Salty goes to Bristol and models for Simply Crochet!

Salty and I went on a wonderful crochet adventure back in February… it was Valentine’s Day to be precise and I’m so excited to finally share it with you all. Because here’s the result of that adventure… Salty has modelled for Simply Crochet Magazine!! 🙂 🙂

I have to say I think this is the loveliest front cover from Simply Crochet magazine ever – and I’m not just saying that because Salty made it to the cover too! It really is a wonderful issue and the styling on that cover is sublime… 🙂

I designed this crocheted dog bandana for Issue 96 which is out tomorrow although many subscribers have received their copy already… just look at that full page spread of our Salty! 🙂

Let me share with you how it all came about… 🙂

As part of my design proposal for the dog bandana I submitted this photo of Salty…

…and Sara Huntington, the fabulous editor of the magazine asked if I’d like to visit with Salty for her to be the actual model for the bandana in the magazine. How could I resist that invitation?! Dates with the photo studio had already been arranged and luckily it was a date which I was able to do.

I’m very aware that so many opportunities for people have been disrupted or stopped due to the current Coronavirus pandemic. Plus there’s the ongoing worry for our health. So many plans, events, trips, meetings, community groups, work and commitments turned upside down. These are such strange and uncertain times. So I really am very grateful that Salty and I were able to have this opportunity just in time because it was a truly special day! 🙂

So on Friday 14th February, Salty and I caught a very early train to Bristol…

I met Sara at Bristol train station. Having met in person at Yarndale a couple of times and having regular email contact in relation to design commissions it was so lovely to meet again and we took a stroll through a park en route to the photo studio to give Salty a chance to have a run around after the long train journey. We came across a special yarn bombed tree called ‘Holly’s Pombombs’…

And then how brilliant it was to see the photo studio (theshed_photostudio) where so many photos in the magazine are taken… there’s the familiar white brick wall! Having been a reader of the magazine since the beginning and a contributor for the last few years, I must have seen so many photos of crochet in front of that wall. And now it was Salty’s turn…

After a quick cup of tea, the photo shoot got underway. I’d brought lots of treats with me to ensure Salty could be encouraged to be on her best behaviour but we didn’t need them. Salty was just amazing… have a look at this little video clip the photo studio put on their Instagram stories that day…

She was an absolute super star!

I loved seeing the photographer and the team in action. The photos came up instantly on a large screen so I could see the results and they looked just brilliant!

I was feeling very proud of our little Salty!

And here’s the end result inside the magazine… doesn’t she look lovely… 💕

Salty was so good that the whole photo shoot was over in a flash! So there was time for Sara to give me a little tour of Bristol…

…and have coffee and cake together in a dog friendly cafe!

Before heading to the home of ‘Simply Crochet‘ magazine and Immediate Media in Bristol at Eagle House…

What an impressive office it is… as well as Simply Crochet, there are lots of other magazine teams based there including Mollie Makes, The Knitter, Simply Knitting, Simply Sewing – and other magazine types such as BBC Countryfile magazine and Cycling Plus. The interior is a very modern office building with open plan spaces and lots of glass so everyone can be seen at work. Here’s a tree inside the building…

There are around 500 staff members working across numerous magazine titles although the individual magazine teams are relatively small. The whole Simply Crochet team sit around this one long desk…

Of course there’s plenty of yarn…

And I had a sneak peek at samples which will feature in future issues of the magazine. I saw my schnauzer cushion which is due to be sent back to me soon… it was a little too big to take back on the train!

The views from the window are great… it felt like a really nice place to work.

And here’s the post room… it was really nice for me to have seen this too. To know exactly where my commissions end up when I post them off is rather reassuring!

Dogs are not allowed into the Immediate Media building so Sara had arranged for the lovely Jennifer May, production assistant at Simply Crochet, to take Salty for a walk whilst I had a tour of the office… I’m very grateful to her!

I was reunited with Salty just in time for a delicious lunch. And discovered that Jennifer is a huge Harry Potter fan and contributes to the Speak Beasty ‘Fantastic Beasts Podcast’ 🙂

What a truly wonderful morning it had been – spending time with Sara and seeing behind the scenes of my very favourite crochet magazine was very special indeed! 🙂 I had to let Sara and Jennifer get back to work so we said our farewells and then Salty and I enjoyed a stroll back through Bristol to the train station.

We came across some mermaid art…

We enjoyed walking along the water and seeing the canal boats…

Salty found a play mate in the park…

And there were the first signs of spring…

We caught the train home. Oh Salty was exhausted…

But it was oh so worth it…

There’s even a little photo of me together with Salty in the Contributors section of the magazine…

I’ll cherish my copy of that magazine! Salty is totally oblivious to how fabulous she looks in the magazine but she enjoyed her wonderful crochet adventure… and I certainly loved it too! 🙂

Thanks for reading and Happy Crocheting… 🙂