Paintings of the tower..and visitors

This week Dave and myself have had our daughter and her boyfriend over for a week's holiday, which has completely thrown us out of our normal routine.
I went to the knitting club and patchwork meeting as normal, where the ladies were going to put their applique skills into practise and sew santa motifs onto aprons to sell for Christmas.. I will start mine over the weekend.
I only offered to sew one because, despite having visitors, one of my friends asked for a pair of watercolour paintings of the church tower to be ready by Wednesday as they will be going to the UK for presents.
We also had a wonderful visit to the Alhambra.
Plus I am getting ready for the Christmas market next Saturday here in Competa too !!
Will try and post some photos over the weekend

Meeting ladies with breast cancer

Yesterday, at the knitting club, Ana's mum was very grateful for the knitting chart I had drawn for her, And our new member Carmen managed to learn a crochet stitch, so I lent her some wool and a crochet hook so she could practice at home during the week.
Today, in Competa, a large group of about 80 ladies joined us in the village, most of them belonging to the Spanish breast cancer group aecc.
The ladies of the village patchwork group have been making lots of heart pillows to give away free to ladies in Malaga suffering from breast cancer, and we were giving more away today.
It was an early start for me, up dressed and ready for nine, as we were making sandwiches for breakfast (10.o'clock here) but when Rosa ans I went to collect the bread buns they were still in the oven and we had to delay things by half an hour until they were ready.
We soon had a small production line going, in a local shop, which turned out to be really much quicker here as we were using oil on the bread instead of buttering all the buns, filling them with a selection of ham, cheese, and salami.
We then carried them all carefully to the town hall, where we waited until the ladies arrived, busying ourselves with cutting cakes and putting out cups..
Our patchwork group after a few speeches and a poetry reading by Luisa,  gave lots of heart pillow to individuals.
The ladies were then taken on a guided tour of the village by the Mayor, and we met again in the casa cultura museum, had a glass of local wine and made our way back to the town hall for lunch.
This was followed by lots of singing and dancing, and I did not get back home until 4pm.
Hopefully I will manage to finish the fairisle jumper I am knitting for an expected arrival tomorrow

I just have one side of the neck to finish and the neckband, and bands around the armholes, which I am knitting in a two colour rib

The new display board/ new knitting/crochet club member.

Yesterday was the patchwork group meeting, which saw me trying to teach the ladies in my bad Spanish....
As it was a practical class, we managed between us to continue with our applique.
Today, Wednesday, I gave the display board another coat of matt black paint, and it is looking good.

This is the picture that I painted over

Dave and I made sure we measured the board and placed the holes ready for the small cup hooks to hang the jewellery from

Ta da...

Just need the hooks in when it dries. It will be much more secure than the Heath Robinson pinboard that is in use now.
Also today, a Spanish lady called at my house, complete with all her years of knitting and crochet work, asking if she could join our club on Monday. Judging by all her hard work, she could easily be the teacher!
I am hoping that she will be able to help some of the Spanish ladies too whilst my Spanish is improving.
I was very happy to let her know that the club is totally free, as the premises are provided by the town hall, and that she would be very welcome to join us.

Busy..

The weather has been getting colder here in Spain, so Dave and I have been keeping warm, making tomato soup, and have gotten the heaters out of their summer hiding places.
I even went to the expense of buying a new pair of slippers, and have begun to look at the winter wardrobe too. :(
The shop where I sell jewellery was being decorated, so I am taking the opportunity to re-vamp the display board, which I hope will be a bit sturdier than the original. It has just had a coat of matt black paint, and will have proper hooks to hang the jewellery from. It should be up and running by Friday.
Yesterday was the knitting/crochet meeting, I managed to teach someone else to both do a bit of crochet and knit/purl knitting, whilst making up the pattern for set in sleeves for one lady and casting on for Julie on circular needles which she had not used before... so I was very glad of the couple of drinks Dave and I had in Miguel's bar later.

Lovely sunset from my workroom

Today, it has mostly been raining in this part of the world, and I spent most of the day wearing my wellies, but just before sunset, the sun broke through the clouds below us to create a beautiful sunset view from my little workroom

We are so lucky to be living here in Competa.

The Competa knitting and crochet club meeting was held as usual yesterday.
I showed a couple of spanish beginner crocheters how to make a motif from a spanish magazine.
We all worked really hard to understand one another, and follow the demonstrations, and they managed to make a few motifs... well done.!!

Here is one of the motifs.

Rosalina was also keen to show off the shawl she is making, crocheted in a basketwork type of stitch we found in my very old Readers Digest book which were written (not charted) it will be lovely and warm when it is finished.

The knitting was also in full swing. This lady is knitting this for her daughter, and  I had to translate and talk her through the pattern line by line to make the cables, which also look lovely.

Dave and I have also received a compact steam cleaner via Amazon today, which we tried out!!
The grout in the kitchen and the electric hob are really sparkling now!! We had to restrain ourselves from trying to clean everywhere at once ha ha..

Applique patchwork

This week, the homework for the patchwork group, led by Dolores, was to stitch around the edges of the cat applique we were doing in the class and then quilt the potholder. We then had to finish the edge with bias binding to make a hook too.
Lola stopped me in the supermarket and asked where the flower and heart motifs were to be placed.
Sadly, I am quite a quick sewer, and managed to finish my cat which looks cute.

 I drew a dog and made my own design, and am busy sewing around the design. I will add some eyes and a nose (the pink bit is the tongue )
Met some friends we have not seen for a while in the Wine museum here in Competa, it was lovely to see them, and catch up on the gossip. The 'MUseo del Vino' was very busy as there was a ladies excursion from Sevilla inside, sampling the local wine and buying locally produced honey and pasas (a type of sultana), so I spent some time chatting to them as well.