Caffle Service 2

Caffle Crafts Home Knitting and Sewing Machine Specialists

Caffle Machine Knitting Club

When we established the business back in the late eighties we decided that as a matter of course that we would also sponsor and support a knitting club that could meet at the shop on a regular basis.

So on the last Tuesday of every month the unit is given over to the club and over the years it has changed and evolved into its' present shape. We have our ups and downs but never have we lost site of our goal of improving the standard and knowledge of all machine knitters who support us and who want to participate. Never has our enthusiasm waned and we have yet to lose that sense of humour that is vital if you are to survive as a genuine machine knitter.

We don't hide our mistakes. Rather, we encourage members to own up and share their experiences and at the end of each year as the various competitions we run come to a close so it is the same for our "Wally" entries. Their prize is given an equal amount.

Visiting clubs are always welcomed and we also enjoy the odd BarBQ when we eat and drink and chat about knitting. Our annual Christmas night out is all about eating, drinking and chatting about knitting. Our open days at the shop are becoming quite infamous and are all about eating, drinking and chatting about knitting. In our spare time, as you have probably guessed by know, is taken up by eating drinking and chatting about knitting. (Someday we might get down to knitting some of that beautiful yarn we bought off Jane!!)

We have a good healthy turnover in members and we attract guest speakers from all over the South of the UK.

Starting from May 97, we introduced sessions where we are learning on a more formal basis with certification at the end of the course. It is early days yet but the new format has been very well received.

Each month we produce a Newsletter which helps keep everyone involved up to date. Communication is I feel a major contributor to the success of the club. Our membership is made up from knitters who travel distances of up to 60 miles to get to us.

July 1997 - Club Newsletter

Club News.

Here we are in July and our Christmas Dinner has not yet been organised. However plans are well underway and to help us out, if you want to attend could you please complete the tear off slip at the bottom of the letter. Although the venue has not been finalised, Jane and I are going to undertake this arduous task in the next few weeks - well someone has to try out suitable hostelries! The date for your diaries is the 25^th of November - the last Tuesday of the month. That's all I need to say on the subject this month except to add that for those of you who have not been in the past, the evening is usually thoroughly enjoyable and good value for your money.

The new format for our meetings certainly seems to have settled down well - with plenty of interest shown by outsiders in what we are doing. I know that some of you are not interested in handing in your samples for marking and that's fine, but if you do want to start it's not too late. Val will only be too pleased to accommodate more.

Which reminds me, Val is away for our September meeting so we will have a special guest speaker - our very own Jane and her chosen subject will be overlockers. Maybe we can also persuade her to give us some feedback on her trip to Denver. I know it was a Passap / Pfaff event but what the heck it's all knitting.

I've mentioned before how fortunate we are in having the knitting shops we do around here. I hear that the knitters in East Wales aren't so lucky. The shop in Newport has closed down. So remember to keep on supporting our Jane - after all if you compare like with like you'll find that her prices are very competitive - even compared to the big boys like BSK. It's only with our continued support and her own hard work that she will be able to survive.

Shop News.

Thanks Val for those kind words. For my part I shall continue to look for those interesting yarns, books and patterns for us all to enjoy.

Having said that I'm pleased to say that when I was in the States I came across some very nice patterns by a designer called Teryl Hollins and these should be available by next weekend. Teryl is also coming over to our Academy in November so you may have a chance to meet her. Not only is she a wonderful designer but a really genuine person as well.

I'm also looking to have some patterns by Busy Bee here for next weekend. There are some for the garter carriage and they look very interesting.

Have you seen the new Double Knit yarn we've taken delivery of. It sells at £4.90 for the large 400-gram ball and my garter carriage loves using it. Give it a go.

Apparently some of you have been asking for Yeoman Chenille recently and I'm pleased to say that it should be back on our shelves shortly.

George le Warres' books are now beginning to move very well and we have just taken delivery of three more titles. If you are interested then have a word.

We've all done a lot of work on Cables this year and I notice that there is a good article in the August issue of Machine Knitting News, which might interest you. But be quick as they usually sell out fast.

Some of you I know have already had a look at the new Brother colour changer, which is now in. It's very good and Brother has stolen a march on the rest by having the only 6-colour changer on the market. It certainly makes for rather interesting knitting!

I have a 2^nd hand Brother Single Bed Colour for £40 and a Passap E 6000 for £999 available at present.

I'm sorry for the upheaval in the shop recently - but I need more space to work in. Things should be back to normal pretty soon. Thanks for your patience.

Caffle Crafts Machine Knitting Club establishes another first: Please see the club news release for more details.