Knitting and Crochet Guild AGM

At last my head might be working ;-)

Last weekend I went to Chester for the AGM of the Knitting and Crochet Guild. I thought I would probably be one of the youngest there and I was not wrong ! When I arrived I met a sickly Yvonne knitting on a bench in the sun. The other members of the guild were around and I wondered what I had let myself in for… But I should not have been worried, even though most of the other members were of a certain age they were all very friendly and knowledgeable and made me very welcome.

After dinner on the Friday night, Liz showed us items from the guild collection that is housed in Yorkshire (Yvonne managed to take some photos before her cold took hold) I had seen some of the items when we visited the collection during Skipnorth.

I’d forgotten the state of university beds, creaking was an understatement ! So on Saturday morning I took myself off for a walk to the city. Not much was open at 7.30am but I got to look through Stash window and a wander round the closed shops. I got back before breakfast and after a battle for some toast the shopping began ;-)

Also in the morning was a ‘show and tell’ the most amazing items were passed round, knitting, crochet, possum wool, moles (pattern is under construction). A lot of the items were designed by the members and guess who didn’t get round to taking any photos ;-)

The main event of the morning was the AGM. Cant really remember what was said but a lot of it was how to appeal to new members, and why the guild has the reputation of being older ‘stuck in the mud’ members - I can tell you they are not , ok there were more older members at the weekend, but they are very friendly and willing to listen to me witter on…

There was more food and then Ruth Lee. The most wonderful knitted creations.


Here Ruth is showing her design book.








And with a lace arm warmer ( I managed to get the Knitting magazine it was featured in at Brimstage, and it was going cheap !!!)












Many thanks to her for donating a scarf/boa to the raffle and for drawing my ticket out, I’m a very happy girl !!








I then escaped to the city with Yvonne and we visited Stash and an internet café …..
Unfortunately (or not) we missed the string quartet, but did meet for drinks and more food.

Evening entertainment was from Janet Bradshaw, all we were told was that it was ’nice’. Mrs Bradshaw works at Tatton Park and dresses up for school visits. For the whole time she entertained us she did not appear to stop to draw breath, and her ’Nine Lives’ were her different costumes through the ages. She was very amusing with stories of quotes children say….

Some of us then retired to a sitting room with a bottle or two for further chatting ….

On the Sunday morning, breakfast, handing in of room keys and then more shopping (I really need to go and get some more bookcases next week….)





There were then workshops run by members, cant remember which ones I was meant to be in but I ended up in Denise Musk’s decorated bags - now with all the knitting I’ve done recently she has inspired me to get out my sewing machine and play …
Then Sue Hobson explained what was involved in The Knitting Guild Association Certificate, lots of swatches and interesting bits…




Surprisingly there was lunch (I’ve not eaten so much over a weekend for a long time !!) and final goodbyes and lifts to the station…

Overall the weekend was much better than I ever imagined. The people were very interesting and friendly and I would recommend it to everyone. It was a very filled weekend, but there were chances to opt out and take things easy if you wanted to. Next year there is a one day AGM (and it’s at Cheltenham, which is only an hour from where I live !!).