The Craft Circle meets weekly to work on individual craft projects including jewellery making, knitting, crochet, scrapbooking and more. They share skills and ideas during the session and also enjoy lots of chatter and a good laugh. They are more like a Circle of Friends, and offer encouragement and advice particularly to new comers. Here is a selection of the wonderful craftwork that they have recently produced.
Milka – crocheting for a friend
A friend showed me this blanket on Instagram and said she loved the colour combination. I decided to surprise my friend by making it for her and was able to find the colours she liked. It’s crocheted and took me about two months to complete. I loved making it for my friend who was thrilled to receive it.
Ann G: Hand weaving on a loom
Wearable Art: Skirt
This project was woven on a 60cm wide rigid heddle loom with a second heddle kit. This was the first time I had used two reeds to make fabric with a stronger weave. After I had decided that I had enough wool in 8ply to warp up 1.5m for the length of the skirt allowing for shrinkage, I proceeded to thread two strands of wool through 150+ slots in the first reed.
Table Mats
Table mats or dish cloths made from cotton produces a hard-wearing fabric which allows for frequent washing if soiled. This is the first time I have woven with cotton thread on both warp and weft. The set of mats were made with DMC Natural XL 4ply cotton in teal and DMC 2 ply Baby Cotton in white and red and woven on the rigid heddle loom with a single reed at 7.5dpi.
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Mary K: Repurposing Tea Bags
I decided to repurpose teabag strings rather than throw them out. Over a six year period, I collected strings from family and friends and using garter stitch, made two scarfs. The first scarf took 5,365 strings to make and the second 12,560 strings. The knots from tying the strings together and the tea stains on the strings add interest to the scarfs.
Annette: Knitting for the Community
Since childhood I have enjoyed knitting and always have a project on the needles. Several years ago, I was told about the charity KOGO (knit one, give one). KOGO is a volunteer organisation, based in Melbourne, who receive and distribute hand knitted and crocheted items to the vulnerable and disadvantaged in our communities. Patterns and information for items in need (such as beanies, scarves, blankets, gloves and baby jackets) are provided by KOGO, which I access.
Rina – baby blanket donation
I enjoy making items to donate to the Royal Flyer Doctors Service. I found this design online and loved it! I thought it would make a gorgeous blanket for a baby. The blanket is crocheted using 8 ply acrylic. It has now been donated to RFDS.
Rina – Crochet blanket
I decided to make a blanket to complement the new lounge suite my daughter recently purchased. I crocheted this blanket using 5 ply Bendigo yarn.
Chris F’s dino blanket
As my grandson Aiden loves dinosaurs I decided to knit him a dinosaur blanket. I had an image in my mind of how I would like the finished piece to look. Following this idea, I used a combination of garter, purl and moss stitches to make the blanket. A co-crafter shared a pattern her mother used for edging which completed the blanket
Mary B: Crochet & Knitted items
Striped Tote Bag
Crocheted with organic cotton.
Winter warmer shawl
Traditional triangular shawl. Fun to knit, fun to wear!
Zoe: Whatever the weather
Queen size quilt, machine pieced, machine quilted using 100% cotton
The time has come to start working my way through my collection stash of fabric! This quilt was made using pre-cut 5″ squares from which I then cut the opposite corners. In order to not waste any fabric, those small corners were utilised in the narrow border. I don’t follow a pattern – I just work it out as I go!
Zoe: Bamboo Vest – 100% Marino Wool
I was gifted some beautiful wool, the colour of which reminded me of bamboo. I was able to find a free pattern for a vest which actually looks like bamboo so it was a good match! I ran out of yarn just as I needed to finish the edges but managed to find a complementary yarn in my daughter’s stash.
Necklaces by Ena
I repurpose old or recently purchased jewellery, creating my own design as it comes to mind. If the finished item doesn’t look right, I’ll undo it and make changes until I’m pleased with the end result. Sometimes it can take awhile until I’m happy with each piece. After completing a series of works, I donate them to the Salvation Army.