Crochet Workshop

I had been so looking forward to this workshop, and I was not disappointed. M and C gave me the workshop as a birthday present as they knew it was on my wish list of things I wanted to learn to do this year.

I had been inspired to try crochet by looking at all the marvellous blog posts that I read, especially Lucy at Attic 24 and Jules at Little Woollie.  I keep looking at all the granny squares, and ripple (chevron) blankets and crochet flowers in all the gorgeous colours and really wanted to try.

The last time I picked up a crochet hook I must have been in my teens, my dad taught me some stitches, and I can remember making a very long scarf. So, although I knew a little I was really a beginner. I had recently tried to follow a tutorial for a granny square, but got hopelessly muddled so thought it best to go on a course or workshop to get me going again and give me some confidence.

Looking for courses I came across Crochet Designs, owned by Pauline Turner and based in Lancashire at Morecambe. I had seen Pauline at Woolfest a couple of years ago and had picked up one of her leaflets, and had met her in the past in a more professional capacity.  As well as teaching beginners such as myself, Pauline is the founder of the International Diploma in Crochet which can be taken via distance learning, and she has people from all over the world on the Diploma course.

At the workshop I was the only beginner, but there were others who were at various stages of the diploma course. It was great, Pauline soon got me started and gave me loads of attention, but also left me to try and work things out for myself. Once I relaxed a little, and started to get into a hooky rhythm things started to come back to me from the past. I still dropped stitches or added in stitches but as the day went on I did manage to try out lots of different stitches by following a worksheet, which produced a sampler like a mini blanket. Pauline demonstrated the stitches for me and was there to 'hold my hand' until I got the hang of it - which I really needed, especially at the beginning.

It was so cool, I tried stitches that I had seen others doing (on their blogs) like 'popcorns' and 'spikes' and 'crab' stitch. I learned how to add a new colour and how to change colour, to increase and decrease. It was also really interesting listening to the others who were on the Diploma course as it widened my appreciation of what can be achieved with crochet.

Pauline has written many books and articles on crochet, and I bought her 'Beginners Guide to Crochet' to remind me of all that I had done that day. It has excellent photographs to lead you through the stitches and lots of tips and small projects to try. I'm sure this will be very useful for me, now that I don't have that hand guiding me.

Since I have been home I have made my first granny square, just to reinforce what I had learned at the workshop. I tried the Summer Garden Granny Square by Attic 24 which can be found here.  With my new found knowledge Lucy's pattern is easy to follow and I was so pleased with my square!

I enjoyed the workshop and got a lot from it - I only have the two colours of yarn at the moment, so a trip to the shop may be necessary soon! Watch this space - there may be a few hooky projects here in the future.

Bramble Jam

I really thought I had missed jam making this year as the wild fruit has been so poor and I only managed to collect enough berries to make a  crumble.

However, out with the dog, I've been gathering a few berries here and there on each walk. Then, when back at home I've been putting them in the freezer and have collected enough to make some Jam! Not a lot, as I only had 3lb's of fruit, but enough to be able to have that lovely tangy blackberry flavour on my tongue when I have toast... mmmmm

Today has been lovely, the sun has been shining and Beanie and I have been out foraging again and managed to collect a few more berries, although I think it will be the last for this year. There is definitely an autumn feel in the air now, and we have had a couple of light frosts in the mornings.

I was so surprised to see a late lamb today!

Back to the blackberries ... there are always some that you can see that are just too far out of reach. There was a lot of fruit on this patch but I think they will be left for the birds!

Have a good weekend.

Brambly Hedge revisited

Following on from my last post, the play mat that I have been making for my niece's first baby is now finished! So, we are ready with our gift to welcome the little one when s/he arrives.

When my niece was a little girl she really loved the Brambly Hedge books by Jill Barklem, the illustrations are gorgeous and so detailed and tell a story of the hedgerow mice and their adventures throughout the year. I could only lay my hand on the Spring Story book, but I'm sure we still have Summer, Autumn and Winter around as my girls loved the stories too. The Autumn Story would have been more fitting for the time of year here in the UK, and also the fabric that I chose for the play mat.

I was looking for fabric that would remind her of her childhood and would be fun for her new baby. I came across 'Scamper', designed by Rebekah Ginda for Birch Fabrics. The little woodland animals, mushrooms, fruits and burrows just seemed so appropriate. The colours are also quite autumnal, with orange, mushroom, and the various greens.

The design on the fabric is much simpler than the illustrations in the book, but both are so charming. I love the patchwork quilt on the fourposter bed in the book!

