Crochet Gathering…

Hello everyone… how are you all? This weekend I attended the first ‘Pitch up and Stitch‘ which was organised by Julie Letton of Love Letton Design and I would love to share a little of the weekend in this blog post…

Camping and crochet go well together… crochet makes our vans, caravans or tents look lovely, the crocheted blankets keep us warm and what better to do when you’re relaxing at a campsite than crochet!! Well that’s exactly what we enjoyed during an informal gathering of crochet lovers at a campsite in East Devon and it was really wonderful!

How did this come about? Well Julie writes the following in the Facebook group…

“This all came about following an Instagram chat with Amanda Bloom of Little Box of Crochet.  Amanda was asking for venue suggestions for crochet retreats, and I piped up with the suggestion of campsite gatherings.  This seemed to go down well with the few who saw the comment, so I offered to run with the idea and see what happens….

So, the idea of Pitch up and Stitch is to escape to a scenic location (more than likely coastal), indulge in our favourite craft, add in some walking/running/yoga (completely optional), more craft time, eat, relax and laugh a little or a lot (with the odd G&T for good measure) – create some happy memories and plan to do it again!”

So, with crochet packed, off we went in our campervan late Friday afternoon after our children came home from school/ college… we hit rush hour and it took 5 and a half hours to get there. The gathering was at Branscombe Campsite which is 165 miles west along the south coast from where we live. It was the 21st June though, the longest day, so we did manage to arrive in the daylight, just about!

We spotted the crochet group straight away… always easy to spot a group of relaxed crocheters wrapped in crochet blankets! And there were faces old and new… some lovely ladies who I have met before at various workshops or yarn related places and new friends to be made too… 🙂

And so the gathering began… introductions made, crochet projects shared and relaxing times to enjoy crocheting in the company of like minded people. After many weeks of not so summery weather, on our first morning we awoke to sunshine…

Julie had made an itinerary for the weekend but it was very relaxed and people could join in with as much or as little as they wanted. First up, a walk to a local Donkey Sanctuary was planned and it was a lovely walk through local countryside…

With a perfect excuse at the end to enjoy a refreshment stop…

Amanda from Little Box of Crochet was at the gathering in her gorgeous van and it was a really special moment when Kim opened her ‘April Little Box of Crochet‘ (who I was the designer for) with both Amanda and myself right there with her!! And little Salty of course…

We had all brought our crochet (or knitting) with us and enjoyed a little crochet time before a slow walk back to the campsite. And this is Claire from Claire’s Craft who is making my Changing Tides Blanket…

It’s always amazing for me to see my designs being made by others. Claire is a fellow nurse, so we had lots to talk about… and she fell in love with our little Salty who was such a good girl all weekend…

And then fellow crochet designer Rosina from Zeens and Roger joined us for the afternoon as she lives nearby… I’ve met Rosina in the flesh before at Yarndale and it was so lovely to spend more time with her, catching up and sharing crochet news!

The campsite is on a small airfield so we were treated to a mini air display…

And in the evening we headed to Branscombe beach for some ‘Coastal Crochet’ 🙂

The next morning we said our farewells before the long drive home. Some people were able to stay a little longer. I crocheted all the way home as I’m lucky to have a husband that’s happy to drive!

And so I must just mention my family who came along with me for the weekend (some people brought partners, some came on their own, some came with friends… it really was so relaxed and anything goes and everyone is welcome)! My family didn’t crochet (although my daughter may have done a few rows 😉 ) and they left me to it when I was joining the crochet gatherings, but if it wasn’t for my crochet they wouldn’t have had the amazing weekend they had too… 🙂

On the Saturday whilst the crochet group visited the Donkey Sanctuary, my husband and children hired a little boat at Beer for a couple of hours… they had an amazing time and just look at the jellyfish they saw…

So my crochet gets us all around for sure…

Julie is planning more of these crochet gatherings so do join the Facebook Group if your interested in coming along… I know camping isn’t for everyone though but everyone really is welcome!

Happy Crocheting… 🙂