Clarifying what we're doing

Hi all - the 2 groups are going really well now and I am being asked to do demos at other sites around town.  Just to clarify - at present the Monday group - Kaipatiki knitters - is very much a creative social group with a touch more knitting than other things, but those other things now include (although are not limited to): crochet, sewing, embroidery, design, community development, gossip, eating, laughing, sharing, tea/coffee supping, saving the planet/ruling the world!  These sessions are free and include provision of some donated materials.  We meet every Monday (except public holidays) at the Community HUB on the corner of Rodney Road and Queen Street, Northcote from 10am til 12.30 or thereabouts.  I am the designated "Knitter in the room" and am usually in attendance to help if necessary, but others are also skilled and willing to assist.
Our next project is a 'Hands on knitting session' at the Birkenhead Library's outdoor area - pink couches and all - more about this later.  The Birkenhead Primary School 'Knitwits' are also interested in being involved in the upcoming Estuary art exhibition in November (see below).
Orewa's Estuary knitters are more focussed on knitting, although we are starting to branch out a bit, with some crochet, beading, etc creeping in slowly.  Sessions are $5 and are held on Wednesdays during school term times from 12.30 til 2.30pm at the Estuary Arts Centre in the Western Reserve, Hibiscus Coast Highway in Orewa.  The Cafe is open then and members of our group, which is growing all the time, are welcome to order food and drinks which may be served in the Education Room.  While I facilitate that group, and have a folder of suggestions and more formal lessons, others here are also very able and willing to help anyone who needs it.  This group is focussing on a mini-exhibition at the Estuary Arts Centre in November.  At this stage we are looking at a theme of "Recycling/transforming the square".  We also already have an installation at the Kaipara Garden Centre's Sculpture Garden just out of Kaukapakapa.

Term 3 has started

Hi all, and welcome to this term - a very warm welcome to Heather, who is 'new'.  It was wonderful to see Natasha and her beautiful new baby boy for a visit and a cuddle too.

There are some wonderful ideas for our pipes and tubes installation at Kaipara in October, with some people already starting work.  The idea is to use plastic plumbing pipes as a base for covers which incorporate knitting in some way, but that represent us and/or our places in our communities.  Each person may prefer to do one pipe, or to work with a group. The pipes come in a range of sizes and we are sourcing these now.  More about this as we progress.  It would be great to include examples from other communities around NZ - let me know if you are interested at kipfers@xtra.co.nz

The Monday morning group at the old Northcote Point War Memorial Hall in North Shore is building momentum.  10.30am to 12.30pm each Monday.  Everyone welcome.

Starting ...

Hi all

Today marks the start of this blog about the fun and adventures of 'Knitcetera'. I am an avid knitter, convenor and teacher of groups of knitters young and old in and around Orewa, a small seaside town north of Auckland, New Zealand.

Wednesday 09th February 2011 saw the start of several classes at the Estuary Arts Centre, Orewa. Classes will be held in ten-week blocks there each Wednesday, the first at 9.30am til 11.30am, the next at 12.30pm til 2.30pm and the third will start at 7pm and end at 9pm. People may attend any of these sessions - I will be teaching the same theme each day to each of the three classes.

This week saw an introductory session where I outlined the background to these courses, handed out a course outline and showed pictures and video clips of things knitting - especially some wonderful, fun ideas from YouTube.

I have been granted funding to pay for hiring the Estuary Arts Centre for the whole of June this year to mount the KNITCETERA exhibition, and planning for this started in my 2010 classes. Early this year I placed an advertisement in our local community newspaper and received application from over 30 people! To date now there are 22 people for the daytime classes - I am leaving it to them to attend whichever they wish - morning or afternoon - and there are 10 enrolled for the evening group. So exciting!

The two groups are quite different - those in the daytime seeming to be more socially oriented, with those in the evening more keen to learn new skills. Time will tell!

More later - I will post regularly, including the course outline and ideas, details of the lessons and our planning and progress towards the exhibition.

:)