Crochet at the Crick Boat Show…

At the weekend we drove 150 miles north to camp for a couple of nights in a place called Crick. Why? Because there was an Inland Waterways Festival taking place – the Crick Boat Show – and my husband has a soft spot for Narrowboats… 🙂

I’m happy for any excuse to have a weekend away camping but my husband sold this to me anyway by telling me there’s bound to be lots of crochet around… and he was right! 🙂 So in this blog post I’ll write a bit about our weekend and share some of the crochet that I came across…

It really was like a festival and many people chose to camp… we arrived late on the Friday evening and you can see our little campervan and trailer caravan at the bottom right of this photo…

So on our first morning after starting with the obligatory cup of tea, we set off into the festival and started the day with a little trip on a narrow boat. These trips lasted about 20 minutes and were being offered throughout the weekend – it was great to sit back and be taken a little way up the Grand Union Canal…

It is such a tranquil and lovely way to travel…

There were lots of opportunities to set foot on new boats – of course the companies were showcasing their boats and hoping for buyers and there was a distinct lack of crochet in these, with companies tending to show modern and minimalistic living spaces. It took an old historic boat built in 1958 for me to spot my first crochet…

This boat was amazing to see and a very friendly man told us all about the history of the boat and its restoration Friends of Raymond – yes there was the traditional granny square blanket inside but just look at this filet crochet… 🙂 🙂

And as we walked along the canal and passed numerous privately owned boats, it wasn’t long before I spotted some more crochet… and it was lovely that the sun had come out too! 🙂This was crocheted bunting that someone had decorated their boat with…

And then we spotted this display of rubber ducks on one boat… no it’s not crochet but certainly worth sharing… 🙂And then I spotted some crochet in progress inside a boat as we walked by…

Crochet is obviously a craft that goes well on a narrowboat! I then saw the most amazing crocheted doily covering a porthole…

I’ve since tried to find out a little more about crochet and narrowboats and found an interesting booklet by the Dudley Canal Trust  about ‘Supporting Life on a Working Boat‘. This is an extract…

“Many boatwomen would crochet pretty doilies and trimmings to decorate their cabins with. The aprons and bonnets worn by the boatman’s wife and the shawls used to wrap their babies would also have been edged with home-made crochet work. Crochet patterns were often passed down through families, from mother to daughter”.

Isn’t that wonderful! 🙂 🙂

A boat then went by and I spotted some more filet crochet- this time in the windows…

The colours and individual touches on each boat we saw were just such a joy to see… it really was a feast for the eyes with creative inspirations everywhere!

Back in the festival ground I spotted a crochet blanket on one of the stalls, I saw a lady from Rag Doll Rugs n Bags knitting a rag rug and then I saw another lady wearing a fantastic crocheted top…

Of course I was wearing a little crochet too with my hat trim…

…and yes, Salty came along too! 🙂

We spotted a knitted ‘Rosie and Jim’- these are characters from an English children’s television programme from the 1990’s about two rag dolls who lived aboard a narrowboat!

It was such a fabulous weekend… no we don’t have any plans to get a narrowboat – maybe we’ll try a holiday although that’s pretty pricey (I’ve looked already 😉 )! It was just lovely to visit the festival and see all the boats. I can see why the craft of crochet continues on these waterways…not only does it look so beautiful, but it also continues the historic traditions of crochet on the waterways and it must be such a lovely way to pass the time… You don’t get anywhere quick on a canal boat so what better way to make use of some of those hours then to crochet away!! 🙂 🙂

Thanks for reading and Happy Crocheting… 🙂 🙂