I also love the little mice curled up asleep on their triple bunk bed on the fabric!

The mat is just 36" x 36", with simple patchwork squares and a boarder. I used a fabric called 'scribble' from Cloud 9 as the backing, with a binding again from Birch Fabrics called 'abacus'

As we have just had a ray of sunshine between the rain clouds, I grabbed my camera and asked J if he would hold the mat outside so I could take a photo - but i'm afraid the sun had gone in by the time we got organised.

We are now looking forward to meeting the newest member of the family - when s/he arrives.

A totally impractical gift!

I have a creative streak at the moment!

I have just made a birthday present for my good friend A - although it is a month late getting to her. It started out as a very practical gift, but finished up hugely impractical but quite fun!

I saw and bought the material when I was at the 'Festival of Quilts' back in August, as I thought it was just the job to make something for her. Then it took me a while to decide what I would make, get all the materials together, make a pattern, and actually set about making it.

A peg bag can't be that difficult? I had seen her glueing the hanger back together on hers, so thought a new peg bag would be welcome.

I only had two fat quarters of material and didn't want to make any mistakes, so made a mockup first with some curtain lining that I had to hand. It's a good job I did as I wanted the peg bag to be seamless inside, but managed to get one of the fabrics the wrong way round once it was all turned the right way out! Now I have the laying up order safely written down so I don't make the mistake again.

quickly made pattern

my little sketch of the finished peg bag on the corner of my sewing table

I then decided to cover the hanger so that it would blend in more, and add a little embellishment - a little flower brooch made from Liberty fabric scraps with a little vintage button in the centre and a 'pearl' necklace!

The necklace is what makes the peg bag a little impractical as I can see it totally getting in the way, especially if it is raining and there is a need to get the washing in quickly.....

.... but it would make me smile whilst hanging out the washing!

I have also started another quilt, this one is much smaller than the last, and is a present for my niece and her husband as they are expecting their first baby any day now! Rather than make a cot quilt I have made a play mat, the fabric is so cute - but more about that next time as I'm still busy making it.

Autumn fruit

Mmmm apple crumble! Just the job for Sunday lunch. I've just used the only apples that we have from the garden - this year has been such a disaster for fruit around here, and I had such high hopes. The lovely crab apple tree at J's mums has produced no fruit this year and there have been no plums either.
It seems as if it has been a general problem this year in the UK as has been documented on the BBC web page here.

I was hoping to make an apple and blackberry crumble as that is my favourite at this time of year but..

... even the hedgerows have produced a poor crop of fruit this year. So I was really surprised, when on my walk with Beanie this afternoon, I found a few blackberries! There is still a lot of fruit to ripen, and the berries that were ripe are very small in comparison to last year, but gradually as we went on our way collecting a few berries here and a few there we came home with enough fruit to fill a bowl.

and I had some lovely stained fingers!

As we still have to eat the crumble, being too full to eat a pud at lunch time,

I think I will make a compote with the fruit and eat it along side the crumble, yum!

Have you had the same problem with fruit this season?

Project finished!

After starting a new project at the beginning of the month, and having to keep it a secret - or at least not giving away too much, it is now finished and has been presented to the new owner!

Happy 21st birthday Ellie!

I was asked by my good friend Catherine if I would make a quilt for her daughter's 21st birthday. I was delighted to do so, and have been beavering away to get it completed for her birthday which was yesterday.

Earlier in the month, Catherine and I had an enjoyable trip to the fabric store, where she chose the material and we made plans for the quilt. With lots of stripes, checks and dots it was technically challenging for me to keep everything looking straight, so I was very pleased with the final outcome.

a bit of a blur as the quilt is unwrapped!

looking good!

Tomorrow we are going to a family and friends birthday celebration - I just hope the weather stays dry!

Cake time!

We had a wee celebration at our house recently, it was my birthday! A very low key event these days, but rather lovely with friends invited for supper on the eve before, and the girls and J all at home on the day - and of course cake! Yummy blueberry cake from the Hummingbird Cookbook, which is now becoming a firm favourite in our family.

Beautiful flowers - a gift from my good friend C, cut from her garden and arranged so beautifully in a lovely mossy terracotta pot

On the crafty front I was given knitting books to keep me busy over the winter! The socks are so gorgeous, and the patterns can be mix and matched, so an endless book of fun. The same with the knitted blocks, new stitches to learn and combinations to make a blanket. Both of these books will give me lots of inspiration and keep me busy at knit and natter! I also have a crochet workshop to look forward to in October, a great gift from the girls.

A really lovely relaxed weekend with family and good friends, who could have asked for more.