November Adventures…

Hello everyone…

It’s been a while since I popped in with a general update here on my blog/website. I’m regularly posting over on Instagram and Facebook but being able to give you updates here on my blog is always nice… so that’s what this is. 😊💙

Why not grab a drink because it’s a long one! Sharing a little of my November adventures and what’s been happening since my last blog post which was of course my Mushroom Walk Scarf crochet-along.

That was a wonderful crochet-along and I know many people are still crocheting their scarf. As scarves were finished it was fabulous to see lots of faces come out from behind the camera and many of you shared photos in my Facebook Group of you wearing your finished scarves… I really loved that!

Look at this joyful collection of gorgeous photos!

November has certainly been a very busy month for all things Coastal Crochet but also in my family life too.

My husband and I squeezed in a quick visit to The Netherlands to visit family and friends at the start of November. I have an elderly aunt who I visit as often as we can – she’s been a big creative inspiration throughout my life. 💙

I always bring my crochet with me on any travels and I have a big blanket commission on my hooks at the moment. But when I got my crochet out to add to the blanket, I discovered that I’d packed the wrong size crochet hook… Oh no!!!

So amongst visits to family and friends, the quest for the correct sized crochet hook began!

We were passing beautiful Delft and I could see on Google Maps that there was a yarn shop…

So off we went… It was also a lovely opportunity to walk around the beautiful centre of this historic city. I love that my crochet can sometimes take us on unexpected adventures!

The autumn colours have been particularly beautiful this year, at home and also it seems in The Netherlands…

We popped into a gorgeous yarn shop Knotten Wol

They had a brilliant selection of hooks but the size I needed in my preferred style was out of stock. So I bought a selection of other hooks, not knowing which would suit me best.

Well I’ve learned something new about crochet hooks! We all get used to the hooks we use and using another style will obviously feel strange at first. But I was desperate to get crocheting and was very willing to give any hook a try!

But two of the hooks I’d bought I simply couldn’t get used to. The yarn kept catching and I couldn’t work out if it was just the hook poorly made or the angle I was crocheting. It just wasn’t going to work for me and was not helping my crochet at all.

The Addi was the hook that was most different from the hooks I usually use so I was expecting that to be a struggle but I actually found I could crochet really well with it once I’d got used to the VERY different hold.

However, it somehow made my crochet much tighter. The resulting stitches were equivalent to me using a whole hook size smaller than my usual hook so sadly I couldn’t continue with it and the quest for a crochet hook continued!

But if any of you crochet loose and want to tighten your crochet but not necessarily go down a hook size, this hook might be a solution for you. It surprised me how much tighter it seemed to make my stitches!

The next day we popped into another yarn shop Haken Breien en Meer and success, they had the hooks I wanted. Look at the relief on my face!

It was lovely to see a workshop in progress… it’s a fantastic shop.

So I could now get crocheting and I made good progress for the rest of our stay… crocheting in the car when I’m a passenger is something I do a lot.

We enjoyed a walk around historic Naarden with friends in the rain which was a golden moment… 💛💛💛

And look at this beautiful mushroom which stopped us in our tracks…

Talking of mushrooms, yesterday I met up with fellow crochet designer Alice Tarry of The Burrow UK

Alice and I have followed each other on social media for a while and it was wonderful to finally meet in person for the very first time!

Alice designed a gorgeous autumn blanket for Hobbycraft featuring the cutest mushroom rows. You can find the pattern here: https://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/ideas/Fall-Into-Autumn-CAL.html

We arranged to meet in London as I live to the south of London and Alice to the North, so it’s a perfect halfway point and a visit to the V&A is always wonderful (one of favourite museums in the whole world). That’s where we met…

When a crochet designer meets up with a crochet designer and they get to chat all things crochet over coffee then that’s a very happy occasion!

We had lots to talk about and I always find it so inspiring to get together with other designers and creative people – it can feel so encouraging and supportive and it certainly gets those creative juices flowing!

Alice treated me to one of her incredible mushroom beanies which she had crocheted in the same yarn and colours to match my mushroom walk scarf… it’s the best gift ever and I shall treasure it!! 😃🍄🍄

The pattern is available here if any of you are interested: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/toadstool-hat-3

Walking back to the train station was lovely. London is looking fabulous and very festive already…

We then went to Cornwall last weekend – my daughter is contemplating going to University to do a Wildlife Conservation course so we’ve been visiting various places.

This one is far from home but we have connections with Cornwall and always love a visit. Time was also made for beach visits, yarn shop visits and aquarium visits too…

We spotted beautiful knitted and crocheted poppies outside a church in Newquay…

It was cold!! 🥶💦 But we warmed up afterwards by a pub fire…

I love Clare’s Little Wool Shop in Bude… https://clarebells.com

It was just so nice to pop in to and chat all things yarn with Clare. It’s a brilliant local yarn shop which may be little but oh it’s packed floor to ceiling with beautiful yarns!

And a visit to the Bude Castle Heritage Centre is always wonderful. A lovely place for a coffee and brilliant art exhibitions and displays.

I adore these wooden figures made from driftwood by local artist Lynn Muir

Closer to home and the Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne is hosting the Turner Prize 2023. It’s the world’s leading prize for contemporary art, and the Towner is hosting it as the centrepiece of their centenary celebrations. That’s quite something and earlier this week we popped in…

I love the Towner and will often pop in when I’m in Eastbourne. As for the Tuner Prize, as described on the Towner website it’s “one of the best-known prizes for the visual arts in the world, the Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art.”

I absolutely loved it… no, I can’t honestly say that I loved all the art. Two for me were beautifully done and for me are the obvious winners, two didn’t speak to me as much.. but yes, they all created discussion and debate and that I can certainly appreciate. All the art there made us think, made us talk, made us smile and one even made us cry… 💙

I can highly recommend a visit!

On Wednesday I was invited to attend the preview event for the 10th anniversary Glow Wild lantern trail at Wakehurst in Sussex https://www.kew.org/wakehurst

The idea is that of course all who were invited will spread the word… and spread the word I will because it really is totally stunning and magical!

I’ll simply leave you with some photos… they capture the beauty but not the sounds. The music and sounds which are added as you walk through the trail is truly beautiful.

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to give a talk at the West Sussex Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers in Worthing.
What a joy it was to share my love of crochet with so many other creative people and to bring a selection of my designs out and about… it was simply wonderful!

And finally I’ve been hosting my regular workshops at Made and Making and YAK.

This was Tunisian Crochet last week…

The room was filled with so much enthusiasm, with new skills learned and new projects emerging!

I really do LOVE sharing the crochet love…

I have a couple of Christmas workshops coming up in December.

One at the Liberation Art Gallery in the historic lanes in Brighton… https://www.liberationartgallery.com/workshops/

And the other in the gorgeous YAK in the North Laines of Brighton… https://yarnandknitting.com/product-category/classes/

Wow… It’s been a busy November but somehow I like it that way… thank you so much for reading this far!!

There’s been plenty of crochet behind the scenes on my hooks so there’ll be new projects for me to share with you all in 2024! 🥰

In the meantime, Happy Crocheting Everyone 🥰💙