Outside of the the making-stuff universe that is Crafty Crafty I get myself into much knitting madness Stitch and Bitch London style.
We recently exchanged some sparkling bits of Secret Santa stitching which I thought I would share with you Crafty Crafty watchers as a bit of inspiration for Christmas knitting and a grand idea for your own group.
There were 33 knitted gifts exchanged in our first Secret Santa and, hungry for more, we did it all again a week later for those who missed out in Secret Santa the Second with 11 crafty creations.
The format is simple: you put a handmade gift worth about £5 in, you take a gift out. Everyone wins something woolly.
Amongst the gifts that were unwrapped were snuggly snoods, adorable dippy dinopurses, soft scarves, cheerful Christmas tree cherubs, charming handmade charms, lovely leather wallets, headhugging hats, fine fingerless gloves, cute crocheted penguins and handstitched handbags to name a few. A seemingly endless stream of handmade creativity from a giggling group of London lovelies.
What I love about Stitching Secret Santa is that it pushes knitting group members to go that one stitch further than they normally would. The purled presents coming out of the Secret Santa sack were heartfelt, handmade and always well received because the givee is well aware how much effort the giver has put in.
Breaking out the mulled wine after a successful exchange we sat back to admire each other's handiwork and celebrate another year of public stitching in the heart of London.
To be honest I couldn't be prouder to run the inspiring woolly Godzilla that is S&B London. I very much hope your knitting groups have as merry a Stitchmas as we did.
