In The Reader Gallery this week we have a fantastic exhibition of Kantha embroidery from Bangladesh collected by Ruby Porter MBE during the 27 years she’s been volunteering for Sreepur Village.
Category: crafts
Knit and Natter News #2
From Katie Gwilt, PQASSO Intern at The Reader and Knit and Natterer
The Knit and Natterers are gearing up for the Calderstones Craft Fair, which is coming up very soon! Make sure you put the date below in your diary…
Here at Knit and Natter we have been busy making lots of woollen friends to place in and around The Storybarn in Calderstones Park. We gathered up our new furry friends to take over recently to be united with the ones previously homed there. A mixture of animals, monsters, birds, insects, of many different colours and sizes, were all placed lovingly in their new home. We hope that all the visitors to The Storybarn discover at least one new friend to keep them company while they explore the wonders within. You might even spot some in the Ice Cream Parlour if you are lucky enough to experience the delicious ice cream or my personal favourite, the warm waffles with ice cream and sauce (yum).
The lovely June came along and brought her finally finished brightly-knitted tea cosy which you can see her modelling below as a hat! It’s been a bit of an in joke with the Knit and Natterers. June was one of our very early members and started knitting the tea cosy at her first session. It was due to be a wedding present for a family member, but two years later it is going to have to be an anniversary present instead. She has been busy making lots of other goodies in the meantime and I am sure that her family will love their new tea cosy and appreciate the time it has taken to make.
Jenni is another of our knitters. She has an amazing gift of being able to look at toys and say “I could make that” – off she goes, without a pattern, and makes her own version using her own rules. Recently she made this little creature based on one of the beasties from the popular game Minecraft. I’ve not played it, but mention it to anyone under the age of 18 and they will know it well. It’s a little like a computer game version of Lego where you build worlds using blocks and it’s been really popular. I am sure the eventual recipient will adore this little green knit.
Finally we celebrated the birthday of our Knitting Ninja! Anthony has been coming to Knit and Natter and has a taste for the finer wools in life. He teases us bringing in items he has bought and claiming them as his own creation, much like this balaclava. He does knit as well though and always keeps us in stock with tasty biscuits and gifts. He has started bringing lovely handcreams in recent weeks to keep our knitting and crochet worn hands nice and smooth which is a lovely treat much enjoyed by the group. Happy birthday to our Anthony!
We are a fast growing group and new members are always welcome. If you are interested in getting involved with us and making Tuesday the highlight of your week, please contact katiegwilt@thereader.org.uk and come along and join the fun! No previous knitting or crochet experience is required, just bring some needles and wool and we can help you get started and soon I promise you will be hooked. Knit and Natter meets on Tuesdays at the Mansion House from 10:30am-12:30pm.
Knit and Natter News
From Katie Gwilt, PQASSO Intern at The Reader and Knit and Natterer
Welcome to the new Knit and Natter Weekly Update!
Knit and Natter has been taking place at The Reader at Calderstones for just over a year now, organised by one of the volunteers, Sue. We meet every Tuesday at the Mansion House from 10:30am-12:30pm and we are made up of a wide mixture of ages and genders (we welcome men who knit!). We have knitters, our resident crochet expert, keen sewers, cross stitchers and professional soap makers. It’s a very welcoming group who work hard and definitely like to natter! Amid the needles, wool and biscuits, we always find time to stop for some Shared Reading (usually one or two poems). A number of our members are part of the various reading groups The Reader runs and anyone can bring along a poem they would like to share with the group.
Since the group started, not only have we all worked on our own creative individual projects for friends and family, but also we have been busy raising money for The Reader. We have donated homemade items for craft fairs plus made a variety of monsters and animals for the new childrens interactive story-centre The Storybarn and Ice Cream Parlour, made squares for the premature baby unit at The Women’s Hospital and are currently working towards the next craft fair in Calderstones Park on Saturday 16th April. One of our knitters has just finished this adorable knitted owl who will be on sale on the day with all proceeds going to The Reader, supporting their outreach work bringing Shared Reading to many various communities.
One of our knitters Rita Harvey went over to The Storybarn recently to drop off an amazing caterpillar she made especially for the space. She handcrafted all of the individual body pieces separately, choosing different coloured material, stuffing and sewing them together, adding in the letters of the alphabet across his side – doesn’t he remind you of the Very Hungry Caterpillar? – and finishing him off with lots of individually-handmade feet, which you’ll see if you look at him from the back and were apparently a nightmare to make and attach! We had a lot of fun tying him to one of the tree branches, so if you are in there see if you can spot him and give him a friendly wave…
At a future meeting we are planning on taking some more creatures over to The Storybarn as a group and arranging them around the building so keep your eyes peeled for some more new weird and wonderful knitted colourful creations…
One final work in progress also by Rita is this lovely one-off Betty Boop toy she is making for a family member. I just love the embroidery for her face. She is fast making the hair to be able to attach and then her work is done. I know I would be over the moon to receive a handmade gift like this and I am sure her new owner will cherish her.
We are a fast growing group and new members are always welcome. If you are interested in getting involved with us and making Tuesday the highlight of your week, please contact katiegwilt@thereader.org.uk and come along and join the fun! No previous knitting experience is required, just bring some needles and wool and we can help you get started and soon I promise you will be hooked.
And if you’re interested in being part of Knit and Natter, get a further taste of what happens by taking a look at the video below…
Calderstones Mansion 