Redbridge crafts

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

Redbridge libraries will be running an event called Get Creative as part of the Learning Revolution Festival. At Fullwell Cross Library from 10am – 3.30pm

On 31st October you can come and find out about all sorts of clubs in Redbridge. i will be there promoting the Knit/Craft and natter groups and we hope to have representatives of music, drama and wargaming groups there as well.

I look forward to seeing you there

Redbridge is really going strong now with 2 new groups launching over the next few weeks.

The Keith Axon Centre at Chadwell Heath will be launching a new group on 28th October and Wanstead Library will be launching a group on 5th November. Both groups will be fortnightly, Check with the branches for times.

Keith Axon Centre 020 8708 0790

Wanstead Library 020 8708 7400

The next two meetings for the Fullwell cross library group are on 5th November and 3rd December.

South Woodford group have been busy making hats and gloves for the Redbridge Night Shelter and have amassed a considerable pile which will be handed over fairly soon.

We have a special knitting author event at The Keith Axon Centre on 15th October, contact them for details.

All quiet here at the moment. most members are on holiday and most of the library groups are having a break. - NOT SOUTH WOODFORD. We have meetings on 10th and 24th August 2 – 3.30pm.

We have nearly enough squares for another blanket and I am looking around for more charity work we can do.

We are still looking for new members

I have a group of about 8 regulars, all very keen knitters mostly, and a few bring along a friend occasionally. So far they are happy just to use the time for swapping patterns and ideas and introducing their other clubs and interests to each other. A couple from the Art Club here offered the rest spaces on their coming coach trip next week which were eagerly taken up. So I feel that our members are getting the opportunity to make new friends and take up other interests, which I guess was the original idea. They were all quite disappointed that there would be no group in August as school hols. Our next meeting is fixed 10 – 11.30am Thurs. September 10th

We run 2 craft groups at Hainault library.  The Tuesday group meets every two weeks from 2 to 3.30 pm.  The Saturday group meets once a month from 10 to 11.30 am.  The members of both groups are of mixed ages and abilities. Our skills cover various crafts including knitting, crochet, patchwork, cross stitch, embroidery and much more.  We do a lot of work for charity including the Premature baby unit at Queens Hospital, shoe boxes for Samaritans Purse, baby hats for Save the Chidren, blankets for SANDS and currently we are making blankets and baby clthes for the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Hi

Redbridge Libraries have had Knit’n'Natter and Craft’n'natter groups for some time now. Hainault library started it but now we have groups at South Woodford, Goodmayes and Fullwell Cross libraries and hope to start up at Clayhall and Ilford Libraries in the near future. New members are always welcome and are invited to bring along their latest project. We are not only knitters! Any crafter with a portable project is welcome although we are unable to accommodate sewing machines.

This month the South Woodford Group have finished two blankets for the Redbridge Night Shelter which will be presented at the end of the month – I will post a picture when it happens.

I will post more news when I get back from my holiday. See you all in a couple of weeks

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