Hope you had a lovely festive break and you’re bursting with new knitting ideas for 2012.

We had thought that Knit Club would be back up and running this Wednesday 4th Jan, but Hand Bar are taking a well deserved break, so the first Knit Club of 2012 will be next Wednesday 11th Jan, same time, same place as usual: 7 – 10pm, Hand Bar.

Look forward to seeing you soon.

There was so much cake to celebrate the passing of another year of knitting funtimes that we were concerned for a moment that we wouldn’t get through it. But with a bumper crowd, the help of the folks behind the bar and some substantial tupperware tubs we were not defeated.

Thanks to everyone who made cakes and came along to help us celebrate and congratulations to this year’s rosette winners:

Becky (left)  - Most Dedicated Knitter – for pressing on valiantly all year with a fabulous knitted bedspread
Sarah M (2nd from left) – Crochet Pioneer – for helping to make the C word acceptable at Knit Club by being just so damn good at it
Jo L (middle, concentrating very hard on a sock!) – Most Philanthropic Knitter/Crocheter – for making so many beautiful things and giving virtually all of them away as gifts.

To say the carload of FKC ladies who made the trip to sunny Bicton College near Exeter were excited to come face to face with baby alpacas is an understatement.

When faced with the cute and fluffy fellows we went to pieces and there  may even have been a squeal or two of delight. Seeing the nice, burly farmer chap shear a rather anxious alpaca was also a delight, but for very different reasons!

And as if meeting sheep and llamas and alpacas and burly farmers wasn’t enough to set the pulses racing, there was also the joy of three large marquees full of delicious yarns and knitting paraphernalia to get squeally about. Let’s just say we managed to contain our joy long enough to spend a substantial amount of our pocket money on a bootload of squishable yarn. Watch this space for future projects!

Knitted beer cosies anyone? (Image by bpatricksullivan.wordpress.com)

After over a year of wonderful knitting at Toast, Knit Club has followed a trail of magic wool and migrated up to the other end of Falmouth to its new venue at Hand Bar, in the Old Brewery Courtyard at the top of the old High Street.

We’re settling in very nicely to our new home and Pete and his team are making us feel very welcome with plenty of fabulous speciality beers, tasty wines and a seemingly unlimited supply of teas! They even have jars of jelly sweets and mini salamis to munch on, separately of course, not mixed together. The bar is also home to fab exhibitions of illustration and artwork. We think we’re going to like it at this creative little hotspot!

So do come along and say hello, we’ll be the ones in the corner with the sweets and salami!

HAND Bar facebook page

Knit Club poster

Margaret was first to jump in for a cuddle…

…and a queue soon formed to meet the newest member of Knit Club.

We’ve since had a visit from Ella with her eyes open and she’s even more beautiful. Well done Sally and Paul!

So what are the magic Falmouth Knit Club ingredients?

tea + cake + wool

jolly nice folks + knitting

super sparkly face masks + cheesy grins

unfeasibly large balls of wool + cheesy grins

and of course… lovely knitted things (flowers from Hannah’s wedding in this case!)

Whilst wandering around the Port Eliot festival a few weeks ago I stumbled across a woman up a ladder attaching a huge piece of 3D knitting to a tree. In any other circumstances this would have been a strange sight, but at Port Eliot anything goes.

It turned out Sophia Clist was creating an installation called ‘Purl’ for the Children’s Hospice South West Precious Lives Appeal. Supported by the Saltash Friends Group, she was asking passers by to make a donation and then write a hope, wish or dream on a strip of reinforced paper and attach it to the ever growing piece of knitting.

The result was a fantastic visual treat which, thanks to the Eliot family, will remain in the tree as a record of the hopes and wishes of this year’s festival goers.

It just goes to show, you don’t necessarily need needles and wool to get knitting.

It was lovely to see everyone at last week’s Knit Club, including long standing members and some new faces. Designs were old and new too with Sarah and Helen working on some brand new tapestry bags for Sarah and Harriet’s new business The Other Things (soon to launch, so watch this space) and Victoria, who used to come to Knit Club in it’s previous home at Babahogs, popping by to drop off an amazing old knitting book she’d found in the loft. It doesn’t have a publication date inside it but we guessed at late 40s/early 50s. Just look at these  great designs:

And we particularly liked the picture on the inside front cover:

The caption says: “Thank you for your coat which makes my clothes.” The woolly lamb is delighted to accept the thanks and the bouquet – which she promptly eats – from this charming wearer of the knitted suit and jumper.

The lion was part of Northampton Borough Council’s Pride of Northampton project which worked with schools, community groups and local artists to decorate around 40 lion statues that are now dotted around the town centre.

This one was called Joseph, because of his amazing technicoloured dream coat!

Casting on:

Sarah‘s overcome the demons of trying to cast on at KC and has made a good start on a cute little summer cardi.

On the needles:

True to form Jo T‘s started about 17 projects at once because she can’t decide what to do. Favourites so far are a cabled beret in lovely mossy green Rowan 100% wool and a triangular shawl in the yummy purpley 100% merino from the knit expo in Exeter.

Jo L snapped up a scrummy ball of Noro in ‘sludgy green’ (it’s beautiful really) and has started on a scarf as a present.

Bee‘s started what seems like the 100th little elephant, but in fact is only the 4th. They really are very cute though. Photos definitely needed.

Emmett‘s picked up the Christmas jumper again after a gap to concentrate on knitted animals. It’s going to be epic when it’s finished.

Casting off:

Sally‘s finally finished the brown cabled hat for her husband after many, many months of willing it to be finished. The pic here shows it almost done, but we’ve been assured it IS finished and Paul is thrilled with it… just in time for summer!

Ann‘s very happy with her finished jumper, very quick knitting indeed. Well done!