All women welcome to EEWI's Christmas Market!

Yes. It's nearly here. Our EEWI Christmas Market is on Tuesday 3rd December, doors open at 7pm (free for members, £4 for visitors). A glass of mulled wine and a mince pie is included in the entrance fee, plus tea and coffee, and there will be lots of lovely stalls selling prettiness crafted by local makers. We'll be handing over our gifts to the ladies from U-Turn, and there will be a raffle too, with lots of lovely prizes. Tell your friends, bring you mum, aunties, sisters, print off a poster and put it in your window. And do come - we'd love to see you there.

what we did last week

Such a lovely evening we had, either sitting playing with ribbons and sequins and beads, or making willow stars and wands. This is Stacey's flower which wound round the neck of her cardi. There were lots more flowers and beads and sari silk.  And lots of stars and laughter too, though we didn't manage to capture those.

The loveliest thing of all, I feel, was the gentle industry of women making stuff, concentrating as they threaded beads, riffling among ribbons, admiring flashes of creativity, sharing gossip, encouraging their friends, laughing at the incongruity of waving willow wands and casting spells to send off our leading ladies with the very best wishes for sharing their skills.

Very many thanks to Barley Massey for coming along and showing us how to transform rags to riches, and to our lovely Karen for making magic with willow. And a special mention for Annie who wore her newly embellished little black dress on Friday for our coffee morning, another hour or so of delights.

You can visit Barley's shop, Fabrications, in Broadway Market for more inspiration, including classes of all sorts. We'll also be selling Barley's Rethinking Rubbish kits at our Christmas Market on 3rd December, more of which anon.

embellishing the little black dress

Feeling the pinch? Well, come along to our evening meeting next week, bring your little black dress and jazz it up with a bit of embellishment. You'll save a fortune. The lovely Barley Massey from Fabrications will be helping us to get snippy and sewy and add a little bit of loveliness to our party wardrobe. Barley will be bringing along some lovely recycled bits and bobs for us to use. All you have to do is get to work with needle and thread and a bit of imagination. Don't worry - your party outfit doesn't have to be black, or little, or even a dress. If you have something in your wardrobe that needs a bit of extra pzazz, you might prefer to work on that. Or maybe just make a little fancy to pin on your partywear.

We're meeting as usual at St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, E2 (just follow the signs on the gate next to the Gallery Cafe.) Doors open at 7pm for a 7.30 start. Free to members, £4 donation for visitors. Refreshments will be available and, as ever, you are invited to bring along any home-made goodness or snacks to share.

Our coffee morning will be on 22nd November from 10.30am at Paper and Cup at 83 St Paul's Way, E3 do think about joining us - no need to be a member. You just need to buy yourself a cup of tea/ coffee and settle down for a chat. It would be lovely to see you.

Lots of other activities coming up soon - check our Diary Dates for more info.

(And belated congratulations to the winners of our local history quiz and Country Living Christmas Fair tickets. Hope you enjoyed your prizes.)

Knit & Natter: Thursday

It's Knit & Natter time! Bring along your unfinished knitting projects, your tapestries and your paper-craft - or anything else you have on the go. It's nearly Christmas time, so why not try your hand at making Christmas ornaments?

We'll be meeting this Thursday 24th of October from 6.30 – 8.30pm. 

We're meeting at The Coborn Arms, 8 Coborn Road, Mile End, London E3 2DA. Click here for a map.

This EEWI-inspired group is open to anyone who feels like popping in with a project - knitting or otherwise. It will be a casual meeting, and everyone is invited – not only knitters. Bring along your stitching or paper crafts, or simply join us for a few drinks and a good catch-up. New knitters are welcome too.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Country Living Christmas Fair

Congratulations to Regina and Marie who were the lucky winners in the draw thsi week for tickets for the Country Living Christmas Fair. With a wide range of quality stalls to browse, food stalls to sample and expert advice on hand, a day out at the Fair is a great way to start your Christmas Shopping and find inspiration for the festive season. There will also be some other exciting features this year, from a special performance by the West End's Jersey Boys at Thursday's Gala Evening, to inspiring talks and tastings in the Lifestyle Theatre. So embrace the atmosphere, discover a vast array of exhibitors and start ticking off that shopping list early. 

You'll find the Fair at the Islington Business Design Centre from 30th October until 3rd November. Details here. And members, don't forget, you can get a discount on tickets - check your newsletter, or email us for details.

an evening of miscellany

Our little local history group pulled no punches with the quiz they prepared for us after delving into the archives at Bishopsgate Institute.  It was a tough one, but with so much to learn about the East End. So thanks are due to Carolyn, Annie, Heather and local polymath and writer Linda Wilkinson who did the research, and to Afia Begum at the Institute who so ably facilitated the project. Well done, Barbara, Natasha and Rachel who were the top team. And thanks to those who brought along photos for us to see - I loved Karen's photos of her uncle's 60's wedding in Leyton.  If you could not get along on Tuesday, I have a few more copies of the quiz - with answers - tucked away for you.

We managed to fit a lot more in...   Lindsay Burns from Kid's Company told us about the wide range of work they undertake with and for troubled youngsters, including the project to support social enterprises set up by young people who have benefitted from the support of the charity. If you are interested in volunteering, check here. And if you know of a local organisation that might be interested in hearing about the project, let us know and we'll pass the information on.

At the end of the evening when things had quietened down, Martha from Shoreditch Sisters intereviewed me and Clare about East End WI. We may have been a bit gaga by that time, although Clare was very composed and sat there doing her knitting. You can tell for yourself if you listen in to Longwave Ladies radio shortly.

I'll be off next week to Tower Hamlets Foodbank with the toiletries that you donated. As ever, many thanks for your generosity. And if you missed out this time, we'll still be taking donations next month too. More of which shortly...

Enjoy Apple Day this weekend. Natasha and Elizabeth will be going along to the Friends of City Gardens Apple Day event on Saturday, 11.30am - 3pm, at Golden Lane Community Hall with a few cakes. If you're staying at home, you could always try baking a cake of your own to celebrate the days when there were orchards in Stepney Green...

where do you think you are?

How much do you know about the place where you live? A little while back, a small group of intrepid members spent several afternoons at Bishopsgate Institute researching the archives to find out more about the corner of East London where we live. This month we're going to be sharing some of that research with you. We have a quiz, one you might want to do with one or two of your EEWI buddies and, yes, there will be prizes. We'd love it too if you could share some of your memories or pictures of the place you live(d) with us too - somewhere you worked perhaps, jolly days out, where you went to school (we promise we'll take very good care of them.) So join us for an evening of exploration and memories. And because it's October, members can bring a friend for free. You may need some help with that quiz, you know.

We're meeting on Tuesday 15th October at St Margaret's House, Old Ford Road, in the hall behind the Gallery Cafe, doors open at 7pm from a 7.30pm start. Free tea and coffee, other drinks and refreshments by donation. If you'd like to bring some cake or savouries to share that would be lovely. Gives you a chance to keep your hand in with the baking. We'll also be having a short talk from Jan O'Brien from Tower Hamlets Befriending Service. We'll also be collecting items for users of Tower Hamlets Foodbank - not food, but toiletries like shampoo, shower gel, toilet rolls, detergent etc.

If you fancy a bit of company over a cup of something, pop along to our coffee morning at 10.30am on Friday18th October.  We'll be meeting at The Larder in Globe Road, E2.

And if you fancy coming out one evening,  our bookclub meeting is on Tuesday 22nd (contact us for details), and Knit and Natter is at the Coborn Arms on Thursday 24th, 6.30pm - 8.30pm.

Hope to see you soon.