Wednesday 23 May 2012

Manchester WI

Last night was the first full meeting of the Manchester WI.

The venue for the meeting was the fabulous Baronial Hall, Chethams School of Music, in central Manchester. We set up a series of tables around the room, so we could invite new ladies to not only sign up to be a full member, but also to take part in the subgroups: Exercise/Fitness, Gourmet group, Book/Theatre/Film, Baking/Cooking and Craft and, additionally, take part in the evenings' raffle.

The table at the event, including laptop for sign-ups - we're a tech savvy bunch!

I'm lucky enough to be a member of the committee, Programme Secretary, but for this Tuesday evening, I was the lead for the craft subgroups; an area very close to my heart :o) As I'm also lucky enough to run the University of Manchester craft group, In Stitches, I know what's involved in running a group and crafting (particularly knitting) is a  big love of mine - I've always got some project in my handbag for doing on the bus.

I was joined by Cara and Alex from Purl City Yarns who brought some of their amazing show pieces and also offered to sign people up to their mailing list. Their expertise (and their yarn, yum) really got everyone interested and I hope we can collaborate in the near future :o)

In Stitches meet three times a month, everyone bringing their own project, be it knitting, crochet, embroidery, cross stitch - whatever they're working on. We chat, swap ideas, patterns, help each other and teach each other new skills. And then, once in a while, we get involved in a little project, such as Manchester Science Festival and do something fun... like knitting a galaxy...



I'm hoping that the craft groups at the WI can run in the same way, incorporating workshops in different areas, such as dressmaking, machine sewing, embroidery, papercraft. It's going to be a fascinating task seeing where interests lie within the members of the group and meeting those who want to run groups, whether they incorporate all crafting elements, or one specific one.

I'm also looking forward to meeting the fabulous crafters from across Manchester. I'm always on the look for new ideas and projects.

And in the meantime, we have the next WI meeting to look forward to on 27 June - our Jubilee themed event.

Maybe I'll see you there.



3 comments:

  1. Hi there! It was great to meet you yesterday and to see what the WI will be up to in the city centre. Hopefully see you at one of the craft meet-ups! :)

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  2. See, you're a much better blogger than me already - you actually remembered to take pictures!! Jen x

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