Last weekend...

It was a bit of a busy time last weekend...
Saturday was the first Grovely Knit and Natter for 2014 at Gabrielle's lovely store, Yarn Over. It was at a Grovely K&N last year that we had had a visit from the Fire Service so following this trend, it wasn't really surprising that on Saturday we had some more unexpected visitors...

These 2 had been buying fabric at the quilt shop on the corner (Quilters Corner) and happened to be walking back to their car when some K4BN members were coming into Yarn Over and jokingly suggested these 2 might like to come in...and they did! And, as you can see in the photo, they played a few tunes for us...

Owen, on the left, was sitting on a 'cajun drum' which he started playing as an accompaniment to Jay's guitar playing

After a bit of a look around the store, the 2 musicians left and the knitting and nattering could resume.

Knit and Natters are often the place where people hand in items that they have made for the group, and on Saturday one of our members, Dianne, brought in a number of lovely items she had made.

So cute!

One of the lovely crocheted rugs that Dianne made...

These items will be loved by the recipients...

On Sunday my group of friends, The Newmarket Mums, met for our first coffee morning of 2014. And to celebrate the new year, we met at a different venue. A fairly recently established coffee shop called 'Spill the Beans' is in an old butchers' shop in Alderley.

The group has grown by 2 new members...I 'found' Karen via Facebook...and she was delighted to join us last Sunday...

The other new member is on the right hand side of the photo. She just happened to have a chance meeting with one of the other 'mums' a day or so before the meet up; she loved the idea of joining us for coffee and chatting.

We last met on December 1 at my place for our Christmas lunch, so lots of 'catching up' to do. 

After coffee, it was off to do some food shopping ready to make some salads and a dessert for a shared meal, because DH and I were heading off to stay the night with some friends in Banora Point.

And in the late afternoon this is where we went for a walk...
We had all driven to the beach at Kingscliff...there was a beautiful breeze blowing which was delightful after the humity of Brisbane that day...

DH is with our friends' dog, Charleigh...

So, as you can see, I covered a fair bit of territory last Sunday!

And I thought that I'd seen everything!

On the first and third Monday nights of the month, I go to a 'Sit and Stitch' session at my local yarn shop. (It's the same shop where I also attend a K4BN  Knit and Natter on the 3rd Saturday of the month) Because it is of an evening, most of my fellow knitters/crocheters are in the workforce.

There's time for coffee/ tea and often there are goodies to share...

The patterns used at these night time sessions are usually more intricate than usual...and Gabby (the shop owner) is always willing to lend a hand in deciphering a pattern.

Last Monday night, Pauline who knits the most beautiful toys and baby blankets and matinee jackets, pulled out a ball of wool...I asked her if I could take a photo of it. I mean, I buy some large balls of wool, but this one was massive! lol

It weighs 500 grams!  Pauline, who emigrated to Australia bought 20 of these before she left England! They were excellent value, each  being less than GBP6. I imagined a suitcase stuffed with them but Pauline assured us that the yarn was packed in the shipping container with all the other possessions that she brought with her.

The lady sitting on the sofa next to Pauline is Denise, also from the UK. Now I mentioned before that quite a bit of intricate knitting goes on in this group and Denise's work is superb. Here's a link to her Etsy shop; it's worth a look.