Updates from my hooks!

It’s about time I did a blog post with updates and news of all my recent crochet happenings… my hooks (as always) have been busy! 🙂

Firstly, some very exciting news is that following on from the Christmas decorations I designed for a supplement with Simply Crochet magazine last year (which you can see here), I was asked to add to the designs to make a total of 12 decorations. They’re going to be sold as a special Christmas crochet kit which I’m really happy about! I can’t wait to show you all the decorations in detail once the kit is released. The kit is now available for pre-order and worldwide shipping is available! 🙂

Here’s the link to order if you’re interested…

https://www.buysubscriptions.com/special-editions/12-days-of-christmas-crochet

Next up to share is that I’ve recently enjoyed hosting a variety of workshops in various locations and there are exciting plans for more later this year and next year! I always love meeting fellow Crocheter’s and hosting workshops, sharing my passion for crochet – it’s one of my very favourite things to do! And it’s especially special when I meet people who have been following me here on my blog.

I’ve hosted workshops at Made and Making in Hassocks….including Filet Crochet and Christmas Decorations…

I brought examples to the Filet Crochet workshop with me and here you can see in the foreground some very special Filet Crochet Curtains that were made by my Dutch Grandmother and Mother over 40 years ago… they were hanging in my childhood home as I grew up… 🙂 🙂

It was also really wonderful to notice that at the Filet Crochet workshop the lovely ladies had all chosen yarn to crochet with that matched what they were wearing!

I also hosted a workshop at the recent Made and Making ‘Crochet Retreat‘… that was really special and deserves a blog post all of its own which I’ll add to my list to do! But here’s a photo to give you an idea… I was amazed when I walked into that room…

I’ve run a ‘Next Steps in Crochet’ course at Yak in Brighton plus I’m doing monthly learn to crochet classes too…

But I don’t seem to have any actual photos from the classes at Yak… the classes have been so inspiring and in full swing that I’ve obviously forgotten to take photos!! 🙂

I have more workshops at both Made and Making and YAK coming up so do check out their websites if you’re interested in joining me… 🙂

It’s a little dream come true for me to host workshops in such amazing locations!

I’m travelling to North Yorkshire in December to host a Christmas Decorations workshop at Craftopia which is the shop set up by Amanda from ‘Little Box of Crochet’… if you want to join me there, here’s the link below to book a place…

craftopia-workshops

And then there’s a local crochet group I’ve set up! We’ve called ourselves the ‘Coastal Crochet Happy Hookers’ and we meet weekly, every Thursday evening to share the crochet love… if you think you live nearby, please do get in touch with me and I’ll give you more details…

I set this group up with a view to reaching out to my local community. After making so many wonderful connections all around the world through this blog and my other social media, I thought it was time to reach out closer to home and I’m so glad I did! 🙂 🙂

A couple of weeks ago we made poppies using a brilliant pattern from Simply Crochet which is available here…

Free poppy pattern for Remembrance Day

This one was made by lovely Liz, pictured above, who comes to the group…

Onto my next news…

Although I don’t have any pattern designs in the latest crochet magazines this month, I do have mentions in both Simply Crochet and Inside Crochet…

In Simply Crochet I’m one of a few designers who contributed to a lovely article about Crochet at Christmas time. I’d forgotten what questions I was asked and how I responded so it was funny to read the article and rediscover the things I had said. I’ve surprised myself at some of my thoughts – in a good way! 🙂

And in Inside Crochet there’s a little article in the news round up about the Yarn Bombing Day which I took part in back in the summer…

The organisers of the event have produced a wonderful documentary which is worth a watch… you see my yarn bomb briefly at about 2 minutes into the video!

I sent my piece to Italy by post. But if I take part again next year I would absolutely love to bring it myself! I’ve been informed that my yarn bomb from this year was sold to raise money for an Italian Children’s Charity. Nice to think of it hanging in someone’s home somewhere! 🙂

Next up, I’ve been working on a new shawl design which I started on the train whilst travelling to Yarndale last month… I’m really enjoying crocheting with the beautiful hand dyed yarns. Here’s a little sneak peak…

And I bought some more yarn from one of my favourite independent yarn dyers Country Mouse Yarns. This colourway is called ‘Mission Blue’ after the beautiful butterfly… but I also see Coastal Clouds! 🙂

I’m going to be crocheting another of the new shawl design I’m working on… just to perfect the pattern and also to give me some more mindful crochet to enjoy… it’s an easy stitch pattern and we all need crochet on our hooks that doesn’t require too much concentration once in a while!

And finally, connecting with fellow bloggers and collaborating creatively continues to be a joy for me! Last month I posted a photo of some little yarn bombs on my Instagram that I’ve put on a very long railing leading down to our local beach… I’ve had plans to cover this railing for ages and then fellow blogger Sandra from the wonderful blog Wild Daffodil sent me some AMAZING seahorse yarn bombs to join mine by the seaside!

Sandra has been so encouraging and supportive ever since I first started my blog nearly 5 years ago and I’m planning to host a workshop for Sandra and her local creative friends sometime next year! Lovely Lucy of Attic 24 visited earlier this month which you can read about here… When Lucy came to Dorset

I was waiting for the perfect conditions to put Sandra’s seahorses up… we’ve had so many weeks of grey, wet and windy weather but finally last week some sunshine came! The conditions were just right… sunshine, high tide, calm sea conditions, the time and then the sunset… it was all perfect! 🙂

These gorgeous seahorses will overlook the sea for a long time I hope. Sandra has the pattern for these seahorses in her Etsy shop…

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/537000363/pattern-pdf-seahorse-motif?ref=hp_rv-6

In more crochet connections,  back in Septemer I met up with Jenny who writes the blog Prawn and Pebble  which was so lovely. Jenny is also working through the International Diploma in Crochet and we had lots to talk about! 🙂 Jenny sent me a copy of her book ‘The Woolly Prawn’ which she wrote together with her daughter and published back in 2012. I’m going to do a book review of this book in a separate blog post very soon but here’s a little sneak peak…

Jenny currently has 50% off the book in her Etsy shop… which you can have a look at here before my review if you’re interested… https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheWoollyPrawn

So there you have it with my updates and round up! As you can see, my crochet keeps me busy! It’s a good job that I love it…

Happy Crocheting Everyone… 🙂 🙂