for the charities supported by Loving Hands. We will be able to make a vast variety of  things from breasts for the breastfeeding campaign to burial robes for stillborn babies via blankets for pet rescue centres and hats for sailors.

 We would love to have more members for the Ilford group. The next meeting is Saturday 12th December 10am – 11.30am. A good antidote to the rush of Christmas Shopping have some peace and quiet to get on with your latest project. From 9th January we hope to meet fortnightly – watch this space.

Our other new group, at Wanstead, is expanding rapidly but, again, would like new members. The next meetings are 3rd and 17th December 2pm – 3.30pm at Wanstead Library.

Like most crafters I planned to do so much for Christmas and am now faced with the possibility of not finishing everything. I still have 4 embroidered lavender bags, One embroidered game board, 16 embroidered dice , one mediaeval badge and a crochet hat to finish by 25th December!! Aaargh!!!

I will let you know how I get on in a later blog