Well it really feels like Spring has started here in the UK. The temperatures are rising, the lambs are leaping around and colourful flowers are starting to emerge. People are coming out of hibernation too. No more hunkering down for the Winter, it's time to peel back a few layers and stretch into Spring. Lots of plans are being hatched for fun things to do, isn't Spring just great? .
Settling into part time hours at work is easy, of course, it's brilliant having so much time at home to do stuff and I've certainly been pretty busy these last couple of weeks. All the knitters and crocheters out there have probably discovered Ravelry by now, it's a brilliant website full of patterns, forums, groups & all sorts of helpful tips and advice. I'm pleased to announce I have published my first pattern and very humbled by the fact I have made my first sale. It's a moment of great excitement and I couldn't help a little celebratory dance around the living room last night when I heard the news!
Do you ever get cold arms when reading in bed? I know I do. A nice set of 'Reading-in-Bed Sleeves' will cure that and I know just where you can get a pattern! Knitted in one piece with crochet edging added, just the thing for keeping your arms toasty. Made extra long with thumb holes on the seams to keep your hands warm too. I'm in the process of making my second set which will be quite different from the first and I'll share them with you once they're done. How will you make yours? If you make some, please send me a photo as I'd love to see how they turned out.
Activity at our Woolly Wednesday Knit Club has been hotting up. A few of us have made a blanket from knitted squares which we've crocheted together and put a crochet border around. It's made from a mixture of fibres and is pretty heavy, it will be very warm.
There's an open day at The Red Brick Building, Glastonbury on May 4th and the blanket will be raffled to raise money for this great community arts centre. The raffle tickets are being printed as I write and I'll let you know as soon as they're available. The blanket is very retro in 1970s colours, would be great for a camper van.
Activity at our Woolly Wednesday Knit Club has been hotting up. A few of us have made a blanket from knitted squares which we've crocheted together and put a crochet border around. It's made from a mixture of fibres and is pretty heavy, it will be very warm.
There's an open day at The Red Brick Building, Glastonbury on May 4th and the blanket will be raffled to raise money for this great community arts centre. The raffle tickets are being printed as I write and I'll let you know as soon as they're available. The blanket is very retro in 1970s colours, would be great for a camper van.
My lovely Dad turned 80 in February (can't believe it) so we had a day trip overseas to the Isle of Wight to help him celebrate. Whilst there I spotted the most amazing shop front in Cowes High Street which would make the best yarn cafe. I've since been told (by Mermaidwiggle on Instagram - thank you) that it used to be a shoe shop and has lots of dark wood cubby holes inside, even better to store the wool......sigh.
The stormy skies over the Solent on our journey home didn't cloud our day, we had a lot of fun and I hope my Dad did too.
Does anyone else enjoy a bit of Fair Isle work from time to time? I'm making another set of wrist warmers, this is my third set and I'm perfecting the design with each pair. I'm using 4ply 100% wool and No. 12 or 2.75mm needles so can only do this when there is plenty of light. This peacock blue is such a popular colour at the moment, so fresh and vibrant, I love, love, love it. Any new knitters or crocheters may be wondering why there are sometimes two needle sizes quoted, this is because their are old English sizes and metric conversions. There are tables below for knitting needle & crochet hook sizes. Sorry about the scummy marks but I've had these for about 40 years so they haven't faired too badly all things considered.
Plans are underway for crochet & knitting classes at The Red Brick Building which is very exciting. Any Glastonians out there who want to get involved, free up your diaries for Monday afternoons 2pm - 3.30pm from mid April onwards. Full details should be ready for my next blog post.
click here for more on Red Brick Building
And finally, on the home front, we've been renovating a bedroom in our house, putting some character back in. The full reveal will be ready for next posting.
Signing off now, wishing you lots of creative fun.
Signing off now, wishing you lots of creative fun.