Hobbycraft Press Show…

This was a special day back in July that I’ve only now got around to writing a blog post about! It was the ‘Hobbycraft Christmas Press Show 2019’ which I felt very privileged to be invited to and it’s nice to finally share a little of that day here… 🙂

Christmas in July?! It sounds crazy but Christmas designs, products and commissions are of course planned well in advance and decisions are made long before the Christmas season is upon us. Many months ago I had some Christmas 2019 crochet commissions on my hooks and I hope to be able to share some of those with you all very soon… 🙂

This event was a chance for Hobbycraft to showcase the Christmas products which they will have available in their stores for this coming Christmas. It was held at Drink Shop and Do near Kings Cross Station in London…

I live only an hours train journey from London so it was easy enough for me to get there. It was a warm sunny day and thinking ‘Christmas’ whilst wearing my summer dress was quite a novelty for me. I wore my Corfu Shawl which is light and airy…

Emily who is ‘Yarn Master’ for Hobbycraft was there to welcome me. I’ve been lucky to meet Emily before at the Crochet Sanctuary and it was through Emily that I designed my Coastal Wall Hanging and Crochet Campfire back in 2017…

Emily is also the person who organised the fabulous Granny Square Month CAL which I contributed a square design for. The actual blanket which Emily put together was there to admire – there’s my starfish granny square!

It was so lovely to see all the squares together, plus get the chance to meet other designers who had contributed a square as well… here I am with Katie of @katiejonesknit, Alexandra of @nattythread and Helen of @made.by.hem

We were given the opportunity to try out lots of new yarns and new products…

I tried some Macrame for the very first time which I really enjoyed. Much easier than I thought it would be and I made some key rings…

We were also given metal stars to decorate using macrame…

But I felt compelled to get the crochet hooks out instead! I crocheted a little star, suspended it in the centre and then crocheted around the larger metal star… that kept me busy for quite a while!

I was really happy with how it turned out…

And seeing everyone else’s too…

There was delicious food and drink to enjoy. In my day job as a nurse in the NHS I’m not used to being wined and dined so this really was a treat for me…

There were opportunities for networking with other designers and bloggers… here with Katie are Sarah of @annaboos_house and Sharna of @sweet_sharna…

People popped in and out throughout the day… it was lovely to meet Theodora of @theodora_goes_wild a little later in the afternoon. Theo is another designer who contributed a square design to the Granny Square Blanket!

We were asked if we’d be happy to be interviewed and talk about our favourite products which was an interesting experience! I’ve not seen the end result so not sure if my piece made the cut!! 🙂

It wasn’t all yarn. Hobbycraft sells all kinds of arts and crafts materials so there was lots to see and try…

From biscuit decorating…

…to Cricut cutting machines that can make the most amazing things. I decided to create a personalised note book…

There was such a lovely atmosphere with evening cocktails to enjoy too… and just look at these crocheted earrings worn by @lardidadi

So a fabulous day was enjoyed! Thank you Hobbycraft and in particular Emily for inviting me. Yes, of course the idea is that we go out and spread the word, talking about and promoting Hobbycraft and what we saw… but I’m very happy to do that! There are some really lovely products in the Christmas range as well as some gorgeous new yarns! I particularly liked the ‘Return of the Mac‘ which is a chunky cotton yarn and what I used for my star…

After a long day in London, it’s always nice to return to the coast and this was Brighton seafront at the end of the day…

So lots of ideas and inspiration for Christmas… I’m thinking more stars definitely need crocheting around!

Happy Crocheting Everyone… 🙂