A new month… it’s May!

It’s been two weeks since my ‘Picnic on the Beach’ crochet along came to an end and I wanted to pop in and say ‘”Hi” and let you all know what I’ve been up to because of course, for me, there’s always crochet involved somewhere! 🙂

And it’s also the start of a new month… May is here and I do so love this time of year! The Bluebells have arrived… 💜

Which always reminds me of my Crocheted Bluebells I made back in 2017… hard to believe that was 4 years ago! The free pattern is still here on my blog…

And the sun has been shining a lot for us recently which has been lovely, although it’s still pretty chilly! April 2021 has been one of the coldest April’s on record here in the UK…

Many of you are still crocheting your Picnic on the Beach blankets and every time I look at Instagram or pop into the Facebook Group it’s a joy to see gorgeous finished blanket photos being shared. And I love that lots of people are only just starting out with their blankets now!

So what have I been up to? As soon as the crochet along finished I felt the need to have some ‘me time’ crochet. To crochet something just for fun and just for me, with absolutely no pressure to do any designing, to make any notes or to write any part of a pattern… so I crocheted a cardigan!

This is a design called the ‘Morning Waves Cardigan’ by Finnish designer Emilia from Coffee and Crocheting. It caught my eye a few months ago over on Instagram so I purchased the pattern and it’s been waiting there for the right moment for me to pick up my hooks.

Well the time was certainly right and it’s been an absolute joy to simply follow someone else’s pattern. I used an aran weight yarn (Stylecraft Special Aran which I had left over from my Changing Tides blanket) with a 6mm hook so it crocheted up super quick… it only took me a week and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It’s definitely a pattern I can recommend. I love the top down construction and it’s made in one piece so there are no seams which require any sewing up… it’s great!

https://www.coffeeandcrocheting.com

We enjoyed a fabulous walk along the coast last weekend and we started near this front garden… that was worth a photo!

The walk was the perfect opportunity not only to wear my new crocheted cardigan but also to photograph it…

We do have some stunning stretches of coastline not too far from home. I’ve lived in this area most of my life yet we still discover new places!

Of course there are the familiar places to visit too and the Seven Sisters Chalk cliffs were looking glorious as always…

And these beach huts were so cheerful…

Much closer to home we’ve continued to enjoy the cliff top coastal flowers… and yes, they are certainly getting my creative juices flowing and I see some crochet designs inspired by these on my horizon. In fact my hooks have already been experimenting with ideas which is exciting! 🙂

The ‘Picnic by the River’ blanket crochet along by Little Box of Crochet started yesterday which some of you are joining in with. I was commissioned to design this blanket exclusively for them so it’s only available through Little Box of Crochet. I’m so very happy with it…

I’m actually crocheting along with this myself because I love the blanket so much and want one for our lounge! Not that I need any more blankets but I do so love the colours and I no longer have the original sample having sent it off to Little Box of Crochet.

So that’s been really nice and relaxing crochet for me to enjoy too… just following the pattern which of course I mostly know already, so there’s not too much concentration needed this time around! 🙂

This is Week 1…

Very soon I’ll be able to reveal my third blanket design that I was working on at the end of 2020 / beginning 2021. That’s going to be a crochet-along for another company and I’ve been informed that it should be starting in June or July so not too much longer to wait before I can share more about it… 🙂

And finally I’ve been working on a piece for the ‘Trivento Yarn Bombing Festival‘ in Italy. Those of you who have followed me for a while might remember that I contributed a piece to the festival back in 2019…

In 2020 I was booked to go to the festival in Italy myself in person (we planned to combine it with a family holiday) but sadly that was cancelled due to Covid. I’m not entirely sure what the plans are for 2021 but I’m working on a simple piece in a super chunky yarn so that it doesn’t take up too much time if it’s cancelled again! Here’s a sneak peak…

I’m not very good at keeping my hooks still am I!? 😂 I am taking it easy and I’m not putting any pressure on myself to get back to designing too soon but crochet is of course an important part of my life… it keeps my hands busy and I’ve decided my hands just need to be busy!

Hope you’re all keeping well and keeping creative.

Happy Crocheting Everyone.. 🙂 🙂